Summary PROJECT INACTIVE

Ocean Opportunities is a partnership to develop a new, coordinated strategy by the ocean sciences community to increase the number of underrepresented minorities in ocean science and ocean engineering graduate programs. This strategy was discussed and endorsed at the fall 2010 Ocean Science Educators Retreat (OSER), hosted by the Consortium for Ocean Leadership in Washington, D.C. Ocean Opportunities seeks to acquaint underrepresented minority undergraduate students with these opportunities, encouraging students to pursue a graduate degree in ocean science and engineering programs.

Student Involvement

To date the project has supported 90 undergraduate students from across the United States in Ocean Science outreach experiences across the United States. In particular students have been provided with graduate school immersion experiences at the University of South Florida, Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institutions. Twelve students from CSUMB have participated in these trips.

Broader Significance

The partnership aims to promulgate the career and educational possibilities of these programs by supporting institutional-neutral booths at scientific meetings that attract undergraduate students, distributing brochures and other promotional information, supporting a webpage informing potential students of programs and careers in ocean science and ocean engineering fields, and coordinating campus visits by representatives from institutions offering graduate studies in ocean science and engineering to minority-serving colleges and universities.