New Jersey City University has been awarded a three-year grant totaling $287,707 from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for “Environmental Science in Urban Education,” a project that will focus on re-shaping NJCU’s environmental science curriculum. The USDA grant is the first of its kind awarded to any college or university in New Jersey.

The two primary goals of “Environmental Science in Urban Education” at New Jersey City University, a federally-designated Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) and Minority Institution (MI), are to increase the number of well-trained food and agricultural sciences professionals (especially those from underrepresented minorities) and to improve the quality of their education.

The project’s goals will be achieved by re-shaping NJCU’s environmental science curriculum to be more interdisciplinary, more experiential, and more focused on the urban environment.

NJCU will partner with the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey (CWF) and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) under the sponsorship of the USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS).

These partners will work with NJCU faculty and students to develop faculty training, redesign courses/curriculum, and create 24 student internships/research experiences.

The project will also underwrite a $38,000 scholarship for an NJCU alumnus to earn a graduate degree in a related agricultural field.

Ruddys Andrade, NJCU assistant vice president for academic affairs/grants and sponsored programs, is serving a project director of “Environmental Science in Urban Education.”

For further information call Mr. Andrade at (201)200-3364.