Coastal Geoscience and Engineering: Development of a Joint Degree Program Between Georgia Institute of Technology - Savannah and the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography

佐治亚理工学院和斯基德韦海洋研究所正在制定2008年秋季学期GT/SKIO联合高级学位课程，题为“海岸科学和工程”。将地球科学和工程学的概念和严谨性结合起来，对于成功解决沿海人口迅速增加所产生的各种问题，并因天气和气候模式的变化而加剧所产生的各种问题，至关重要。培养沿海地球科学家和工程师在研究生水平上相互识字是至关重要的，但除了少数例外，实现这一目标的教育计划实际上是缺失的。沿海过程和环境的复杂性要求这一努力将研究与教育结合起来；对沿海过程的教学和审查采取全面、系统的方法；确保其他基础科学(如气象学、水文地质学、生命科学)的概念完全纳入教学基础；课堂教学侧重于具有普遍性的基本概念和过程，而不是只适用于单一地点或过程的事实；需要工程师与地球科学家结成伙伴关系，以确保将概念应用于环境情况；并强调解决问题的技能，同时满足新的劳动力需求。这两个伙伴机构在将代表人数不足的少数群体纳入STEM教育轨道方面都取得了相当大的成功。该联合项目将提供一个变革性的沿海地球科学/工程学研究生教育课程，目前在美国东南部完全没有，在美国其他地方也很少见。预计它将成为美国其他地区的示范项目。该项目的毕业生将被培养成未来的劳动力，以设计和管理港口，开发和维护海洋观测传感器和网络，模拟和预测入侵物种和病原体的轨迹，并缓解或管理沿海居住带来的环境后果。

The Georgia Institute of Technology and the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography are developing a joint GT/SkIO advanced degree program for Fall semester 2008 entitled Coastal Science and Engineering. Integration of geoscience and engineering concepts and rigor is fundamental to successfully address the spectrum of issues arising from the consequences of rapidly increasing coastal populations and exacerbated by changing weather and climate patterns. Educating coastal geoscientists and engineers to be mutually literate at the graduate level is critical, but with a few exceptions, educational programs to accomplish this goal are virtually absent. The complexity of coastal processes and environments requires that this effort integrates research and education; adopts a holistic, system approach to the teaching and examination of coastal processes; ensures that concepts from other basic sciences (e.g., meteorology, hydrogeology, life sciences) are a fully integrated part of the instruction base; focuses classroom instruction on fundamental concepts and processes that are universal rather than on facts that may only apply to a single location or process; requires the partnering of engineers with geoscientists to ensure the use of mathematical techniques for applying concepts to environmental situations; and stresses problem-solving skills while meeting emerging workforce needs. Both partner institutions have considerable success in the entrainment of underrepresented minorities into STEM educational tracks. The joint program will offer a transformative coastal geoscience/engineering graduate educational curriculum currently completely absent in the US southeast and rare elsewhere in the country. It is expected to serve as a model program for other US regions. Graduates of the program will be equipped to populate the future workforce to design and manage harbors, develop and maintain ocean observatory sensors and networks, model and predict invasive species and pathogen trajectories, and mitigate or manage environmental consequences of coastal habitation.