In recent years, several hundred minority students have earned undergraduate or Masters degrees in the aquatic sciences. Additionally, several thousand minority students graduate each year with degrees in the basic sciences. Despite these growing numbers, very few of these students go on for Ph.D.s in oceanography or marine science. In order to take advantage of this growing pool of talent the collaborators will create a Program of Excellence for educating minority doctoral students in ocean sciences. Hampton University, Old Dominion University and the College of William and Mary's School of Marine Science, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, will team together to produce significant numbers of Ph.D. marine scientists and oceanographers from underrepresented minority groups. The program will build upon an established record of successful cooperation in training minority students in the ocean sciences. The collaborators will develop cohorts of minority students who form a community of scholars in the ocean sciences. The concept is that a highly concentrated, interacting group of minority students will foster more individual success than isolated individuals dispersed among a variety of institutions. The structured program will support the students through coursework and dissertation research. The support will include; a stipend, tuition, an extensive orientation, some shared course work, regular group meetings, special seminars, near-peer mentoring, and exposure to minority mentors. Additional professional development will include participation in outreach activities and mentoring of younger students, participation in national meetings, and guidance in grantsmanship and the process leading to the first post-doctoral positions.
