Coordinated Planning of Field Station Support in the Jornada Basin, NM

该奖项支持规划工作的重点是两个相邻的研究设施在南部新墨西哥州，奇瓦瓦沙漠牧场研究中心（CDRRC）的新墨西哥州州立大学和Jornada实验范围（JER）的农业研究服务。 这两个人都拥有长期的教育和研究记录。这两个研究所都是在上个世纪早期建立的，目的是研究荒漠化过程、半干旱生态系统的结构和功能以及干旱牧场的管理。自1982年以来，NSF资助的Jornada盆地长期生态研究计划对两个属性的网站网络进行了长期观察和实验操作。然而，基础设施投资在各设施之间不均衡;特别是，CDRRC在为游客，研究人员和教育用户提供基本公用事业和服务方面落后。在该奖项的支持下，CDRRC，JER和LTER研究人员和其他用户正在启动一项联合规划计划，以概述和优先考虑在站点升级服务的步骤。这将包括研究在其他地点进行的类似规划工作，包括学术和联邦政府的共同努力，以及制定一项有序的计划，以确定资源和投资于地点的改善。 由于它与新墨西哥州州立大学（一个土地赠款，在美国和墨西哥边境地区的西班牙裔服务机构）的联系，这些网站也为代表性不足的群体提供了重要的培训功能。

This award supports a planning effort focused on two adjacent research facilities in southern New Mexico, the Chihuahuan Desert Rangeland Research Center (CDRRC) of New Mexico State University and the Jornada Experimental Range (JER) of the Agricultural Research Service. The two boast long track records of education and research. Both were established early in the last century for research into desertification processes, semi-arid ecosystem structure and function, and management of dry rangelands. Since 1982, the NSF-funded Jornada Basin Long Term Ecological Research Program has carried out long-term observations and experimental manipulations on a network of sites across both properties. However, infrastructure investments have been uneven across the facilities; in particular, the CDRRC lags behind in providing basic utilities and services for visitors, researchers, and educational users. With the support of this award, CDRRC, JER, and LTER researchers and other users are initiating a joint planning program to outline and prioritize steps in upgrading services at the sites. This will include study of similar planning efforts at other sites with a mix of academic and federal ownerships, and the development of an orderly plan for locating resources and investing in site improvements. Because of its affiliation with New Mexico State University (a land grant, Hispanic-serving institution in the US-Mexico border region), the sites also serve an important training function for under-represented groups.