Connecting the Texas Gulf Coast with Compass to Build Research Opportunities and Career Bridges for an Underserved Community
| Active Dates | 9/1/2022-6/30/2024 |
|---|---|
| Program Area | Atmospheric System Research |
Project Description
Ecosystems
that occupy the Terrestrial-Aquatic Interface (TAI) play critical roles and provide important services to humans. These systems are complex, dynamic, support high levels of biodiversity, and have ecological characteristics that shift across the interface. DOE’s COMPASS project is a pilot study aimed to better understand freshwater and saline TAIs. We will work with the COMPASS team to fill in the vegetation sampling component, as the plant community is likely to be a key piece in shaping TAI structure and function.
Our team at Texas A & M University Corpus Christi (TAMUCC) will interact with DOE personnel, facilities, and resources, specifically through the COMPASS project, as its TAI focus overlaps substantially with our current research interests. These interactions will enable our research group to better respond to future DOE calls for proposals, and specifically to develop TAI research with an emphasis on plant-microbial interactions, at multiple sites along the Gulf Coast. Being faculty at TAMUCC, a Minority Serving Institution (specifically, an Hispanic Serving Institution), our team is committed to building pathways for students to careers in environmental science and ecology. Exposure to “big research” and world class facilities is a critical part of those efforts with underrepresented and first-generation college students. A major goal of this initiative is to engage and involve students, so that these career avenues are clear and accessible.
Our team at Texas A & M University Corpus Christi (TAMUCC) will interact with DOE personnel, facilities, and resources, specifically through the COMPASS project, as its TAI focus overlaps substantially with our current research interests. These interactions will enable our research group to better respond to future DOE calls for proposals, and specifically to develop TAI research with an emphasis on plant-microbial interactions, at multiple sites along the Gulf Coast. Being faculty at TAMUCC, a Minority Serving Institution (specifically, an Hispanic Serving Institution), our team is committed to building pathways for students to careers in environmental science and ecology. Exposure to “big research” and world class facilities is a critical part of those efforts with underrepresented and first-generation college students. A major goal of this initiative is to engage and involve students, so that these career avenues are clear and accessible.
Award Recipient(s)
- Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi (PI: Battaglia, Loretta)