Location:

Montana

Description:
A partnership between Salish Kootenai College (SKC) and the Numerical Terradynamics Simulation Group (NTSG) at the University of Montana will provide research experiences in Earth system science to Native American undergraduate students starting in April of 2000 and continuing for three years. A new upper-division course "Remote Sensing of Tribal Lands" will be developed and taught within the SKC B.S. in Environmental Science degree program. This course will cover the application of remote-sensing technologies to the study of the Earth as a system, and will focus in particular on the place of Montana tribal lands in the Earth system. An estimated 15 students per year will gain research experience at an introductory level in this class through completion of a term research project that utilizes remote sensing, geographic information systems, and global positioning system technologies, and these students will become well prepared for more advanced research in this area. Six undergraduate research internships applying remote-sensing data and Earth system modeling to the solution of important environmental problems on tribal lands will also be provided each year. These students will work under the supervision of SKC and NTSG researchers, with some students based at SKC and some working at the NTSG facilities. A project Web site will be developed and maintained to publicize the educational opportunities in Earth system science at Salish Kootenai College, disseminate student research results and NASA Earth Obsering System data products covering Native lands, and to emphasize the importance of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise to Native peoples. 

Organization:
Salish Kootenai College
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Cost:
Free, participants selected by application

Contact:
Tim Olson, Salish Kootenai College, PO Box 117, Pablo, MT 59855; Phone: (406) 675-4800, extension 305; Email: tim_olson@skc.edu

Education Level:
Undergraduate
 

Subject:
Earth System Science
Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Remote Sensing

Program type:
Course
Scholarship
Student Enrichment

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