CAREER - The University of California's Natural Reserve System and the Role of Biological Field Stations in American Environmental History

职业 - 加州大学自然保护区系统和生物野外站在美国环境历史中的作用

• 批准号: 1055743
• 负责人: Peter Alagona
• 金额: $ 40.05万
• 依托单位: University of California-Santa Barbara
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-07-15 至 2017-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1055743&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; University; California; Natural; Reserve

Problem StatementHow have biological field stations shaped American environmental science and politics since World War II? This project seeks to answer this question through a historical study of the University of California's Natural Reserve System (NRS)the largest and most diverse network of biological field stations administered by any academic institution in the world.Intellectual MeritIn the United States, historians of science have long focused on laboratories as spaces for the production of knowledge, while environmental historians have concentrated on federal agencies and public lands. Research on biological field stations administered by academic institutions and non-governmental organizations has remained more limited in scope, and most has examined the period from 1890 to 1940. This project proposes that, despite this lack of scholarly attention, biological field stations have played crucial roles in American environmental science and politics. They have provided spaces for large-scale, comparative, and place-based research, facilitated collaborations of academic scientists with government officials, trained large numbers of researchers, and compiled long-term data sets that have shaped our understanding environmental change. Today, more than 330 such stations exist around the world, 286 of which are located in the United States. Biological field stations constitute the missing masses present but unaccounted for in American environmental history. This project will explore this crucial but untold story, and show how biological field stations can contribute even further to a more sustainable society.Broader ImpactsThe broader impacts of this project include three categories of activities. The project will contribute to the development of a new archive that will preserve NRS historical materials for future generations of scientists and historians. It will contribute to a K-12 science education program designed to reach underrepresented student communities in local schools. And it will include a broader outreach effort of public lectures and Web-based content that will disseminate the project's approach and results with the goal of making the social sciences and humanities more active participants in collaborative research at biological field stations throughout the world.

问题陈述自第二次世界大战以来，生物野外站如何塑造了美国的环境科学和政治？ 这个项目试图通过对加州大学自然保护区系统（NRS）的历史研究来回答这个问题。NRS是世界上任何学术机构管理的最大和最多样化的生物野外站网络。智力价值在美国，科学史家长期以来一直关注实验室作为知识生产的空间，而环境历史学家则集中于联邦机构和公共土地。 由学术机构和非政府组织管理的关于生物野外站的研究在范围上仍然较为有限，大多数研究的是1890年至1940年这一时期。 该项目提出，尽管缺乏学术关注，生物野外站在美国环境科学和政治中发挥了至关重要的作用。 它们为大规模、比较和基于地点的研究提供了空间，促进了学术科学家与政府官员的合作，培训了大量研究人员，并汇编了长期数据集，这些数据集塑造了我们对环境变化的理解。 今天，全世界有330多个这样的台站，其中286个位于美国。 生物野外站构成了美国环境史上存在但下落不明的失踪群体。 本项目将探索这一重要但不为人知的故事，并展示生物实地站如何进一步为更可持续的社会做出贡献。 该项目将有助于建立一个新的档案馆，为后代科学家和历史学家保存NRS的历史材料。 它将有助于K-12科学教育计划，旨在达到在当地学校代表性不足的学生社区。 它还将包括更广泛的公共讲座和网络内容的推广工作，传播项目的方法和成果，目的是使社会科学和人文科学更积极地参与世界各地生物实地站的合作研究。