Earlier in 2022, NASA's Office of STEM Engagement, their Minority University Education and Research Project (MUREP), and collaborators in NASA's Science Mission Directorate, launched a solicitation titled Data Science Equity, Access, and Priority in Research and Education to help HBCUs develop research and collaborations with NASA Centers and research scientists. Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy and other NASA leaders announced selections of 9 proposals, totaling an $11.9M investment, on 2/3/23.
Of the proposals awarded, three proposal teams will work in partnership with members of the MSFC Earth Science Disasters Team in developing faculty, graduate student, and undergraduate research opportunities focused on machine learning and artificial intelligence approaches to the remote sensing of water extent, floods, and other impacts of natural hazards and disasters. Each proposal team will be led by an HBCU, with Co-I support from their HBCU partners and other regional institutions. Lead organizations for the awarded proposals include North Carolina A&T in Greensboro, NC, Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, FL (where Kennedy Space Center is also a partner), and North Carolina Central University, of Durham, NC. The extended network of proposal partners also includes Alabama A&M, located here in Huntsville. Team members from MSFC will receive financial support from OSTEM/MUREP and the Transform to Open Science initiative to offer technical guidance, mentoring, and networking opportunities for HBCU partners.
