The Elizabeth City State University (ECSU) Center for Remote Sensing Education and Research (CERSER) is partnering with several other institutions sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) as part of a Science and Technology Center (STC) with the University of Kansas. This partnership is intended to develop models and technology to arrive at a better understanding of the mass balance of polar ice sheets. The Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (CReSIS) studies how this mass balance affects the rising sea level that glaciologists have observed.

Dr. Linda B. Hayden, Director of The Center for Remote Sensing Education and Research (CERSER), is leading ECSU's efforts in this partnership with Dr. Prasad Gogineni, the Director of the Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (CReSIS). The CERSER Lab is focused on developing innovative and relevant research collaborations concentrating on coastal, ocean, and marine research. The CERSER Lab utilizes a TeraScan® High Resolution Picture Transmission (HRPT) System which includes a Polar Orbiting Tracking 1.5m Antenna, Global Positioning System (GPS) Antenna/Receiver, Telemetry Receiver, and the TeraScan® software suite.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) supports basic research and education across all disciplines of science and engineering. The goals of the STC program incorporate developing a helpful means for lasting scientific and technological research and education. The STC program supports proposals it considers as important investigation at where research disciplines intersect.