Collaboration to Integrate Research and Education in Marine and Environmental Science and Biotechnology

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Coastal environments in the southeastern U.S. are expected to undergo unprecedented population growth in the next 20 years (LUCES, 1996). Accompanying this human expansion will be significant increases in land use and the potential for dramatic effects upon resources and environmental quality. To be prepared to handle these issues, our educational systems need to provide the technology, methodology, and information required to assess, predict, and improve marine resources and coastal environmental quality. African Americans remain significantly underrepresented in marine and environmental science. In early recognition of both the need for and absence of black participation, Savannah State University (SSU) applied for and received assistance from NSF in 1970 to provide and equip an undergraduate curricular option in marine science. Since then, the College of Sciences and Technology has added a program in biotechnology. These combined degree programs provide a liberal arts base with fundamental knowledge in the basic sciences, and exposure to nominal methods and tools in marine and environmental science and biotechnology. However, predominantly undergraduate educational schools such as SSU simply do not have the resources or justification to develop and maintain extensive modern research facilities. Thus their students, while receiving fine classroom instruction, do not have the exposure to and training in sophisticated research environments. Those who do, generally receive it during summer research experiences outside the state or region. Without such exposure, students will be less competitive than those who have received formal training in research. The CIRE project proposed here would take advantage of a fortuitous geographic and administrative relationship between SSU and the Skidaway Institut e of Oceanography (SKIO), a nearby state-of-the-art marine and environmental research facility, and which is an NSF Field Station and Marine Lab (FSML). As members of the University System of Georgia, which administers all of the public educational and research units in the state of Georgia, SSU and SKIO have the potential to create formal ties. In the past, however, these relationships have developed only on an ad-hoc basis. Here, they propose a collaboration which would include diversification of existing courses at SSU by inclusion of teaching and research modules by SKIO faculty; formal detailed training in research via research assistantships at SKIO for qualified SSU student interns; reciprocal faculty exchange opportunities; and collaborative curriculum development. Educational programs at SSU would benefit from access to SKIO's research facilities, and SKIO would benefit from developing formal ties to degree-granting educational institutions. In recognition of the growth and success of undergraduate degree programs in marine biology and environmental studies, and in view of the potential value of this collaboration, SSU is planning to submit for approval a new M.S. degree program in Marine Science. It will be seeking support from the University System of Georgia to buy faculty time at SKIO to share their expertise with SSU students and faculty; this procedure, however, may take several years to fully implement. The CIRE project will assist that process, provide experience for faculty at both institutions, and give the opportunity to document for the University System of Georgia that the collaboration is appropriate and successful. The organization of a competitive framework for research training, the provision for expanding the depth and diversity of existing courses at SSU, and the collaboration between SSU and SKIO faculty in teaching, research, and curriculum development, will go a long way towards enchancing the opportunities and quality of training in marine and environmental sciences and biotechnology at SSU.