Education and Science Forum

The Biennial Education and Science Forum focuses on the important role educational partners such as the four EPP/MSI Cooperative Science Centers (CSCs) and Undergraduate Scholarship Program contribute to the NOAA community. The EPP Forum supports NOAA’s objective to develop a diverse and capable workforce. Since 2001, EPP/MSI institutions have graduated over 2,000 students in NOAA mission fields. Over seventy percent of graduates are from communities traditionally underrepresented in NOAA mission fields.
9th Biennial Forum
The Ninth Biennial NOAA EPP/MSI Education and Science Forum was hosted by the NOAA Center for Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology at Howard University from March 18 - 21, 2018.
Forum theme: “Partnering with Academia to Prepare Highly Skilled and Diverse Candidates for NOAA's STEM Workforce: Building Successful Educational and Research Collaborations for an Inclusive NOAA Mission Enterprise.”
Purpose: To showcase collaborative research and education between faculty and students at EPP-funded Cooperative Science Centers and NOAA scientists. The forum provides a venue to present research finding, discuss new engagement opportunities, and to promote career opportunities for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) graduates with academic, government, and private sectors.
Sessions:
- Plenary
- 150 technical presentations (oral and poster)
- Workshops (choices of technical and professional development activities)
- Networking engagements:
- providing students and postdocs with an improved sense of the career choices and opportunities
- providing opportunities for potential employers to identify candidates for their future workforce from the students and postdocs talent pool developed through EPP awards
- Exhibitor Hall
8th Biennial Forum
The 8th Biennial EPP/MSI Forum was held August 28–31, 2016, at the The City College of New York. Go to the NOAA CREST Forum website for more informationoffsite link.

Forum Schedule
Forum 9 - 2018: Howard Universityoffsite link
Forum 8 – 2016: The City College of The City University of New Yorkoffsite link
Forum 7 – 2014: The University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Forum 6 – 2012: Florida A&M University
Forum 5 – 2009: Howard University
Forum 4 – 2006: Florida A&M University
Forum 3 – 2004: The City College of The City University of New York
Forum 2 – 2003: NOAA (Silver Spring) - Howard University
Forum 1 – 2002: The University of Maryland Eastern Shore

8th Biennial Forum - Oral Presentation Awards (2016)
Name | Center | Status | aWARD | Theme |
---|---|---|---|---|
Armando Aispuro | ECSC | Graduate student | 1st place (tie) | Climate Adaptation & Mitigation |
Elius Etienne | CREST | Graduate student | 1st place (tie) | Climate Adaptation & Mitigation |
Arun Ravindranath | CREST | Graduate student | 3rd place | Climate Adaptation & Mitigation |
Cheila Cullen | CREST | Graduate student | 1st place | Weather Ready Nation |
Keren Rosado | NCAS | Graduate student | 2nd place | Weather Ready Nation |
Luis Ortiz | CREST | Graduate student | 3rd place | Weather Ready Nation |
Jessica Andrade | LMRCSC | Graduate student | 1st place | Healthy Oceans |
Keith Leonard | LMRCSC | Graduate student | 2nd place (tie) | Healthy Oceans |
Robert Figueroa-Downing | ECSC | Graduate student | 2nd place (tie) | Healthy Oceans |
Shanna Williamson | LMRCSC | Graduate student | 1st place | Resilient Coastal Communities & Economies |
Kristen Lycett | LMRCSC | Graduate student | 2nd place | Resilient Coastal Communities & Economies |
Michelle Dovil | NCAS | Graduate student | 3rd place | Resilient Coastal Communities & Economies |
Poster Presentation Awards
Undergraduate students
Name | center | award | tHEME |
---|---|---|---|
Erica Andujar | CREST | 1st | Climate Adaptation & Mitigation |
Yanna Chen | CREST | 2nd | Climate Adaptation & Mitigation |
Wilson Pena | CREST | 3rd | Climate Adaptation & Mitigation |
Kweku Mills-Robertson | CREST | 1st | Weather Ready Nation |
Miguel Cortez | NCAS | 2nd | Weather Ready Nation |
Tony Hurt | NCAS | 3rd | Weather Ready Nation |
Niya Wilkins | LMRCSC | 1st | Healthy Oceans |
Tyler Plum | LMRCSC | 2nd (tie) | Healthy Oceans |
Vanessa Foster | LMRCSC | 2nd (tie) | Healthy Oceans |
Queriah Simpson | ECSC | 1st | Resilient Coastal Communities & Economies |
Valentina Rappa | CREST | 2nd | Resilient Coastal Communities & Economies |
Demarcus Robinson | ECSC | 3rd | Resilient Coastal Communities & Economies |
Poster Presentation Awards
Graduate students
David Melecio-Vazquez | CREST | 1st | Climate Adaptation & Mitigation |
Behzah Asadieh | CREST | 2nd | Climate Adaptation & Mitigation |
Kafayat Olayinka | NCAS | 3rd | Climate Adaptation & Mitigation |
Steven Buckner | CREST | 1st | Weather Ready Nation |
Daniel Yeager | NCAS | 2nd | Weather Ready Nation |
Sean Levor | CREST | 3rd | Weather Ready Nation |
Alex Tompkins | ECSC | 1st (tie) | Healthy Oceans |
Charles Downey | ECSC | 1st (tie) | Healthy Oceans |
Emma Schultz | LMRCSC | 3rd | Healthy Oceans |
Efosa Igbinigun | NCAS | 1st | Resilient Coastal Communities & Economies |
Alana Menendez | CREST | 2nd | Resilient Coastal Communities & Economies |
Read about the 7th Biennial Education and Science Forum (2014).