Date:
2/28/2002
Contact: Wendel Sloan at 505.562.2253
PORTALES – Dr. Dann Brown, assistant professor of agriculture in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences and Agriculture at Eastern New Mexico University, has been selected to receive a United States Department of Agriculture Hispanic-Serving Institutions Fellowship during summer 2002.
The HSI Fellowship Program, initiated in 1998, provides opportunities for faculty and staff from eligible institutions to work and interact with USDA staff in Washington, D.C., over a period of 3-4 weeks in the summer. Goals of this program include: (1) strengthening the HSI partnership of the University with USDA, (2) providing opportunities for professional development and thereby improving the quality of teaching, scholarship, and service at the institution, and (3) the promotion of diversity within the workforce.
Brown joined the ENMU faculty in 1996 and has been an active member of various local and state initiatives and programs, including the New Mexico Collaborative for Excellence in Teacher Preparation, the New Mexico Science and Engineering Research Fair, and the New Mexico Higher Education Assessment Association. He currently holds memberships in various statewide organizations, including the Environmental Education Association of New Mexico, Quivira Coalition, New Mexico Academy of Science, New Mexico Higher Education Assessment Association, New Mexico Academic Advising Association, and the New Mexico Water Conservation Alliance.
His publication record includes peer-refereed works and presentations in agricultural science, science education, the assessment of student learning, and the freshman year experience. Prior to joining the ENMU faculty, Brown was employed as a researcher with the USDA Agricultural Researcher Service in Temple, Texas, investigating impacts of increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations on rangeland ecosystems of the southwestern United States.
According to Dr. Brown, "I hope that my participation in the USDA Hispanic-Serving Institutions Fellowship program will increase our ability at ENMU to provide opportunities for Hispanic students from New Mexico, Texas, and the surrounding region. Eastern achieved HSI status only within the past few years and I'm looking forward to learning more about how we can develop proposals for the financial support of programs within Family and Consumer Sciences and Agriculture at ENMU as well as other programs on our campus, such as education and the sciences. ENMU has received many accolades for its work with students in the past and I hope my selection as a USDA HSI Fellow will enhance our ability to do what we do best--serve students through faculty leadership in the classroom and provide opportunities for student success."