IGERT: Environmental Aquatic Resource Sensing: Basic Science, Business Education and Outreach

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。这个综合研究生教育和研究培训（IGERT）项目代表了一个跨学科、双机构（肯特州立大学和迈阿密大学）的项目，重点关注环境水生资源感知。该计划的目的是培养博士生在环境传感，以淡水资源为重点，以商业经验为重点，以发展不同职业的专业人才。由于淡水资源对全球功能和人类生存至关重要，因此迫切需要了解其脆弱性。对水生系统的威胁是多种多样的；理解和应对这些挑战需要新的策略和技术。因此，越来越多地使用自动传感器来收集环境数据，从而产生了对环境科学家培训的新需求。因此，培养材料科学、水生科学、环境传感器和商业方面的博士生是该项目的主要目标。课程强调集中课程与实践经验相结合，以实现主要的教育目标：基于假设检验的环境研究教育，让学生接触传感器开发和商业原理。为促进社区发展，学员将参加多学科工作小组。本项目提供的培训将为研究生将来从事与淡水资源有关的各种职业做好准备。研究结果将予公布，以激发中小学及公众对环境科学的兴趣。通过招聘和正在进行的项目联系的结合，将促进多元化研究社区的发展。IGERT是一项nsf范围内的计划，旨在满足教育美国博士科学家和工程师的挑战，他们具有跨学科背景，所选学科的深厚知识，以及未来职业需求所需的技术，专业和个人技能。该计划旨在通过建立创新的研究生教育和培训模式，在一个超越传统学科界限的合作研究的肥沃环境中，促进研究生教育的文化变革。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) project represents an interdisciplinary, dual-institution (Kent State and Miami University) program focused on environmental aquatic resource sensing. The purpose of the program is to train doctoral students in environmental sensing, focused on freshwater resources, accentuated with business experiences, in order to develop professionals equipped for diverse careers. Because freshwater resources are critical for global function and human survival there is a critical need to understand their vulnerability. Threats to aquatic systems are diverse; understanding and meeting these challenges requires new tactics and technologies. In response, there is increasing use of automated sensors to collect environmental data creating a new need for training of environmental scientists. Training doctoral students in materials science, aquatic science, environmental sensors and business is thus the primary goal of this project. The curriculum emphasizes concentrated courses coupled with hands-on experiences to accomplish the main educational goals: environmental research education based on hypothesis testing and exposure of students to sensor development and business principles. To foster community development, cohorts will participate in multi-disciplinary workgroups. The training provided by this project will prepare graduate students for a variety of future careers relevant to freshwater resources. Results of the research will be disseminated to stimulate K-16 and public interest in environmental science. Development of a diverse research community will be facilitated via a combination of recruitment and ongoing program connections. IGERT is an NSF-wide program intended to meet the challenges of educating U.S. Ph.D. scientists and engineers with the interdisciplinary background, deep knowledge in a chosen discipline, and the technical, professional, and personal skills needed for the career demands of the future. The program is intended to catalyze a cultural change in graduate education by establishing innovative new models for graduate education and training in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries.