WASHINGTON, Feb. 3, 2023
/PRNewswire/ -- NASA is awarding $11.7
million to eight Historically Black Colleges and
Universities (HBCUs) through the new Data Science Equity, Access,
and Priority in Research and Education (DEAP) opportunity. These
awards will enable HBCU students and faculty to conduct innovative
data science research that contributes to NASA's missions.
"We're pleased to make progress through awards like this to
intentionally build the STEM pipeline of the future, especially in
communities of color," said NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy. "It's fitting during Black History
Month that we make this tangible step to build on the talent pool
at HBCUs in our ongoing work to bring to the table all the talents
and perspectives we'll need to send humans to the Moon, Mars and
beyond, and do amazing science throughout the solar system."
Technology advancements in the field of data science, including
the growth of artificial intelligence and machine learning, are
poised to significantly impact the work of data scientists and
analysts. The awarded projects have up to three years to establish
institutes and partnerships to increase the number and research
capacity of STEM students at HBCUs, accelerate innovation in a wide
range of NASA science, technology, engineering, and mathematic
research areas, and prepare the future workforce for data-intensive
space-based Earth sciences.
"The increasing use of data science at NASA and beyond really
drives home the need for a future workforce with data science
knowledge," said Mike Kincaid,
associate administrator of NASA's Office of STEM Engagement, which
manages MUREP. "With our newest collaboration, NASA created an
exciting pathway to find new talent at HBCUs."
The agency's Minority University Research and Education Project
(MUREP) and the Science Mission Directorate collaborated on the
DEAP opportunity, and selected the following institutions and their
proposed projects:
Bethune-Cookman University Inc., Daytona Beach, Florida
NASA
MUREP DEAP Institute of Environmental Intelligence for Advanced
Space-based Earth Sciences
The project will establish
a DEAP Institute focusing on machine learning-based development of
a virtual constellation of satellites that will capture changing
water levels, from events such as storm flooding to multi-decadal
time scales, such as sea level rise. NASA tracks sea level changes
and its causes from space.
Fayetteville State University,
Fayetteville, North Carolina
Institute for
Multi-agent Perception through Advanced Cyberphysical Technologies
(IMPACT)
The IMPACT project will build on existing
capacity and collaboration with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in
Silicon Valley, California, to
engage students and faculty in using data science to address
scientific questions as one of the key factors to manage NASA's
Earth mission research.
Florida A & M University,
Tallahassee, Florida
Effects of Gravity on Creeping
Salts and Salt Mixtures: Developing Image-based and AI-enhanced
Diagnostics for Determining Chemical Compositions
This
project will rely on artificial intelligence and machine learning
to better understand the science of concentrated salt solutions and
the formation of ring-like deposits called evaporites.
Understanding the science of salt concentrations and formation of
evaporites will bring new insight into identifying where water may
have existed. Water is a critical source NASA researches and
explores to better understand other planets' surface geology and
the potential future of lunar and Martian exploration.
Lincoln University, Jefferson
City, Missouri
Using Data Science to
Understand Soil, Wildfire, & Social Disparity of Climate Change
and Air Pollution
This project aims to provide data
science problem-solving, skill development, and professional
development of minority and underserved students. Students will
utilize existing state-of-the-art ML methods to develop new data
analytic approaches to solve some of the core problems in Earth
science research.
Morgan State University,
Baltimore
Long-Term, High-Resolution Urban Aerosol
Database for Research, Education and Outreach
Through
innovative data analysis algorithms, including ML/AI methods, this
project will produce a high-resolution, open-access, and
user-friendly urban aerosol database focusing on the Baltimore-Washington area. The database will
also be used in both classroom teaching and scientific outreach,
accompanied by online tools and educational materials bringing new,
authentic Earth science education to local schools and
communities.
North Carolina Agricultural &
Technical State University, Greensboro, North
Carolina
DEAP Institute: Harnessing Data Science
for Flood Monitoring and Management
Three North Carolina-based HBCUs will work together
on this project developed to harness data science for flood
monitoring and management.
North Carolina Central
University, Durham, North
Carolina
Capacity Building to Support the Machine
Learning-Based Detection of Floods and other Natural Hazard Impacts
in the Department of Environmental, Earth and Geospatial Sciences
at North Carolina Central University
This project will
create training, data resources, and opportunities to use machine
learning/artificial intelligence to identify and measure the impact
of flood events and other natural hazards such as earthquakes,
hurricanes, drought, wildfires, and more.
Prairie View A & M
University, Prairie View,
Texas
DEAP Institute in Research and Education for
Science Translation via Low-Resource Neural Machine
Translation
This project aims to build an AI-based
system that can share interactive, instantaneous, and user-relevant
Earth science information, making NASA science more discoverable
and accessible to a broad audience.
"NASA is tackling how to use the latest techniques in data
science combined with the volumes of data produced by our missions
to answer questions about our changing planet," said Steven
Crawford, senior program executive for scientific data and
computing. "Working with students from HBCUs will not only engage
the generation that will be most affected by these subjects but
will help NASA scientists and engineers address these
challenges."
Administered by OSTEM, MUREP supports and invests in the
research, academic, and technology capabilities of Minority Serving
Institutions. For more information about NASA's Office of STEM
Engagement, visit:
https://stem.nasa.gov
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nasa-awards-millions-to-historically-black-colleges-universities-301738800.html
SOURCE NASA