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

西华盛顿大学的首席研究员赛斯·范伯格将与佛罗里达海湾沿岸大学的菲利普·奥尔曼合作，为美国本科生进行为期10个月的跨学科体验，其中一个月将在西非进行实地研究。美国代表团将与加纳大学（University of Ghana in Legon）的教师和学生组成的团队合作。学生将研究社会和文化行为对经济和自然世界之间复杂互动的分层影响。具体来说，这项资助将把学生带到加纳沿海的阿达福阿（Ada Foah）一个独特的实地地点，在那里他们将从事与更广泛关注社会可持续性相关的社会学和生态学研究。本科学习经历包括三个阶段。首先，美国学生将在秋季学期选修两门大学课程。这些课程将由pi共同教授，包括学术内容，旅行经验的后勤指导，以及为数据收集过程做准备的有针对性的方法培训。第二，在秋季学期结束后，学生将随pi前往加纳进行为期一个月的研究体验。第三，学生从西非回国后将担任导师和研究顾问。知识价值：将讨论与可持续发展的统一主题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是否会影响村民？对海龟保育的行为和态度，以及一般的自然资源管理？2)什么因素决定了雌鸟的巢址选择，这些因素如何影响卵的存活和发育？在Ada Foah油田，文化习俗阻止了对筑巢的棱皮海龟的屠杀。具体来说，学生们将参与一个长期的海龟监测项目，在那里他们将标记和测量濒危的棱皮龟和橄榄蠵龟，同时与加纳的本科生同事一起在周围社区进行社会调查研究。学生们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，竞争村庄、加纳野生动物部门的决定、捕鱼做法和海岸变化）之间的动态交流进行持续评估。通过对自然资源保护、生态旅游的经济影响以及触发或抑制这些相互作用的文化习俗等主题的实地研究，学生将为解开环境、经济需求和社会行为之间复杂而多层次的因果机制的科学努力做出贡献。更广泛的影响：这种累积的学习经验将为所有参与者带来许多好处。美国教员来自不同的学科和不同的大学，促进了智力和后勤方面的合作，加纳大学勒贡分校社会学和海洋学的研究科学家也将参与其中。该项目为学生提供了学习重点学科跨学科学术内容的机会，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项目参与者的导师。学生们还将体验到沉浸在异国文化中的变革性好处，并在未来的国内外学术和职业生涯中随身携带全球科学知识和新发展的技能。

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.