HR: 0800h
AN: ED51B-0020    [Abstracts]
TI: The DEVELOP Program as a Unique Applied Science Internship
AU: * Skiles, J W
EM: joseph.w.skiles@nasa.gov
AF: NASA Ames Research Center Earth Science Division, Mail Stop 239-20, Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000 United States
AU: Schmidt, C L
EM: cschmidt@mail.arc.nasa.gov
AF: NASA Ames Research Center Earth Science Division/SJSU, Mail Stop 242-4, Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000 United States
AU: Ruiz, M L
EM: Michael.L.Ruiz@nasa.gov
AF: NASA Langley Research Center DEVELOP Program Office, Mail Stop 307, Hampton, VA 23681-2199 United States
AU: Cawthorn, J
AF: NASA Langley Research Center Hampton University/DEVELOP Progam Office, Mail Stop 307, Hampton, VA 23681-2199 United States
AB: The NASA mission includes "Inspiring the next generation of explorers" and "Understanding and protecting our home planet". DEVELOP students conduct research projects in Earth Systems Science, gaining valuable training and work experience, which support accomplishing this mission. This presentation will describe the DEVELOP Program, a NASA human capital development initiative, which is student run and student led with NASA scientists serving as mentors. DEVELOP began in 1998 at NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia and expanded to NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi and Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama in 2002. NASA's Ames Research Center in California began DEVELOP activity in 2003. DEVELOP is a year round activity. High school through graduate school students participate in DEVELOP with students' backgrounds encompassing a wide variety of academic majors such as engineering, biology, physics, mathematics, computer science, remote sensing, geographic information systems, business, and geography. DEVELOP projects are initiated when county, state, or tribal governments submit a proposal requesting students work on local projects. When a project is selected, science mentors guide students in the application of NASA applied science and technology to enhance decision support tools for customers. Partnerships are established with customers, professional organizations and state and federal agencies in order to leverage resources needed to complete research projects. Student teams are assigned a project and are responsible for creating an inclusive project plan beginning with the design and approach of the study, the timeline, and the deliverables for the customer. Project results can consist of student papers, both team and individually written, face-to-face meetings and seminars with customers, presentations at national meetings in the form of posters and oral papers, displays at the Western and Southern Governors' Associations, and visualizations produced by the students. Projects have included Homeland Security in Virginia, Energy Management in New Mexico, Water Management in Mississippi, Air Quality Management in Alabama, Invasive Species mapping in Nevada, Public Health risk assessment in California, Disaster Management in Oklahoma, Agricultural Efficiency in South Dakota, Coastal Management in Louisiana and Carbon Management in Oregon. DEVELOP students gain experience in applied science, computer technology, and project management. Several DEVELOP projects will be demonstrated and discussed during this presentation. DEVELOP is sponsored by the Applications Division of NASA's Science Mission Directorate.
UR: http://develop.larc.nasa.gov
DE: 0825 Teaching methods
DE: 0845 Instructional tools
DE: 0850 Geoscience education research
SC: Education and Human Resourcese [ED]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting