HU RECEIVES $3.45 MILLION FROM NOAA

Hampton, VA - The Commerce Department's Nation al Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently announced the rollout of its Educational Partnership Program with Minority Serving Institutions (EPP/MSI). Hampton University will receive $3.4 million over three years. The NOAA awarded approximately $15 million in FY 2001 funds for programs aimed at atmospheric, environmental and oceanic sciences and remote sensing research and educational programs.

The EPP/MSI initiative provides funds to establish Cooperative Science Centers that will concentrate on atmospheric, environmental and ocean sciences and remote sensing. It also calls for the development of an Environmental Entrepreneurship Program, an Undergraduate Scholarship Program and a Graduate Sciences Program to support the training of students attending MSIs in NOAA-related sciences.

Four Cooperative Science Centers will be established and 17 MSIs will be funded and participate as partners of these Centers. Hampton University will receive $750,000 a year for three years as a partner of the Remote Sensing Cooperative Science Center at City College of the City University of New York.

"We will be conducting research on remote sensing in the atmosphere in support of NOAA's mission and in addition the funding will be used to hire new faculty and researchers and to support undergraduate and graduate students," said Dr. Patrick McCormick, co-director of the Hampton University Center for Atmospheric Science.

Hampton will also receive $400,000 a year for three years as a partner of the Living Marine Resources Cooperative Science Center at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

"The Living Marine Resources Cooperative Science Center will study the Barrier Island complexes, grasslands, marshes, fisheries and microorganisms, currents and sediments that are accumulated," said George Burbanck, chair of the Hampton University Department of Marine and Environmental Science. "Hampton University will be involved in the collected of organisms. We will also be using distance learning and utilizing the expertise at all the participating universities," Burbank said. The Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and providing environmental stewardship of our nation's coastal resources. To learn more about NOAA visit:www.noaa.gov.

For additional information, please contact: Yuri R. Rodgers at (757) 727-5253 or via email: yuri.milligan@hamptonu.edu