REU Site: Global Change Ecology at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center

位于马里兰州切萨皮克湾的史密森学会环境研究中心(SERC)获得了本科生研究体验(REU)奖，该中心将在2012-2016年夏季为10名学生提供为期12周的研究培训。在过去的几个世纪里，人类活动通过栖息地碎片化、温室气体增加、物种引进、过量营养负荷和本土物种灭绝，极大地改变了地球的生物群。确定并最终减轻这些全球变化的后果是生态学和进化论的一个主要目标，也是这个REU网站的主要焦点。SERC是史密森学会最大的以研究和教育为基础的设施之一，其总体使命是揭示维持地球生命的生物和物理过程。REU计划关注全球变化的各个方面，包括气候变化、生物入侵、改变的生物地球化学循环和本地生物多样性的丧失，这些方面正在如何改变自然生态系统提供的生态产品和服务。切萨皮克湾尤其受到关注，它是美国最大、最具商业价值的河口。该计划包括实地研究、实验室工作和教育培训，以：(1)确定全球变化生物学中尚未回答的问题，(2)设计可检验的假说，(3)进行研究项目，以及(4)与专业团体分享发现。实习生还参加一系列描述科学方法、伦理和职业的短期课程，参加研究生级别的讨论小组，参加来访科学家的研讨会，并到附属研究机构进行实地考察。在实习结束时，每个实习生将向SERC科学界提交一个正式的研究研讨会，描述他们的项目，许多实习生将在会议上展示他们的研究，并在同行评议的期刊上发表他们的结果。关于该方案的信息将通过各种手段进行评估，包括使用通用的REU评估工具。欲了解更多有关SERC REU项目的信息，请访问https://serc.si.edu/pro_training/internships/projectmenu.aspx或联系REU奖学金协调员(Dan Gustafson先生，电子邮件：gustafsond@si.edu)。

A Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Sites award has been made to the Smithsonian Institution Environmental Research Center (SERC) on the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland that will provide research training for 10 students for 12 weeks during the summers of 2012-2016. Over the last few centuries, human activities have dramatically altered the planet's biota through habitat fragmentation, increased greenhouse gases, species introductions, excess nutrient loading, and native species extirpation. Determining and ultimately mitigating the consequences of these global transformations is a major goal in ecology and evolution and the primary focus of this REU Site. SERC is one of the Smithsonian Institution's largest research and education-based facilities and has an overall mission of revealing the biological and physical processes that sustain life on earth. The REU program focuses on how aspects of global change, including climate change, biological invasions, altered biogeochemical cycling, and native biodiversity loss, are altering the ecological goods and services provided by natural ecosystems. Particular attention is paid to the Chesapeake Bay, the nation's largest and most commercially valuable estuary. The program includes field research, laboratory work, and educational training to: (1) identify an unanswered question in global change biology, (2) devise a testable hypothesis, (3) conduct a research project, and (4) share the discovery with the professional community. Interns also take a series of short courses describing scientific methods, ethics, and careers, participate in graduate-level discussion groups, attend seminars by visiting scientists, and take field trips to affiliated research institutions. At the end of their internship, each intern will present a formal research seminar describing their project to the SERC science community, and many will present their research at conferences and publish their results in peer-reviewed journals. Information about the program will be assessed by various means, including use of a common REU assessment tool. More information on the SERC REU program is available by visiting https://serc.si.edu/pro_training/internships/projectmenu.aspx or by contacting the REU Fellowship Coordinator (Mr. Dan Gustafson at gustafsond@si.edu).