NOAA Cooperative Science Center in Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology (NCAS-M) at Howard University

NCAS-M, NOAA Cooperative Science Center in Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology, research through education enterprise led by Howard University, is funded by the Educational Partnership Program with Minority-Serving Institutions Cooperative Agreement. NCAS-M, a newly-funded NOAA Cooperative Science Center (CSC), is aligned principally with the NOAA’s National Weather Service. NCAS-M also pursues collaborative research across other NOAA line offices with emphasis on education and training partnerships with OAR and NESDIS.

NCAS-M is comprised of 13 partners institutions with Howard University serving as the Lead Institution: Fort Valley State University, Jackson State University, Pennsylvania State University, San Diego State University, San Jose State University, University of Albany – State University of New York, Tuskegee University, University of Maryland – Baltimore County, University of Maryland – College Park, Universidad Metropolitana, University of Puerto Rico – Mayagüez, and University of Texas – El Paso. These institutions represent a unique niche within an academic community that combines research-intensive institutions, advanced education, collaborative research training, and capacity-building in NOAA mission-relevant disciplines across all campuses.

The mission of NCAS-M is to increase the number of workforce-ready graduates from underrepresented communities in NOAA-related sciences, to support NOAA, other Federal agencies, academic institutions, and the private sector. NCAS-M is guided by the philosophy of research as education. In pursuit of this, NCAS-M collaborates with NOAA and NOAA stakeholders in support of this mission in three thematic areas:

(1) Interdisciplinary scientific research for building resilient communities against weather extremes;

(2) Innovative observations for advancing climate, weather and air quality analysis and prediction; and

(3) Interdisciplinary research in support of building healthy communities.

NCAS-M draws on the talents of its faculty and students, NOAA employees, and other federal and private sector partnerships to address current and future challenges to improving NOAA NWS products and services. NCAS-M will continue to build on its predecessor NCAS proven history of success that includes: (1) diversifying the nation’s workforce in atmospheric science and meteorology with the production of over 40 PhDs in atmospheric sciences; (2) making significant contributions to NWS research and operations; and (3) engaging in emerging areas of research germane to NOAA’s mission (e.g. social and behavioral science and implementation of emerging observational technologies).

All NCAS-M academic partners contribute to a rich spectrum of student training and professional development through workshops and webinars, shared courses and seminars, outreach activities, student recruitment, and mentoring.