Description:
The ESSE program consists of faculty from 44 U.S. universities who are linked with one another and with NASA scientists in the development of undergraduate curricula in Earth system science. Managed by the Universities Space Research Association (USRA), the program offers financial incentives to universities that are willing to participate cooperatively with other universities and NASA in interdisciplinary curricula development for Earth system science education. Each university in the program has developed a survey course and senior-level courses in which faculty present Earth system issues as a socially-relevant, challenging, and important class of scientific problems. The objective of the survey-level course is to instill among the general student population an appreciation of the social, economic, and political implications of global change, and a scientific understanding of interrelationships between the Earth's physical and climate system and ecological systems. The objective of the advanced senior-level course is to provide students in the sciences and mathematics with an interdisciplinary perspective of Earth science and global change research. In the senior course, students from different academic departments work in teams to study and develop conceptual and computer models of physical, chemical, and biological processes of the Earth system. The senior course is taught by faculty from at least two relevant academic departments, and focuses on scientific issues that draw upon the strengths of the institution. As part of the broader program, universities participate in an organized exchange of scientists and faculty, involving visiting faculty and scientists from other participating universities and from NASA Centers. 

URL:
http://www.usra.edu/esse/essonline/

Organization:
Universities Space Research Association (USRA)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Contact:
Donald Johnson, Phone: (608) 262-2538, Email: donj@ssec.wisc.edu; Michael Kalb, Phone: (301) 805-8396, Email: mkalb@gvsp.usra.edu; Martin Ruzek, Phone: (920) 732-4514, Email: ruzek@usra.edu, Universities Space Research Association, 7501 Forbes Blvd, Suite 206, Seabrook, MD 20706

Education Level:
Post Secondary

Subject:
Earth System Science

Program type:
Curriculum Development/Support
 
 

Date Added to teachearth.com:
5/1/00