EPSCOR RII Track 1: Managing Idaho's Landscapes for Ecosystem Services

在这个为期五年的项目中，爱达荷州刺激竞争研究实验计划(ID-EPSCoR)寻求增进对中等城市在面对气候变化和城市增长时社会和生态系统与生态系统服务之间的反馈的理解。该项目名为《管理爱达荷州S景观生态系统服务(英里)》，旨在培养爱达荷州S研究复杂社会生态过程的能力，尤其是与水需求和生态系统服务评估相关的过程。这项研究描述了城市增长和生态变化的模式，确定了城市增长和生态变化的社会驱动因素，确定了有价值的生态系统服务，构建了一个集成的建模框架，开发了可视化和虚拟化工具，并产生和传播了社会生态系统的知识。参与该项目的主要机构有：爱达荷大学、博伊西州立大学和爱达荷州立大学。来自南爱达荷州学院、北爱达荷州学院、刘易斯-克拉克州立学院、西爱达荷州学院和东爱达荷州技术学院的师生也将参与这一项目。智力优势爱达荷州？S市区正处于强劲发展阶段，爱达荷州？S中等城市与未开发土地之间的边界变化正在加速。城市人口中心的发展和扩张以及随之而来的人口增长正在产生人口和文化变化，正在改变生态系统服务的定义和价值。这些动态是在气候变化和资源需求变化的背景下发生的。这项建议旨在促进对中等城市在面对气候变化和城市增长时社会和生态系统与生态系统服务之间的反馈的理解。迈尔斯建立了爱达荷州S研究复杂的社会生态过程的能力，特别是与水需求和生态系统服务评估相关的过程。这项研究将描述城市增长和生态变化的模式，确定城市增长和生态变化的社会驱动因素，确定有价值的生态系统服务，构建综合建模框架，开发可视化和虚拟化工具，并生成和传播社会生态系统知识。根据不同的生态系统服务需求、供水和城市发展轨迹，选择了三个研究区域：博伊西/宝藏山谷、科达伦/波斯特瀑布和波卡特洛/爱达荷州瀑布。更广泛的影响该项目具有产生变革性知识的潜力，超越了基于地点的研究，并适用于国内和国际上正在增长的其他半干旱、中等规模城市。新的STEM和辅导计划和研讨会将特别侧重于招募女性、美洲原住民、拉美裔和其他少数族裔，而K-12活动将侧重于服务不足的人群。迈尔斯本科生研究实习(MURI)将提供300个本科生奖学金，让科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)本科生参与实践、带薪暑期和学年研究体验。建议者将努力争取城市管理机构在MURI活动中的重要参与。带来和学习社区计划将利用每个研究地点的现场英里经验，供大学教师、一年级本科生、高中STEM教师、高三和高年级学生以及爱达荷州公共电视台记者使用。这些活动旨在促进广泛的利益攸关方和公众参与。爱达荷州EPSCoR在招聘和留住女性、代表性不足的少数族裔学生以及来自爱达荷州的教职员工方面有着雄心勃勃的目标？S 100个现有的STEM管道K-12项目和5个PUI。这些活动的社会效益将是增进公众对生态系统及其服务的了解，提高生活质量和生态系统健康，从而增强提供支持可持续性的以科学为基础的决策的能力。

In this five-year project Idaho Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (ID-EPSCoR) seeks to advance understanding of feedbacks between social and ecological systems and ecosystem services in mid-sized cities in the face of climate change and urban growth. The program, Managing Idaho?s Landscapes for Ecosystem Services (MILES), builds Idaho?s capacity to study complex social-ecological processes, especially those associated with water demand and valuation of ecosystem services. This research characterizes patterns of urban growth and ecological change, identify social drivers of urban growth and ecological change, identify valuable ecosystem services, construct an integrated modeling framework, develop visualization and virtualization tools, and generate and disseminate knowledge of social-ecological systems. The major participating institutions in this project are: University of Idaho, Boise State University and Idaho State University. Faculty and students from the College of Southern Idaho, Northern Idaho College, Lewis-Clark State College, College of Western Idaho and Eastern Idaho Technical College will also be engaged in this project.Intellectual MeritIdaho?s urban areas are in a strong development phase and the border changes between Idaho?s mid-sized cities and undeveloped land are accelerating. The development and expansion of urban population centers and its concomitant population growth are producing demographic and cultural shifts that are altering how ecosystem services are defined and valued. These dynamics are occurring against a backdrop of climate change and resource-demand change. This proposal seeks to advance understanding of feedbacks between social and ecological systems and ecosystem services in mid-sized cities in the face of climate change and urban growth. MILES builds Idaho?s capacity to study complex social-ecological processes, especially those associated with water demand and valuation of ecosystem services. This research will characterize patterns of urban growth and ecological change, identify social drivers of urban growth and ecological change, identify valuable ecosystem services, construct an integrated modeling framework, develop visualization and virtualization tools, and generate and disseminate knowledge of social-ecological systems. Three study areas have been selected because of their different ecosystem services demands, water provisioning, and urban growth trajectories: Boise/Treasure Valley, Coeur d?Alene/Post Falls, and Pocatello/Idaho Falls. Broader ImpactsThis project has the potential for transformative knowledge generation that reaches beyond the place-based study and is applicable to other semi-arid, mid-sized cities undergoing growth, both nationally and internationally. New STEM and mentoring programs and workshops will specifically focus on recruiting females, Native Americans, Hispanics and other minorities, while K-12 activities will focus on underserved populations. MILES Undergraduate Research Internships (MURI) will provide 300 undergraduate scholarships to engage Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) undergraduates in hands-on, paid summer and academic year research experiences. The proposers will strive to have significant participation of URMs in the MURI activity. The Bringing and Learning Communities program will leverage field-based MILES experiences at each of the study sites for cohorts of college faculty, 1st year undergraduates, high school STEM teachers, high school juniors and seniors, and Idaho Public TV journalists. The activities are designed to foster broad stakeholder and public engagement. Idaho EPSCoR has ambitious goals for recruitment and retention of women, underrepresented minority (URM) students and faculty and students from Idaho?s 100 existing STEM Pipeline K-12 programs and five PUIs. The societal benefit of these activities will be the improved public understanding of ecosystems and their services, and improved quality of life and ecosystem health as a result a greater ability to provide science-based decisions that support sustainability.