Spelman Environmental Statistics Summer Institute (SESSI)
Welcome from SESSI!!
The Spelman Environmental Statistics Summer Institute (SESSI) is a six-week intensive summer research program that takes an interdisciplinary approach to environmental data analysis. The program is designed to give those with an interest in environmental studies, environmental justice, statistics, or environmental health an opportunity to analyze real data and work towards solutions to important and relevant environmental issues.
This NSF-funded program establishes partnerships between professionals at environmental agencies and student interns that will create a “winning” opportunity for all involved. The program supports six student interns for summers 2004 through 2006. The interns work on interdisciplinary teams comprised of students with various academic backgrounds, both from the sciences and social sciences, to analyze real environmental data and address environmental concerns associated with these data. The data that are analyzed are supplied by agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) that serve as clients of the interns. In a series of meetings between the clients and the interns, environmental problems that have relevance to the agencies and are of interest to the interns are chosen. The interns are then responsible for analyzing the data and reporting their findings to the clients at the end of the program. This program therefore provides a “win-win” partnership between the agencies and the interns. The agencies “win” because they are provided with sound analysis of their data free of cost. The interns “win” because they are provided with a research experience in which they work with “real” data that is likely to have impacts that are far-reaching.
Students that are interested in participating in the SESSI program are encouraged to take the Environmental Statistics Practicum course (MATH 470: Special Topics) during the Spring Semester preceding the program. Those students that complete the Practicum course will have first priority for acceptance into the SESSI program. The course is designed for students of any major and any classification that have an interest in environmental studies. During the spring course students will learn basic statistical data analysis and will use both EXCEL and the SAS statistics software to analyze data. They will gain an understanding of environmental air quality (pollution) and air quality measurement, learn about environmental justice and health affects associated with air pollutants, and gain an overall understanding of the importance of being environmentally aware and active. Students will also develop skills in writing technical papers, making presentations, and working in an interdisciplinary team setting.
