Congresswoman Kathy Manning Announces North Carolina A&T, other NC Universities Awarded Funding from U.S. Department of Energy to Strengthen STEM Education and Research

Below is a press release from North Carolina Congresswoman Kathy Manning.

Congresswoman Kathy Manning (NC-06) announced North Carolina A&T State University was selected for the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Reaching a New Energy Sciences Workforce (RENEW) initiative, which will award $70 million in federal funding for student research and workforce training to colleges and universities across the country, including four North Carolina institutions of higher education.

The project titled ‘Sub-seasonal to Interannual Variability and Predictability of Rainfall over East Africa,’ will strengthen the Atmospheric Science and Meteorology Program at North Carolina A&T State University through experiential training and student mentorship. Additionally, the project titled, “Structure Property Relationships in Two-Dimensional MXenes,” co-led by North Carolina A&T State University, Fayetteville State University, and Savannah River National Laboratory, will be awarded funding under the RENEW initative. 

“Investing in diverse university research is critical to advancing our country’s global leadership in science, research, and technology,” said Congresswoman Manning. “North Carolina A&T’s inclusion in the RENEW program highlights its status as a national research institution. I’m proud to celebrate NC A&T’s continued accomplishments in STEM research and to champion support for STEM research and HBCUs in Congress.”

The funding supports research by historically underrepresented communities and diversifies leadership in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). DOE announced a total of $70 million in funding for internships, training programs, and mentor opportunities.

“We are very excited to receive this new funding from DOE,” said Abdellah Ahmidouch, Ph.D., dean of N.C. A&T’s College of Science and Technology. “This support will substantially strengthen our education and research programs in atmospheric science and meteorology and will help us attract more minority students to the field. Our students will receive training in state-of-the-art computational techniques and actively engage in pioneering research in climate science.”

North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina Central University, University of North Carolina Wilmington, and Fayetteville State University are among the 65 universities selected for the RENEW initiative.