Imagine the opportunity to gather research on a ship in the Gulf of Mexico, or to be part of a team rehabilitating injured marine dolphins.
Some 80 students at Laredo Community College got to be part of those learning experiences and much more, thanks to a federal grant of nearly $250,000.
LCC students participating in an environmental entrepreneurship program—supported by a grant of $249,500 that LCC secured in 2003 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)—recently gathered at the Lamar Bruni Vergara Environmental Science Center to celebrate the completion of the grant.
UNIQUE DISTINCTION
LCC was the only two-year college to receive a portion of the $3.4 million NOAA grant awarded to 13 higher education institutions across the country.
As part of the learning experiences, students interned locally in community positions within the areas of science, outdoors, environmental, health and engineering. They also participated in field trips.
During the grant’s three-year duration, $140,000 in stipends and scholarships were awarded to 80 LCC students.
After completing their studies at LCC, some NOAA scholars have found employment at places such as the City of Dallas Environmental Services Division, while others have pursued bachelor’s degrees at universities and graduate school.
The grant also supported the development of a model aquaculture project featuring home grown tilapia and a native plant nursery, located at the LCC science center. NOAA scholars manned the nursery.
EYE OPENING
Mario Mercado, a three-year NOAA scholar, never pictured himself as an environmentalist. But after listening to a classroom presentation on the NOAA program, he changed majors from criminal justice to environmental engineering.
“The NOAA project helped open my eyes to the importance of bettering our environment,” said Mercado, who recently was hired as a lab technician at the LBVESC.
Mercado hopes to advance his undergraduate studies in environmental or civil engineering at the University of Texas at San Antonio in the near future.
Tom Miller, director of the LBVESC and a co-investigator for the NOAA intern program, said that the project provided many unique experiences for students pursuing careers in science and engineering.
“The visits to the NOAA National Weather Stations in Brownsville and Corpus Christi were enlightening, particularly in Corpus Christi last year, which generates our local forecasts and gave a detailed presentation about hurricanes during that record-setting storm season,” Miller said.
He added, “During the visit to the Galveston NOAA National Marines Fisheries Center, the students learned about the regulation and environmental cost of the Gulf of Mexico’s most valuable fishery- shrimping. They also learned about the United States’ largest sea turtle rescue and breeding project and saw what happens to marine dolphins after being rescued.”
Miller also noted the first-time experiences the project offered to some NOAA interns.
“For many students, when we were aboard the University of Texas research vessel, M/V Katy, it was their first ride on a boat in the Gulf of Mexico, if not their first time ever on the ocean. Some students also enjoyed their first camping trip, when we stayed at the Galveston, Goose Island, Boca Chica and Mustang state parks,” Miller said.
PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE
Miller and co-investigator, LCC science instructor Dr. Jim Goetze, plan to attend a NOAA national forum this fall in Florida to investigate new NOAA partnership programs.
“Laredo Community College is truly indebted to NOAA for providing this dynamic experience to our students, and now as NOAA has focused its mission to more coastal concerns, we hope to collaborate with coastal universities and colleges on future opportunities,” Miller said.
More LCC students hopefully will benefit from unique learning experiences such as the NOAA project.
Current and former Laredo Community College students pursuing science and engineering careers are on their way to brighter futures, thanks to a unique three-year $249,500 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that comes to a completion this fall. Co-investigators and scholars of the NOAA program are, from left, standing, LCC science instructor Dr. Jim Goetze, LBVESC director Tom Miller, Lizeth Torres (LCC), Andrew Ochoa (LCC), Crystal Campos (LCC) and James Sanchez (University of Texas at San Antonio); kneeling are Mario Mercado (LCC and newly employed LBVESC staff member), Joaquin Escamilla (UTSA) and Alejandro Medina (LCC). Other NOAA scholars have transferred to TAMIU, Texas A&M-Kingsville, University of the Incarnate Word, University of Houston and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
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