PROMOTING DIVERSITY IN THE GEOSCIENCE WORKFORCE: AN AMS/NOAA/NSF PARTNERSHIP

The American Meteorological Society (AMS), representing the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences, conducts educational programs aimed at undergraduate students and in-service pre-college teachers. These programs, conducted with NOAA as a major partner, emphasize the development of public scientific literacy and the promotion of diversity in the geoscience workforce (including teaching). The AMS has developed with NOAA assistance two undergraduate courses, "Online Weather Studies" and "Online Ocean Studies." These courses are being introduced to minority-serving institutions through NSF-funded faculty enhancement workshops conducted primarily at NOAA facilities. NOAA also provides specially formatted weather and ocean data and products, student internship and career advisement opportunities. Online Weather Studies has been licensed to 360 institutions, 145 of which participated in the AMS Diversity Program. Online Ocean Studies has been licensed to 90 institutions, 50 of which participated in the AMS Diversity Program. Thus students at almost 200 minority-serving institutions have benefited from these courses that emphasize the use of Internet-delivered current environmental data. National Science Foundation support is provided through OEDG and CCLI-ND for the Online Weather Studies Diversity Project and the CCLI-ND for the Online Ocean Studies Diversity Project.