CREST Center for Aquatic Chemistry and Environment Organization
The National Science Foundation (NSF) established the Centers of Research Excellence in Science and Technology (CREST) to provide Federal support for minority-serving institutions to create centers that integrate education and research. The CREST Center for Aquatic Chemistry and Environment (CAChE) at Florida International University (FIU) addresses the sources, transport, transformation and ecosystem responses to man-made and natural stressors in South Florida?s aquatic environments.
CREST CAChE, awarded in 2016, is one of less than 30 CREST centers funded by NSF. Housed in the Southeast Environmental Research Center (SERC), which falls under the larger Institute of Water and Environment (InWE) at FIU, CREST CAChE integrates undergraduate and graduate programs across 10 departments and 4 colleges at the University, from Biology and Chemistry to Computer Science and Public Health. The Center will create opportunities for FIU students ? 75% of whom are historically underrepresented minorities ? to experience authentic, innovative, and socially-relevant research, and foster their development as future professionals in STEM fields.