US-Ghana Student Research Collaborations: Modeling Social, Economic, and Ecological Sustainability on the Coast of Ghana

美国-加纳学生研究合作：加纳海岸社会、经济和生态可持续性建模

• 批准号: 0825769
• 负责人: Seth Feinberg
• 金额: $ 4.97万
• 依托单位: Western Washington University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-09-15 至 2009-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0825769&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: US; Ghana; Student; Research; Collaborations

The principal investigator, Seth Feinberg of Western Washington University, working with Philip Allman of Florida Gulf Coast University, will conduct a 10-month interdisciplinary experience for U.S. undergraduate students that will be highlighted by one month of field research in West Africa. The U.S. team will collaborate with a team of faculty and students from the University of Ghana in Legon. Students will examine the layered effects of social and cultural behaviors on complex interactions between economics and the natural world. Specifically, this grant will bring students to a unique field site in Ada Foah, along the coast of Ghana, where they will engage in sociological and ecological research connected to a broader focus on social sustainability. The undergraduate learning experience involves three phases. First, U.S. students will take two university courses during the fall term. These courses will be co-taught by the PIs and will include academic content, logistical instructions for the travel experience, and targeted methodological training in preparation for the data gathering process. Second, after fall term, the students will travel with the PIs to Ghana for one month of research experiences. Third, the students will serve as mentors and research advisors upon their return from West Africa. Intellectual Merit: Two primary topics of sociological and biological interest consistent with the unifying theme of sustainability will be addressed: 1) Will the presence of sea turtle conservation and ecotourism impact villagers? behaviors and attitudes towards sea turtle conservation in particular, and natural resource management in general? 2) What factors determine female nest site choice and how do those factors influence egg survivorship and development? At the Ada Foah field site, cultural practices prevent the slaughter of nesting leatherback sea turtles. Specifically, students will engage in a long-term sea turtle monitoring program where they will tag and measure endangered leatherback and olive ridley sea turtles, while simultaneously working in teams with Ghanaian undergraduate colleagues conducting social survey research in the surrounding communities. The students' work will be an ongoing evaluation of the dynamic interchange between cultural beliefs, sea turtle population viability, economic development, and external stimuli (e.g., competing villages, decisions of the Ghana Division of Wildlife, fishing practices, and coastal change). Through field site-generated research on the topics of natural resource conservation, the economic impacts of ecotourism and the cultural practices that trigger or suppress these interactions, the students will contribute to the scientific effort of disentangling the complex and layered cause and effect mechanisms between the environment, economic need, and social behaviors.Broader Impacts: This accumulative learning experience will have numerous benefits for all participants. The U.S. faculty come from different disciplines and separate universities, promoting an intellectual and logistical collaboration that will also include research scientists in Sociology and Oceanography at the University of Ghana, Legon. The program provides opportunities for the students to learn cross-disciplinary academic content on the focal topic, to work with teams of Ghanaian students during the research process, and to utilize cyber technology as mentors for future program participants. Students will also experience the transformative benefits of immersion in a foreign culture, and carry global scientific knowledge and newly developed skills with them during future academic and professional careers, at home and abroad.

首席研究员，西华盛顿大学的Seth Feinberg与佛罗里达墨西哥湾沿岸大学的Philip Allman合作，将为美国本科生进行为期10个月的跨学科体验，并将在西非进行为期一个月的实地研究。美国团队将与加纳大学勒贡分校的一个师生团队合作。学生将研究社会和文化行为对经济与自然世界之间复杂相互作用的分层影响。具体来说，这笔赠款将使学生在阿达福阿，沿着加纳海岸，在那里他们将从事社会学和生态学研究连接到一个更广泛的关注社会可持续性的独特现场。本科生的学习经历包括三个阶段。首先，美国学生将在秋季学期学习两门大学课程。这些课程将由PI共同教授，包括学术内容，旅行体验的后勤指导，以及为数据收集过程做准备的有针对性的方法培训。第二，秋季学期结束后，学生将与PI一起前往加纳进行为期一个月的研究体验。第三，学生从西非返回后将担任导师和研究顾问。智力优势：将讨论与可持续性的统一主题相一致的社会学和生物学兴趣的两个主要主题：1）海龟保护和生态旅游的存在会影响村民吗？特别是对海龟保护的行为和态度，以及一般的自然资源管理？ 2)哪些因素决定了雌性的巢址选择，这些因素又是如何影响卵的存活和发育的？ 在Ada Foah现场，文化习俗阻止了对筑巢的棱皮龟的屠杀。具体来说，学生将参与一个长期的海龟监测计划，他们将标记和测量濒危棱皮龟和橄榄里德利海龟，同时与加纳本科同事在周围社区进行社会调查研究团队工作。学生的工作将是对文化信仰，海龟种群生存能力，经济发展和外部刺激（例如，竞争的村庄，加纳野生动物部门的决定，捕鱼方法和海岸变化）。通过对自然资源保护、生态旅游的经济影响以及引发或抑制这些相互作用的文化习俗等主题的实地研究，学生们将为解开环境、经济需求和社会行为之间复杂和分层的因果机制的科学努力做出贡献。这种累积的学习经验将对所有参与者都有许多好处。美国教师来自不同的学科和不同的大学，促进智力和后勤合作，其中还包括加纳大学勒贡分校社会学和海洋学的研究科学家。该计划为学生提供机会，学习跨学科的学术内容的焦点话题，在研究过程中与加纳学生团队合作，并利用网络技术作为未来计划参与者的导师。学生还将体验沉浸在外国文化中的变革性好处，并在国内外未来的学术和职业生涯中携带全球科学知识和新开发的技能。