NOAA EXPERIENTIAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING OPPORTUNITY (NERTO)

Overview

The NOAA Experiential Research and Training Opportunity (NERTO) is a NCAS-M graduate student requirement during the two-year fellowship.  This unique NOAA mission experience integrates academics with practical NOAA mission-relevant experiential training. The NERTO experience must be completed by NCAS-M fellows at a NOAA facility under the guidance of a full-time NOAA employee and must be a minimum of twelve weeks.

Steps to Complete the NERTO Application

  • Current NERTO internship opportunities can be found in the NOAA Student Scholarship Internship Opportunity (SSIO) portal and new opportunities can the written and uploaded to the NOAA SSIO portal (https://oedwebapps.iso.noaa.gov/ssio/).
  • The URL to access the MS Word template for SSIO projects could be found at: https://oedwebapps.iso.noaa.gov/ssio/Docs/Graduate_Student_Project_Development_Template.doc.
  • Once the project is written, the NOAA mentor (full-time NOAA employee) will upload the project to the SSIO portal https://oedwebapps.iso.noaa.gov/ssio/
  • The NOAA mentor may also reach out to the EPP/MSI Program Office (oed.epp10@noaa.gov) with any questions.
  • Information on NERTO can be found at the NERTO URL, http://www.noaa.gov/noaa-experiential-research-training-opportunities-nerto
  • Once the project is uploaded to the SSIO database, students will email a cover letter, resume, and unofficial transcript to jmanswell-butty@howard.edu to be submitted to NOAA Office of Education (OEd) to finalize the application package.
  • After the application is reviewed by the NOAA mentor/hosting office, the next steps include:
    1. Interview of student (optional) – make decision about selection of applicant for project;
    2. Collaboration in the development of the 12-week NERTO internship plan through communication between NCAS-M student, NCAS-M student’s academic advisor, NCAS-M Center Director (Dr. Sen Chiao) kept in the communication loop throughout the process;
    3. NOAA mentor develops offer letter and sends to NOAA EPP/MSI;
    4. NOAA mentor makes arrangement for badging, network access, and space at the hosting NOAA facility;
    5. NOAA mentor provides NOAA EPP/MSI the offer letter for the NCAS-M student who is selected for the NERTO internship as outlined in Key NERTO Elements; and the NCAS-M also takes actions to support a successful NERTO internship;
    6. NCAS-M fellows must remember to complete the NCAS-M NERTO Form prior to the start of the NERTO experience and submit to the NCAS-M education expert, Dr. Jo-Anne Manswell Butty (jmanswell-butty@howard.edu); and
    7. The NERTO Final Report must be submitted 14 days after the end of the NERTO to NCAS-M, after which it will be submitted to the EPP/MSI Program Office.

NERTO Resources

THE NOAA Office of Education recommends a review of the available resources for CSC, NOAA Mentor, and CSC-supported student:

For additional information, please contact: Jo-Anne Manswell Butty, PhD, Education Expert, NCAS-M; jmanswell-butty@howard.edu and Charles Ickoku, PhD, Distinguished Scientist, NCAS-M; charles.ichoku@howard.edu.