NSF ATE grant project awarded 2020-2023
The “Partnership for Advanced Marine and Environmental Science Training for Pacific Islanders,” grant project was awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) for another 3 years starting in May 2020. The Principle Investigator (PI) is Dr. Robert Richmond and he will be supported by two Co-PIs, Dr. Patrick Tellei and Mrs. Vernice Yuzi from Palau Community College.
Marine/environmental science instructors at the following community colleges oversee the grant and carryout the project’s goals and objectives: American Samoa Community College (ASCC – Mrs. Meagan Curtis), College of the Marshall Islands (CMI – Mr. Max Sudnovsky), College of Micronesia-Federated States of Micronesia (COM-FSM – Mr. Brian Lynch), Northern Marianas College (NMC – Ms. Denise Myers), and Palau Community College (PCC – Ms. Vernice Yuzi). The aforementioned instructors are supported by the grant project’s educational specialist, Ms. Lauren Wetzell.
The proposed key activities for this ATE grant project include the following:
1) Research and mentoring training activities designed to introduce students to research: asking questions/formulating and testing hypotheses, elements of experimental design, statistical design, rigor and power analyses, data acquisition, handling, documentation, analyses and presentation, calibrating measurements, quality assurance/quality control, database management and communication of results.
2) The addition of new tools and technologies relevant to the focus of this program on ocean and environmental technologies, especially those most useful and relevant to studies of climate change impacts on tropical islands and coral reefs. The techniques will include elements of technology design, fabrication and repair: Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV’s). This will be done in collaboration with the Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center at Monterey Peninsula College
3) Professional development skills training, including time and budgetary management, writing a c.v., applying for scholarships, programs and jobs, presentation techniques, organizational skills and communications.
4) An application element to bridge the technical knowledge gained to policy through local communities of stakeholders and policy makers. In addition to scientific meetings and seminars, students will be prepared to make presentations on their work to the local and regional governance bodies including village leaders as well as the Association of Pacific Island Legislatures and the Pacific Islands Forum, at their annual meetings.
The key technological elements and tools used will include the following:
Over the past 3 grants, the colleges have been provided with a number of cutting edge technological tools that we will continue to use to enhance STEM education elements, building upon base level skills previously taught and integrated into curricula, These include:
- Measurements and monitoring of ocean and coastal pH, foundational to understanding ocean acidification and associated impacts, which are predicted to be of great consequence to coral reefs and the human communities that depend on them. Bays within some of the islands (e.g. Nikko Bay, Palau) already have documented reduced pH levels (DeCarlo et al., 2015) yet thriving coral populations. The iSAMI units are being used for this task, and we will expand the training in data acquisition, analyses and integration across data platforms.
- Calcification accretion units (Price et al., 2012) provide important biological data and are valuable for teaching a variety of technical skills, from taxonomy to experimental design and statistics.
- Photographic and satellite imagery are valuable tools for measuring sea level changes and coastal erosion/accretion. Adding associated technological skills to the training and curricula are viewed as valuable for the students and their professional development to fill key positions.
- Use of modeling software to analyze, interpret and present data on projected sea level rise impacts and how to evaluate scenarios into adaptation planning and promotion of resilience.
The ROV’s and associated training provided by the MATE Center partnership adds new training opportunities that include more depth on problem solving, technology design and fabrication, and creativity in applications. Due to personal connections from our Educational Specialist, a marine technology firm, SonTek, based in San Diego, has signed on as a collaborator, offering summer internships at their facility, and we are in discussions on getting access to both older equipment and prototypes for testing and experimentation with the community college students (see attached LOI).
The present proposal represents a notable step up to a higher degree of academic and research rigor, student engagement beyond their own island borders and participation opportunities with an enlarged pool of researchers, educators and institutions.
The curricula and training modules will be developed in collaboration with the faculty in the ATE program and to meet standards set by the articulating 4-year institutions. The curriculum will be supported and guided by the PI, co-PIs, advisors, and education specialist. The faculty summer salaries, enrichment activities and footlocker workshop will all serve to support the development and implementation of course improvements over the 2-year grant period.
One to two Footlocker workshops are proposed (pending on the Covid-19 pandemic situation and alignment with CDC recommendations).
A proven tool for strengthening the technical capacity of the community colleges and the skills of faculty and students has been topical “footlocker” workshops, during which the participants are taught how to use tools and protocols to collect and analyze relevant data, and following the training exercises, the equipment, materials and supplies are packed into a footlocker to take back to the home institution for continued use.
The Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center has been funded by the NSF Advanced Technological Education Program since 1997 and continues as an ATE Support Center and as a 501(c)(3). The MATE Center works with community colleges, secondary schools, universities, research institutions, marine industries, professional societies, and working professionals to facilitate the development of courses, activities, and programs based on ocean workforce research and trends. The mission of the MATE Center is to use marine technology to inspire and challenge students to learn and creatively apply STEM to solving real-world problems in a way that reinforces critical thinking, collaboration, entrepreneurialism, and innovation.
ROV building is particularly attractive to island communities because the missions are relevant to local issues and simple ROVs can be built and maintained with hardware supplies and bilge pumps found on nearly any inhabited island. The MATE model promotes a progression of learning activities that start in middle school and as students move to high school then college, the missions increase in complexity as do the ROVs. This footlocker workshop will perform the following:
- Conduct a 5-day Underwater Robotics and Engineering Design Workshop for 20-24 participations (faculty from all 5 community college plus 3-4 students/college). The workshop participants will also be instructed on how to lead outreach activities and how to run mini-ROV competitions.
- Maintain a course website on Canvas where participants can ask questions, interact with each other and share progress.
- Run follow-up activities at each college to further support these efforts. Activities may include workshops to educate more community college students on basic ROV building and mentoring and/or more advanced ROV building skills that allow students to design ROVs and/or instruments for the marine environment.
Student support for research projects have proven to be a key component to graduation and retainment in STEM success and will be continued.
Support for student research projects and internships is included for each institution to enhance participants’ skills, build relationships with appropriate employers and support the local resource management agencies. The data from the student support activities will be used to develop clearly needed and identified products (databases, taxonomic collections, assessments, models, etc.). This element is designed to strengthen relationships between the community colleges and the communities they serve, in the technical disciplines, to engage with potential employers, and to allow students to gain additional research experience in experimental design, data collection, data analysis and dissemination of results.
Priming the pipeline is essential in attracting and retaining student interest in STEM. Efforts to connect with secondary school and community outreach and education will continue.
Efforts have been undertaken at all five community colleges to assist local high schools in developing science programs and to recruit students into the STEM disciplines. Palau Community College and Northern Marianas College formed science clubs with K-12 outreach as a major undertaking. Program participants have developed “adopt-a-school” programs, where faculty and students involved in the ATE program have a responsibility to work with high school teachers and their classes on specific, technology-related activities. These efforts include student mentoring, science fair sponsorships, internships on research projects and student symposia. While each college has the flexibility to determine the most appropriate approach, the goal is to recruit interested students during their junior or senior years in high school, and engage them in activities that will put them on track for pursuing STEM training at the college level.
This grant, by enhancing activities at the five minority-serving institutions, has a strong informal science education outreach component, which increases an understanding of and appreciation for the value of STEM-focused education. A valuable benefit of the training local students is their ability to present information in the local languages. Hence, the model is clear: a central objective is to train islanders to address, research and respond to local STEM-related needs and issues. The students supported under this program will be expected to actively participate in community outreach activities.
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