PARENT SESSION
Environmental Education (EnviroEdIII)
Jeff Ashley, Matt Moore
8:00 AM to 12:00 PM - Monday, November 12, 2001
Room 305
(EE03) The National Aquarium in Baltimore and Morgan State University Environmental Internship Program.
Page, Glenn1, Marshal, Livingston2, Lawrence, Angie 1, Aadland, Chris1, 1 2
ABSTRACT- The National Aquarium in Baltimore (Aquarium) and the Biology Department of Morgan State University (MSU) host a internship program in partnership with NOAA Coastal Services Center (CSC) and Estuarine Reserves Division (ERD) to train minority undergraduate students in the use of data collection and analysis technologies currently employed at National Estuarine Research Reserves (NERR) around the country. The goals of this program are to enhance the sense of environmental stewardship by using real-time monitoring data to examine local environmental problems with an emphasis on problem solving/abatement, and establishing hands-on, environmentally based community projects in the vicinity of the academic institution. Students are trained to operate the NERR System-Wide Monitoring Program (SWMP) at a field station adjacent to the Ft. McHenry National Monument on the Patapsco River in Baltimore, MD. Trained with SWMP equipment and protocols, students in this program become qualified candidates for internships and job openings at the NERR sites. Additionally, the establishment of an estuarine monitoring station in a highly urbanized Chesapeake Bay location provides an ideal platform to communicate watershed dynamics and non-point source pollution issues through the interpretation of water quality data while raising awareness of the NERR program to almost 1.7 million annual Aquarium visitors, and the academic community at MSU.
Key words: environmental science, education, internship, Chesapeake Bay