Increasing opportunities for minority students through a meteorology course

Available data indicates an acute shortage of manpower in the sciences within the minority population (Special Report, Division of Human Resources, National Science Foundation, No. NSF 92-305, 1992). This shortage is also reflected in the small number of minority professionals in the meteorological fields. This is due to the absence of meteorology courses in HBCUs. Starting in the Spring 2006 semester, Southern University at New Orleans (SUNO) is joining a host of other minority serving institutions to address this shortage by offering an introductory course in meteorology at the sophomore level.

This course will be taught in a computer lab using the materials provided by the American Meteorological Service (AMS). It is intended that the course will serve to fulfill the general science educational requirement for all majors. Additionally, the course would be used to fulfill the earth science elective for pre-service teachers and as an in-service training for science teachers at all levels. Through this course, teachers will be equipped with the knowledge and skills to introduce meteorology to their students much earlier than presently available. The two field trips planned for the course are visits to the weather department of a local TV station and the NOAA's facility in Slidell, Louisiana. Preparations for this course are documented in this poster presentation.