IRES: International Research Experiences for Students: Coastal Oceanography in East Africa

这个IRES项目为美国学生提供了与坦桑尼亚桑给巴尔海洋科学研究所（IMS）的当地研究人员合作，对桑给巴尔海峡几乎未知的动态进行研究的机会。桑给巴尔海峡是一个40公里宽、100公里长的海洋区域，由坦桑尼亚大陆和桑给巴尔岛接壤。这项研究经验将于2009年至2011年每年向来自美国的三名本科生和研究生开放，将使学生在体验坦桑尼亚这个与美国截然不同的国家的同时，产生新的研究成果。总的研究目标将是建立一个桑给巴尔海峡动态模型，产生一个尽可能接近真实年周期的年周期，从而最终可用于解决自然资源管理问题。学生们将在桑给巴尔的IMS度过两个月，从事两种不同类型的项目，一种侧重于模型开发，另一种侧重于在桑给巴尔海峡进行海洋测量，为模型提供观测数据。这些学生将得到坦桑尼亚资深科学家、罗格斯大学（Rutgers University）的Javier Zavala-Garay博士（他将每年在桑给巴尔与学生们在一起1.5个月）以及一个已同意担任该项目的咨询委员会的专家网络的指导。为桑给巴尔海峡开发一个模型是对政府间海洋学委员会和世界银行的努力的补充，因为两者都有促进发展中国家海洋科学能力发展的任务，而且两者都在支持桑给巴尔或东非的相关项目。由于对桑给巴尔海峡进行的物理海洋学研究相对较少，该项目将提供对该海峡动力学的初步了解。除了当地的相关性之外，沿海海洋学家对可能揭示独特沿海过程或可用于与其他沿海地区进行比较的新案例感兴趣。由于该项目涉及IMS的首要任务之一，IMS将提供海洋学仪器和一艘研究船的使用。斯克里普斯海洋学研究所和佐治亚理工学院将分别免费提供额外的仪器和计算机支持。该项目将为美国学生提供丰富而令人兴奋的国际研究机会，并将加强美国和非洲科学家之间的研究合作。学生将从美国各地招收，使美国与东非已有的网络之间建立许多新的伙伴关系。研究结果和在桑给巴尔进行研究的学生的经验将被记录在出版物、会议和网站上。这项研究也有可能为管理沿海地区自然资源的人提供有价值的信息。该项目得到了美国国家科学基金会地球科学理事会海洋科学部的部分支持。

This IRES project offers U. S. students the opportunity to conduct research on the virtually unknown dynamics of the Zanzibar Channel, a 40km-wide and 100km-long area of ocean bounded by the Tanzanian mainland and the island of Zanzibar, in collaboration with local researchers at the Institute of Marine Sciences (IMS) in Zanzibar, Tanzania. This research experience, which will be open to three undergraduate and graduate students from the US each year from 2009 to 2011, will allow students to produce new research results while experiencing Tanzania, a country that is strikingly different from the US. The overall research goal will be to develop a model of the dynamics of the Zanzibar Channel that produces an annual cycle that resembles as closely as possible the real annual cycle and thus can eventually be used to address natural resource management issues. The students will spend two months at IMS in Zanzibar, working on two different types of projects, one focusing on the model development and the other on making oceanographic measurements in the Zanzibar Channel to provide observational data for the model. The students will be mentored by senior Tanzanian scientists, by Dr. Javier Zavala-Garay of Rutgers University, who will be with the students in Zanzibar for 1.5 months each year, and by a network of experts who have agreed to act as an Advisory Board to the project. The development of a model for the Zanzibar Channel complements efforts by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission and the World Bank as both have a mandate to promote capacity development in the marine sciences in the developing world and both are supporting related projects in Zanzibar or in East Africa.Because relatively little physical oceanographic research has been conducted on the Zanzibar Channel, this project will provide a first understanding of the dynamics of that channel. Beyond local relevance, coastal oceanographers are interested in new cases that might reveal unique coastal processes or could be used for comparison with other coastal regions. Because this project addresses one of IMS' top priorities, IMS will provide oceanographic instrumentation and use of a research boat. Additional instruments and computer support will be provided at no cost by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Georgia Institute of Technology, respectively.This project will provide U.S. strudents with a rich and exciting international research opportunitiy and will also strengthen research collaboration between U.S. and African scientists. Students will be recruited from across the U.S., enabling many new partnerships between the U.S. and networks already existing in East Africa. Results of the research and the experiences of the students conducting research in Zanzibar will be documented in publications, at conferences, and via a website. The research also has potential to provide information of value to those managing natural resources in coastal zones.This project is supported in part by NSF's Division of Ocean Sciences, Geosciences Directorate.