Minorities Striving and Pursuing Higher Degrees of Success in Earth System Science (MS PHD's) Initiatives Professional Development Program

The NASA and NSF-funded Minorities Striving and Pursuing Higher Degrees of Success in Earth System Science ® (MS PHD’S) initiative was developed by and for underrepresented minorities with the purpose of facilitating our increased participation in Earth system science. The initiative’s goal is to provide professional development and mentoring experiences that facilitate the advancement of minorities committed to achieving outstanding Earth system science careers. The 2003 MS PHD’S in Ocean Sciences Program facilitated the meaningful engagement of 25 student participants at the final Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS) Open Science Meeting. During the 2004 American Geophysical Union (AGU) fall meeting, the MS PHD’S initiative completed Phase I of its newest endeavor, entitled the MS PHD'S Professional Development Program (MS PHD’S PDP). The 3 MS PHD’S PDP phases are connected by engagement in virtual community building activities that occur through the website, listserv and asynchronous/synchronous web-based dialogues. Leveraging computer mediated communication to enhance peer to peer and peer to protege mentoring is one of the best practices explored in detailed in this paper. Students who successfully complete all three phases and virtual community activities of the MS PHD’S PDP will be better prepared to achieve their academic and professional goals and will likely remain actively engaged in their fields of specialization and respective professional societies. Preliminary findings from this ongoing investigation are presented.