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威海洋研究所正在联合开发一个名为“海岸科学与工程”的GT/SkIO高级学位课程，将于2008年秋季学期推出。地球科学和工程概念的整合和严谨是成功解决沿海人口快速增长所带来的一系列问题的基础，而这些问题又因天气和气候模式的变化而加剧。教育沿海地球科学家和工程师在研究生阶段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项工作将研究和教育结合起来；采用全面系统的方法进行海岸过程的教学和考试；确保其他基础科学（如气象学、水文地质学、生命科学）的概念完全融入教学基础；将课堂教学重点放在普遍的基本概念和过程上，而不是只关注可能适用于单一地点或过程的事实；要求工程师与地球科学家合作，确保使用数学技术将概念应用于环境情况；并强调解决问题的能力，同时满足新兴的劳动力需求。这两个合作机构在吸引代表性不足的少数族裔进入STEM教育领域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。预计该项目将成为美国其他地区的示范项目。该计划的毕业生将配备为未来的劳动力提供设计和管理港口，开发和维护海洋观测传感器和网络，建模和预测入侵物种和病原体轨迹，以及减轻或管理沿海居住的环境后果。

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.