Morgan State partnership to open doors for students in environmental sciences

Black Issues in Higher Education, May 20, 2004

BALTIMORE

The Academy of Natural Sciences, Morgan State University and Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum have announced the establishment of a relationship that incorporates the academy's Estuarine Research Center operations into the university's current programs, including the Ph.D. program in bio-environmental sciences.

The Estuarine Research Center, located at the Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum, Calvert County, Md., is a nonprofit research laboratory that studies human effects on marine and coastal ecosystems. The center was founded in 1967 as a field laboratory of" the Philadelphia-based Academy of Natural Sciences. Though the Estuarine Research Center is independent of the Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum, they are both dedicated to developing programs in environmental and cultural research and education that enhance the understanding of the relationship between natural and cultural processes. The university plans to continue that tradition.

"This partnership represents a wonderful opportunity for both institutions as well as the Estuarine Research Center staff and will continue and strengthen the outstanding programs at the laboratory," according to Dr. Ian Davison, senior adviser to the academy's president.

"This will enable Morgan to train a culturally diverse student population in developing the skills essential to become scientists and address issues that adversely affect urban communities, the Chesapeake Bay, the state and the nation," said Dr. T. Joan Robinson, dean of the university's school of computer, mathematical and natural sciences. "It will help alleviate the lack of minority representation in the fields of marine, ecosystems and environmental science."