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

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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.