IGERT: Water in the Urban Environment

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This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) award supports establishment of a multidisciplinary program in Water in the Urban Environment at University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) involving 32 faculty from nine departments and six partner institutions. Solutions to the complex problems associated with the effect of urbanization on the water cycle require integrated ecological, economic and engineering approaches, as well as innovations in policy-making. This program will train a generation of graduate students who understand these linkages and are prepared to work in multidisciplinary teams to improve understanding and management of urban environmental systems. The program takes advantage of the presence at UMBC of the field headquarters of the Baltimore Ecosystem Study, one of two urban sites in the NSF Long-Term Ecological Research network; partnerships with public agencies, nonprofits, and private consultants; and the proximity of Baltimore to the Chesapeake Bay, an important coastal ecosystem severely affected by urban land use change. The research program is centered on three interwoven themes: (1) urban hydrology and contaminant transport; (2) urban biogeochemical cycles, aquatic ecosystems, and human health; and (3) urban water policy, management, and institutions. New integrative curricula will be offered, which will bring together students from eight Ph.D. degree programs to gain an appreciation of the varied disciplinary viewpoints, terminology, and data sets required to address urban environmental problems. All IGERT Fellows will complete internships in one of thirteen collaborating organizations to expand their academic and career path horizons. IGERT is an NSF-wide program intended to meet the challenges of educating U.S. Ph.D. scientists and engineers with the interdisciplinary background, deep knowledge in a chosen discipline, and the technical, professional, and personal skills needed for the career demands of the future. The program is intended to catalyze a cultural change in graduate education by establishing innovative new models for graduate education and training in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries.