IGERT: Bioresource-based Energy for Sustainable Societies

这个综合研究生教育和研究培训（IGERT）奖支持在生物资源为基础的能源可持续社会的多学科，多元文化的研究生教育和研究计划的发展。该计划将为工程和森林资源博士生提供平衡可持续能源经济的技术，环境和社会层面所需的工具和见解。基本的研究主题是新的生命周期评估（LCA）工具的开发和现场测试，以预测研究创新对商业化生物能源产品可持续性的影响。将强调基于森林资源的能源产品，因为森林是我们在亚卡马国家和奎诺特印第安国家的项目合作伙伴的重要经济和文化驱动力。 IGERT学员将使用新的LCA方法来预测他们的论文研究中创新的可持续性影响。为期一年的定制课程将暴露博士学位。学生参与森林管理，能源和环境问题，和美洲原住民的哲学。在他们的第二年，每个博士生群体将设计一个可持续的能源和资源管理过程或产品，以满足美国土著合作伙伴社区的发展需求。学生将参观保留地，与社区利益相关者讨论能源开发问题，之后他们将评估技术和资源管理方案，并进行LCA，以确定满足社区需求的可持续设计。 然后，学生将利用这些经验来教授本科设计课程，其中包括现实的经济，环境和文化约束。 IGERT学员将继续参加技术审查小组，对后续博士生群体产生的设计提供反馈。 这项研究和教育计划将与招聘和保留工作相结合，以提高博士生在工程和森林资源研究中的代表性不足的群体，特别是美洲原住民/阿拉斯加原住民的参与。IGERT是一个NSF范围内的计划，旨在满足教育美国博士的挑战。具有跨学科背景的科学家和工程师，在所选学科的深厚知识，以及未来职业需求所需的技术，专业和个人技能。该计划旨在通过建立创新的研究生教育和培训新模式，在超越传统学科界限的合作研究的肥沃环境中促进研究生教育的文化变革。

This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) award supports the development of a multidisciplinary, multicultural graduate education and research program in Bioresource-based Energy for Sustainable Societies. This program will provide doctoral students in engineering and forest resources with the tools and insights required to balance the technological, environmental, and social dimensions of a sustainable energy economy. The underlying research theme is the development and field testing of new life cycle assessment (LCA) tools to forecast the impact of research innovations on the sustainability of a commercialized bio-energy product. Forest resource-based energy products will be emphasized because forests are important economic and cultural drivers for our program partners at the Yakama Nation and the Quinault Indian Nation. IGERT trainees will use the new LCA methods to forecast the sustainability implications of innovations from their dissertation research. A year-long tailored curriculum will expose Ph.D. student participants to forest management, energy and environmental issues, and Native American philosophies. In their second year, each doctoral student cohort will design a sustainable energy and resource management process or product that addresses development needs in the Native American partner communities. Students will visit the reservations to discuss energy development issues with community stakeholders, after which they will evaluate technical and resource management options, and perform LCA to identify a sustainable design that address community needs. Students will then use these experiences to teach an undergraduate design course that incorporates realistic economic, environmental, and cultural constraints. IGERT trainees will continue to participate in technology review panels to provide feedback on the designs generated by subsequent doctoral cohorts. This research and educational program will be coupled with a recruitment and retention effort to enhance the doctoral participation of underrepresented groups, especially Native Americans/Native Alaskans, in engineering and forest resource studies. 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.