Pathways to Environmental Science and Sustainability

这个项目的重点是研究环境变化和解决这些变化对社会的影响。该计划建立在自然资源生态实验室（NREL）和华纳自然资源学院新成立的生态系统科学与可持续发展系（ESS）的跨学科合作研究历史上。该部门的学位选择包括生态系统科学和可持续发展学士学位和流域科学学士学位。智力优势：NREL和ESS已经发展了一个成熟和富有成效的学者社区，他们致力于本科教育，并在指导低收入学生和在科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）领域代表性不足的学生方面经验丰富。通过该大学的教育计划，有一个来自合作高中的招聘渠道。缺少的是一个协调一致的努力，将通过校园学生事务部门运作的招聘渠道和保留活动直接与研究界联系起来。该项目通过研究人员与学生事务人员合作，在学生还在高中的时候吸引和准备潜在的学生，从而建立这些联系。奖学金获得者将参加三个大学项目：1)针对哈佛大学应届毕业生的暑期桥梁项目；2)大学重点新生学习社区，包括学生参加共同课程和住在同一宿舍，加上促进专业发展和连接科学与社会问题的课程和研讨会；3)生态系统科学和可持续发展系的学士学位课程，强调通过课程、研究和实习的内容知识。以及在专业会议上交流发现的机会。该项目的六个目标是：(1)从23所合作高中招募并留住4名学生，共57名来自低收入背景的低年级和高年级学生，在4年内进入生态系统科学和可持续性或流域科学的学士学位课程；(2)为学者提供多年的教育经历，包括课程、研讨会、研究和实习机会，以及职业建议。(3)创造支持学术成功、促进研究技能和智力发展的学术环境；(4)提供一个学者探讨环境问题和讨论环境挑战解决方案的环境；(5)创造一个满足学者个人和社会需求的专业发展环境，使他们能够从事生态学或生态系统或流域科学相关领域的职业；(6)将项目的关键要素制度化，以便在国家科学基金资助完成后维持项目。更广泛的影响：学生将接触到相关的问题，如：a)气候变化和生物多样性；B)最先进的现场和实验室方法、仪器和技术，包括分子技术、稳定同位素和建模；C)基本的专业技能（如分析、写作和演讲）；d)多种职业选择和学生实现这些选择的途径（例如，学术界、政府和私营部门）。最大的影响来自于将校园学生事务部门运营的招生渠道和支持网络直接与校园教务部门实施的课程和奖学金联系起来的努力。

This project focuses on the study of environmental change and solutions to the consequences of these changes to society. The program is built on a collaborative interdisciplinary research history at the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory (NREL) and the newly established Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability (ESS) within the Warner College of Natural Resources. Degree options in the department include a BS in Ecosystem Science and Sustainability and a BS in Watershed Science.Intellectual Merit: NREL and ESS have developed a mature and productive community of scholars who are committed to undergraduate education and experienced in mentoring low income students and students underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Through the education initiatives at the university, there is a recruitment pipeline from partner high schools. What has been missing is a concerted effort to connect the recruitment pipeline and retention activities operated through the student affairs side of campus directly to the research community. This project is making these connections by having researchers work with the student affairs staff to attract and prepare prospective students while they are still in high school. Scholarship recipients are participating in three university programs: 1) the Summer Bridge Program for recent HS graduates, 2) the university Key Freshmen Learning Communities that include students taking common courses and living in the same dormitory, coupled with courses and seminars that foster professional development and bridge science-to-societal issues, and 3) the BS degree programs in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability that stress content knowledge through coursework, research and internships, and opportunities to communicate findings at professional conferences. The six program goals are to: (1) recruit and retain 4 cohorts from 23 partner high schools resulting in a total of 57 lower and upper classmen students over 4 years, from low-income backgrounds, into the BS programs in either Ecosystem Science and Sustainability or Watershed Science; (2) provide the scholars with a multi-year educational experience that includes courses, seminars, research and internship opportunities, and career advising. (3) create a scholarly environment that supports academic success and promotes research skills and intellectual development; (4) provide an environment in which scholars explore environmental questions and discuss solutions to environmental challenges; (5) create a professional development environment that addresses the personal and social needs of the scholars to enable them to pursue a career in ecology or in an ecosystem or watershed science-related field; and (6) institutionalize key elements of the program to sustain it after NSF funding is completed.Broader Impacts: Students are being exposed to relevant questions such as: a) climate variability and biological diversity; b) state-of-the-art field and laboratory approaches, instrumentation, and techniques that include molecular techniques, stable isotopes, and modeling; c) essential professional skills (e.g., analytical, writing and presentation); and d) multiple career options and the pathways through which the students can achieve them (e.g., academia, government, and the private sector). The greatest impact comes from the efforts to connect the recruitment pipeline and support networks operated through the student affairs side of campus directly to the curricula and scholarship practiced by the academic affairs side of campus.