This two-year project is designed to develop an integrated undergraduate training program to enhance the participation of underrepresented African American students in marine sciences. Four students from two HBCU schools (Morgan State University and Delaware State University) will be recruited to participate in authentic research mentored by faculty in marine sciences. The research focus will be on hyperspectral remote sensing in coastal waters and the development of efficient means to analyze and ground-truth such data. The activities in this program involve research, student recruitment, as well as curriculum development. A marine science introductory course will first be developed to successfully prepare students for scientific research. Students then will come to Morgan State University's Estuarine Research Center for a 10-week research internship involving water quality monitoring, phytoplankton ecology, and hyperspectral imagery analysis. In the subsequent academic semester, students will further refine their research results and prepare manuscripts for potential publication and/or scientific presentations at professional meetings.
