CCU gets grant for climate research

How will climate change affect the coast of South Carolina?

Coastal Carolina University has recieved a grant to find out.

The school received a $325,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to fund student research as part of the foundation’s Research Experience for Undergraduates program.

“REU grants, in general, are awarded to institutions that have a track record for high-level research and the incorporation of undergraduate students into the research effort,” said Dr. Michael Roberts, dean of Coastal Carolina University’s college of science. “With this award, the NSF is recognizing our performance in both of these areas.”

Students in the program will do research that integrates computing and geoscience to study coastal zones, climate variability and big data analytics.

“For example, activities by interns will help seek ways to improve climate forecasting, better understand physical processes in the coastal zones, increase national preparedness for climate change, understand the nexus between food energy and water and mitigate the impacts of natural disasters,” said CCU science professor Sathish Kumar, Ph.D.

The grant stipulates that a majority of students need to attend an institution other than the host. Because one of the objectives of the grant is to promote the involvement of underrepresented groups in the fields of computing and geoscience, the school plans to recruit some students from historically black and women’s schools in South Carolina and neighboring states.

“Historically, the fields of geoscience and computer science have been hampered by lack of diversity,” said Kumar. “Very few underrepresented minorities and women gravitate toward these areas of studies.”

Because problems like the impact of climate change on coastal zones will be complex and have “worldwide implications,” Kumar said that it’s “imperative” to seek solutions from many perspectives.

So far, schools that have been targeted for recruitment include Benedict College, Claflin University, Columbia College, South Carolina State University, North Carolina Central University and Roanoke College.

The grant funds eight paid undergraduate internships for each summer of 2017, 2018 and 2019. The internships last 10 weeks, and students will be paid a $5,000 stipend along with a meal allowance of $1,200 for their 40-hour work weeks.

The students will be assisted by at least seven CCU faculty members who have experience doing research. The faculty will will provide logistical and planning assistance and provide “constructive feedback,” said Kumar.

“Our program will adopt an experiential approach to undergraduate research,” he said. “Students will identify and collect the required information relevant to their research questions, assess their nature, and devise and implement plans to answer those questions. In addition to learning/using computing tools and and analyzing/synthesizing their results, students will be made aware of the specific importance of their project. Upon completion, we want the students to be able to identify the value of their contributions.”

This story was originally published September 16, 2016 at 3:49 PM with the headline "CCU gets grant for climate research."