Wyoming NSF EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement

怀俄明州EPSCoR研究基础设施改善奖将建立国家在自然资源科学方面的竞争力，特别是强调不同空间和时间尺度的生态拓扑，因为它与生态系统和全球变化有关。目前，该大学有20名教职员工，分布在不同的部门，从事这个非常广泛的跨学科领域。该奖项将为五名新员工提供部分启动支持，以填补新启动的跨学科博士课程的特定需求。设备和技术人员将得到支持，以加强稳定同位素、核酸勘探和地理信息系统设施，从而加强研究竞争力，促进这一研究重点领域的额外合作，并为大型、多研究者、竞争性研究项目所需的研究和教育专业知识的发展做出贡献。这种与生态系统对全球变化的反应有关的关注，对怀俄明州乃至更广泛的国家和国际关注都具有重大的价值和重要性。人们越来越认识到需要在不同的空间尺度上对生态过程进行建模和理解。该项目将为该大学提供与该需求相关的研究和教育重点。更重要的是，怀俄明州在地质研究方面的优势将为能够解决不同时间尺度和空间尺度的问题提供附加价值。这一观点在为政策决策提供信息方面将具有特别的价值。在项目的各个方面都将强调研究和教育的结合。在教师招聘中，将寻求研究人员同时也是优秀教师，以加强新的跨学科博士课程。该奖项将补充大学的研究生津贴水平，这种更高水平的支持将要求参与的学生参加科学家和工程师教学课程。为科学教育项目的研究生导师提供另一种研究生支持。获得此指导支持的学生将协助中学科学教育学生进行暑期研究。为大学和社区学院学生提供的本科奖学金将使这些学生参与研究经验。外展工作将扩大高中生参加以前成功的暑期研究项目的人数。此外，还将提供技术援助，以提高公众对高等教育中研究的作用及其对国家经济增长的贡献的认识，特别是使高中生和他们的父母更加了解本科研究的机会。

Proposal: EPS-0447681Proposal Title: Wyoming NSF EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement Institution: University of WyomingThe Wyoming EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement award will build capacity and capability for national competitiveness in Natural Resource Sciences, especially emphasizing ecological topology of different spatial and time scales as it relates to ecosystem and global change: Currently, the university has 20 faculty members in diverse departments for this very broad, interdisciplinary area. The award will provide partial start-up support for five new hires to fill specific needed niches in a newly initiated interdisciplinary PhD program. Equipment and committed technical staff will be supported to enhance the Stable Isotope, Nucleic Acid Exploration, and GIS facilities, thereby strengthening research competitiveness and fostering additional collaborations in this research focus area and contributing to the development of a critical mass of research and educational expertise necessary for large, multi-investigator, competitive research programs. This focus relating to ecosystem responses to global change has significant current merit and importance both for Wyoming and, more broadly, for national and international concerns. There is growing recognition of the need for modeling and understanding ecological processes at different spatial scales. This project will provide a research and education focus related to that need for the university. More importantly, Wyoming's strength in geological studies will give added value in being able to address questions in different time scales as well as spatial scales. This perspective will be of particular value in informing policy decisions. Integration of research and education will be emphasized in all aspects of the project. In the faculty recruitments researchers who are also excellent teachers will be sought to strengthen the new interdisciplinary PhD program. The award will supplement the university's level of graduate student stipends and this greater level of support will require that participating students take a course in Teaching for Scientists and Engineers. A different kind of graduate student support is to be provided for graduate student mentors for the Science Education program. Students receiving this mentorship support will assist secondary science education students in a summer research experience. Undergraduate fellowships for university and community college students will engage these students in research experiences. Outreach efforts will expand the number of high students participating in a previously successful summer research program. In addition, technical assistance will be engaged for efforts to increase public awareness of the role of research in higher education and its contribution to the state's economic growth and especially to make high school students and their parents more aware of undergraduate research opportunities.