REU Site Proposal: Environmental research to support management of human (especially military) activities on coastal barriers and nearby estuaries in North Carolina

这项提案将使用2009年《美国复苏和再投资法案》(公法111-5)提供的资金授予。该奖项为位于北卡罗来纳大学海洋科学研究所(IMS)的REU网站提供资金。该网站每年暑假将为8名学生提供参与多学科研究的机会，提供对纯科学和应用科学问题的介绍，并与各地沿海地区的管理相关。REU项目将使学生能够在教师导师和小组讨论的帮助下，设计、实施和解释个别研究项目，这些项目被整合到位于北卡罗来纳州勒琼营地的美国海军陆战队基地以环境研究为重点的大型研究工作中。维持沿海栖息地的生态系统服务，同时保持这些地区的社会和经济用途，需要彻底了解相关的自然过程以及特定人类活动的后果。人类对沿海屏障和附近河口的广泛居住和访问说明了与使用这些生境有关的问题，但却没有提供在选择替代管理战略方面的洞察力。IMS在这些关键领域进行研究已有数十年的历史，事实证明这些研究对政策制定者很有用。我们正在国防部的一项研究中继续这一努力，该研究的重点是海军陆战队在勒琼营地的基地。该基地的环境管理面临着在其他沿海地区看到的所有问题，此外还面临着在整合军事训练活动的同时保持基地-S自然栖息地的完整性的额外挑战。他们需要相关的、严谨的科学信息来进行管理决策，这导致了一项多年的研究努力，结合了广泛的研究人员的专业知识，他们正在整合不同的学科来应对这个问题。我们将在以前工作协会的基础上，从缺乏本科研究机会的机构招聘少数族裔、女性和个人。学生将获得：1)与沿海海洋生态系统相关的具体和一般知识，2)管理沿海地区的挑战的插图，3)科学职业的信息，以及4)通过REU计划扩大他们的个人技能和信心。

This proposal will be awarded using funds made available by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).This award provides funding for an REU site to located at the University of North Carolina Institute of Marine Sciences (IMS). This site will offer eight students each summer a chance to participate in research that is multidisciplinary, provides introductions to both pure and applied science questions, and has relevance to management of coastal regions everywhere. The REU program will enable the students, with the assistance of faculty mentors and group discussions, to design, conduct, and interpret individual research projects that are integrated into a large, research effort focusing on environmental studies at the US Marine Corps base at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.Sustaining ecosystem services of coastal habitats, while maintaining social and economic uses of these areas, requires a thorough understanding of the relevant natural processes as well as the consequences of specific anthropogenic activities. Extensive human habitation and visitation to coastal barriers and nearby estuaries has illustrated the problems associated with uses of these habitats without providing insight in choosing among alternative management strategies. IMS has a decades-long history of conducting research in these critical areas that has proved useful to policy makers. We are continuing that effort in a Department of Defense study focused on the Marine Corps base at Camp Lejeune. Environmental management of the base faces all the problems seen in other coastal regions, with the added challenge of integrating military training activities while maintaining the integrity of the base?s natural habitats. Their need for relevant, rigorous scientific information for management decision-making has led to a multi-year research effort combining the expertise of a broad array of investigators who are integrating a diverse range of disciplines to respond to the problem.Building on prior working associations, we will recruit minorities, women, and individuals from institutions that lack undergraduate research opportunities. The students will receive: 1) specific and general knowledge relevant to coastal marine ecosystems, 2) illustrations of the challenges of managing coastal areas, 3) information on careers in science, and 4) expansion of their individual skills and confidence through the REU program.