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INVESTIGATOR: Sriharan, S.; Fan, CH.; Ozbay, GU.; Ghariban, NA.; Odeh, OL.

PERFORMING INSTITUTION:
VIRGINIA STATE UNIVERSITY
PETERSBURG, VIRGINIA 23803

CHESAPEAKE BAY CLIMATE STUDY PARTNERSHIP FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: In this project, Virginia State University (VSU) will lead a consortium of minority serving institutions around the Chesapeake Bay region: Delaware State University (DESU), Morgan State University (MSU), University of District of Columbia (UDC), and Coppin State University (CSU) to propose establishing a Chesapeake Bay Climate Study Partnership. This regional partnership will provide integrated, cohesive and innovative education and research capabilities to minority students on climate science and adaptation, which are essential for our nation's sustainable agriculture, food security and environmental sustainability.

OBJECTIVES: The major goals of the project are to improve the climate literacy of undergraduate students, enhance their preparation in STEM disciplines, and develop their competency and skill sets in the USDA workforce and prepare them for future climate change and adaptation.These goals will be accomplished by the partnership efforts between Virginia State University (VSU), Delaware State University (DSU), and Morgan State University (MSU) through following objectives:1. Curricula Design and Materials Development: Revise, enhance and implement theClimate Study curriculum in VSU, DSU, and MSU, by using the model climate change education materials developed by American Meteorological Society (AMS) with previous NASA and NSF funding, and other educational materials such as Weatherbug dataset of the Chesapeake Bay watershed and the climate change simulation models SimCLIM (adopted in earlier NIFA CBG Grant on Climate Change at VSU).2. Student Experiential Learning: Enhance the experiential learning for a cohort ofundergraduate students by providing them a 10-week intensive summer internship withhand-on research experience at Morgan State University Estuarine Research Center, VSU, DSU, and opportunities at institutions with model climate change program.3. Faculty Preparation and Enhancement for Education: Offer hands-on teacherWorkshops and field trips at VSU, MSU and DSU to provide teachers from partner institutionsand regional high schools the necessary knowledge and experience in environmentalscience that can be transferred back to their classroom teaching.4. Instructional Delivery Systems: Create a Chesapeake Bay Climate Study E-learningcommunity to promote effective teaching and learning of climate related science;facilitate the communications among climate change researchers, educators, and students;as well as disseminate the education materials and opportunities to a larger nationalundergraduate community and the general public. This e-learning community will behosted on the Blackboard system and will be integrated into the National ClimateAdaptation and Mitigation E-Learning (CAMEL) community that has been created byNCSE through climate change education grants from NASA and NSF