The impress-ED program (http:ljwww.tcnj.EDU/~impress/2011.html) is a summer research experience for pre-service stem educators which began during the summer of 2011 and is currently funded through the…

The impress-ED program (http:ljwww.tcnj.EDU/~impress/2011.html) is a summer research experience for pre-service stem educators which began during the summer of 2011 and is currently funded through the summer of 2013 through NASA-roses grant# 10-epoess-10- 0047. The impress-ED program is composed of a common experience composed of two modules addressing astrophysics and earth system science respectively, followed by an individual mentored research experience. The research experience of each participant is overseen by one of the four faculty members responsible for the program and is related to current NASA science missions. During its inaugural session five students in the education program at the college of new jersey (tcnj) were recruited, participated in the common module of the program and were successfully mentored in research. All participants presented the results oftheir work at a research symposium at the conclusion ofthe program. Three of the five students had their work accepted for presentation at national conferences (american geophysical union (AGU) in december, 2011 and american astronomical society (AAS} in january, 2012). Two students presented the results of their work at these conferences while one could not attend because of other personal obligations. CO-l nathan magee also presented a poster about the impress-ED program at AGU meeting in december. The PI, michael kavic, held a position of visiting assistant professor at the college of new jersey from fall 2009 to spring 2011. He has obtained a tenure track appointment at long island university-brooklyn which he began in the fall of 2011. In consultation with the program officer, james c. Lochner, the PI, along with CO-l's margaret benoit, nathan magee, and paul wiita have devised a restructuring plan for impress-ED which allows for the successful execution of the remainder of the program. Here we summarize the updated scope of work for the restructured impress-ED program. Given the initial success of the impress-ED program during its first year a guiding principle of the restructuring is to keep as many of its basic elements intact as possible. The relative proximity ofthe two relevant institutions, ewing, NJ (near trenton) and new york city will allow for this. As we shall discuss, the involvement of both institutions can potentially lead to an improvement of the program in the area of recruitment of participants from underrepresented backgrounds.