Hampton University, Old Dominion University, and the College of William and Mary's School of Marine Science, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, are teaming together to produce significant numbers of Ph.D. marine scientists and oceanographers from underrepresented minority groups through the Hall-Bonner Program for Minority Doctoral Scholars in Ocean Sciences program. The H-B program builds upon an established record of successful cooperation in training minority students 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 supports the students through coursework and dissertation research. Support includes: 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 activities include participation in K-12 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. Renewal funding for the H-B program is being used to reach a critical mass of minority students in graduate marine science programs at the partner institutions and achieve sustainability of the program infrastructure.
