LBJ Institute partners with school districts on NASA grant

The LBJ Institute for STEM Education and Research at Texas State University is partnering with NASA's Johnson Space Center and five independent school districts in the San Marcos area on a three-year curriculum model for NASA’s Minority University Research and Education Program (MUREP).

NASA has awarded a total of $3.8 million to eight institutions operating as MUREP’s Aerospace Academy under its Future Aerospace Engineers and Mathematicians Academy program.

Kristina Henry Collins, associate director of the LBJ Institute and associate professor of Talent Development for Curriculum & Instruction will serve as the primary investigator (PI). Anthony Torres, associate professor in Engineering Technology is the co-PI. Program coordinator is Angie Behnke, a grant specialist for the LBJ Institute.    

Participating students will gain science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills throughout the school year to increase their capacity to engage and complete research-based NASA student capstone projects. Students will attend monthly STEM development sessions, a residential summer camp to conduct research investigations for the capstone projects, and learn to present work and project findings in research journals, conferences and other academic outlets. 

High school students in Innovation, Discovery and Exploration in Aerospace and Science (HS IDEAS) is an extension of the LBJ Institute’s existing program, Pre-Engineering Academic and Career Exploration for Girls interested in Engineering, Mathematics and Science that is open to students in grades 9 through 12. 

Parents will be invited to the monthly sessions to learn more about NASA, funding college and STEM opportunities for their students.

This is the third FAMA project that LBJ Institute has received. The other projects were developed for elementary and middle schoolers.

On the web:  www.nasa.gov/stem/murep/faq.html#5