UMEB: Undergraduate Training in Ecological and Evolutionary Approaches to Complex Environmental Problems

德克萨斯农工大学系统，包括大学城的主校区和四个主要为本科生服务的机构，将为主要来自代表性不足群体的本科生建立一个扩展的和导师支持的研究经验。该计划旨在提供基于批判性思维，实验，合作和信息综合的科学理论的客观评估培训。该项目的学生将获得全年和多年的支持。学生参与者将从环境生物学学科中招募，培训将强调基于现代环境生物学和工程技术的跨学科研究。研究项目将涉及复杂的环境问题，这些问题需要生态学原理、种群生物学、遗传学、环境风险评估、环境工程和毒理学方面的知识。该计划旨在为每个学生提供共同导师，他们将在整个计划中为学生提供指导。该奖项包括来自美国国家科学基金会国际科学与工程办公室美洲项目的补充。这笔增刊将支持学生前往拉丁美洲，在那里学生和他们的导师将参与美国和拉丁美洲研究小组之间的研究合作。解决复杂的环境问题需要综合的多学科方法。在社会努力设计可持续经济发展手段的同时，生态系统的退化威胁着可再生自然资源。这种退化还影响生物多样性、人类健康和未来经济收益的前景。固有的生态系统复杂性往往使我们对各种组成部分如何相互作用以实现健康生态系统有效运作的理解复杂化。这种复杂性也使识别潜在风险和制定最小化风险的计划变得困难。未来的科学家必须接受培训，以便在生命科学和工程学的不同学科之间进行合作。这个项目旨在培养下一代的年轻科学家，这样他们就可以为解决我们国家和世界在不久的将来将面临的一些环境问题做出贡献。

0203992HoneycuttThe Texas A&M University System, including the main campus at College Station and four primarily undergraduate serving institutions, will establish an extended and mentor-supported research experience for undergraduates primarily from underrepresented groups. The program is designed to provide training in the objective assessment of scientific theories based on critical thinking, experimentation, collaboration, and synthesis of information. Students in the program will be supported throughout the year and for multiple years. Student participants will be recruited from disciplines in environmental biology, and training will emphasize interdisciplinary research based on modern techniques in environmental biology and engineering. Research projects will pertain to complex environmental problems that require knowledge of ecological principles, population biology, genetics, environmental risk assessment, environmental engineering, and toxicology. The program is designed to provide each student co-mentors who will provide guidance for the student throughout the program. This award includes a supplement from the Americas Program of NSF's Office of International Science and Engineering. This supplement will support travel to Latin America, where students and their mentors will engage in research collaborations between U.S. and Latin American research groups.Solutions to complex environmental problems require integrated multi-disciplinary approaches. While society struggles to devise a means for sustainable economic development, the degradation of ecosystems threatens renewable natural resources. Such degradation also impacts biological diversity, human health, and prospects for future economic gains. Inherent ecosystem complexity often complicates our understanding of how the various components interact for effective functioning of a healthy ecosystem. This complication also makes it difficult to identify potential risks and enact programs that minimize risk. Future scientists must be trained to collaborate across diverse disciplines in both the life sciences and engineering. This project is designed to train the next generation of young scientists, so that they can contribute to resolving some of the environmental issues that our nation and the world will face in the near future.