Increased Research and Educational Opportunities at Shoals Marine Laboratory Through an Improved Communications Network

肖尔斯海洋实验室（SML），http://www.sml.cornell.edu，由康奈尔大学和新罕布什尔州大学经营，是在其第48年的计划，致力于海洋研究和教育的本科生。每年夏天，大约175名来自世界各地的本科生参加SML的学分课程和研究实习计划，另外25名研究生和研究人员在阿普尔多岛（Appledore Island）上进行论文和长期研究，阿普尔多岛是一个95英亩的岛屿，位于朴茨茅斯东南约6英里处，位于缅因州湾。阿普尔多尔是一个非凡的物理位置，可以方便地进入潮间带，潮下带，海洋和陆地栖息地，探索海洋和岛屿科学领域的问题。它还提供了学习可持续工程和电力，水和废水处理系统的整合的机会，其规模是学生可以接近的。该项目将支持SML通信和信息技术的升级和显著增强，以支持该外地站的研究和教育使命。 SML当前的IT基础架构已经使用了近十年，无法支持现代视频会议、依赖视频的研究和移动的计算平台。这些改进分为三个不同的通信类别，包括（1）广域网（WAN），（2）局域网（LAN）和（3）主要通信接口。广域网的改善将在大陆和岛屿之间建立一个高速（50 Mbps）对称微波信道，与目前岛上的连接相比，连接将增加50倍。 这将使高带宽通信应用成为可能，包括视频会议，从世界任何地方远程控制岛上的设备，以及大量研究数据进出该岛。局域网的改进将大大改善岛上的研究人员、学生和工作人员如何通过在全岛提供光纤电缆和高速（100 Mbps/1 Gbps）局域网服务来开展工作。 新增的主要通信平台，特别是两个室外远程IP摄像机和两个Polycom视频会议单元，将为学生的研究和学生指导提供直接支持。更广泛的影响：SML的使命是支持以本科生为重点的研究、教育和保护，我们致力于有效地实现这一目标。该项目将提供过去不可能提供的额外研究和教育机会。各种因素的融合促进了SML的成功：未受污染的海洋环境，壮观的封闭岛屿环境，紧密的社区，才华横溢且热情的教职员工，以及由设备齐全的设施支持的培养批判性思维和体验式教育和研究的课程。SML实习计划连接本科研究人员，工程师和保护生物学家是这一成功的关键部分。自1973年以来，SML的学生为阿普尔多岛横断面研究提供了数据，该研究是缅因州海湾岩石潮间带栖息地物种多样性，分布和丰度的最完整的数十年记录之一。在过去的20年里，阿普尔多尔岛定带站记录了春季和秋季候鸟的迁徙模式。12个正在进行的主要研究和调查项目每年吸引来自约10所大学的约40名调查人员。研究生（~4/年）在SML基础上进行论文或论文研究。UNH和康奈尔大学赞助SML的四个本科生实习项目，包括：（1）现场科学研究实习（RIFS），我们的NSF REU网站计划的内部资助的继任者，为本科生提供教师指导的独立研究机会;（2）可持续工程实习（SEI），为本科工程专业学生提供监测，分析和完善岛屿电气，淡水，盐水和废水系统;（3）海洋哺乳动物实习，使用摄影作为非干扰标记重捕种群大小和健康估计的基础;和（4）横断面实习，每年夏天延长阿普尔多尔岛的潮间带监测的长时间序列。 该项目所支持的通信和信息技术的改进将显著和明显地扩大SML研究和教育机会的成功。

Shoals Marine Laboratory (SML), http://www.sml.cornell.edu, operated by Cornell University and the University of New Hampshire, is in its 48th year of programs dedicated to marine research and education for undergraduates. Each summer, approximately 175 undergraduate students from all over the world participate in SML's credit courses and research internship programs and an additional 25 graduate students and researchers carry out thesis and long-term research on Appledore Island, a 95-acre island approximately six miles southeast of Portsmouth, NH in the Gulf of Maine. Appledore is an extraordinary physical location for exploring questions in field marine and island science with easy access to intertidal, subtidal, oceanic, and terrestrial habitats. It also offers opportunities to study sustainable engineering and the integration of power, water, and wastewater treatment systems at a scale that is approachable by students. This project will support the upgrade and significant enhancement of communications and information technology (IT) at SML to support the research and educational mission of this field station. SML's current IT infrastructure is nearly ten years old and is not able to support modern video-conferencing, video-dependent research, and mobile computing platforms. The improvements fall into three distinct communications categories including (1) the wide area network (WAN), (2) the local area network (LAN), and (3) major communications interfaces. The WAN improvements will establish a high-speed (50Mbps) symmetric microwave channel between the mainland and the island that will provide a fifty-fold increase in connectivity as compared to that in place on the island today. This will make high bandwidth communications applications possible, including videoconferencing, remote control of devices on the island from anywhere in the world, and the movement of large amounts of research data to and from the island. LAN improvements will significantly improve how researchers, students and staff on the island implement their work by providing fiber optic cable and high speed (100Mbps/1Gbps) LAN service across the island. The addition of major communications platforms, specifically two outdoor remote IP cameras and two Polycom video conferencing units, will provide direct support for research by students and mentoring of students.Broader Impacts: SML's mission is to support research, education, and conservation focused on undergraduates, and we are dedicated to delivering it effectively. This project will provide for additional research and educational opportunities that have not been possible in the past. A confluence of ingredients foster SML's success: an unspoiled oceanic environment, a spectacular cloistered island setting, a tight-knit community, a talented and enthusiastic faculty and staff, and courses that foster critical thinking and experiential education and research supported by a well-equipped facility. SML internship programs linking undergraduate researchers, engineers, and conservation biologists are a critical part of this success. SML students have contributed data since 1973 to the Appledore Island Transect Study, one of the most complete multi-decadal records of species diversity, distribution, and abundance in rocky intertidal habitats in the Gulf of Maine. The Appledore Island Banding Station has documented patterns of migratory birds in the spring and fall for the past 20 years. Twelve ongoing major research and survey programs attract ~40 investigators/year from ~10 universities. Graduate students (~4/year) base their thesis or dissertation research at SML. UNH and Cornell sponsor four undergraduate internship programs at SML, including: (1) Research Internships in Field Science (RIFS), an internally-funded successor to our NSF REU Site program that provides undergraduates opportunities for faculty-directed independent research; (2) Sustainable Engineering Internships (SEI) that provide undergraduate engineering students the opportunity to monitor, analyze, and refine the islands electrical, fresh-water, saltwater, and wastewater systems; (3) Marine Mammal Internships that use photography as a basis for non-disturbing mark-recapture population size and health estimates; and (4) Transect Internships that each summer extend the long time series of intertidal monitoring on Appledore Island. The communications and information technology improvements supported by this project will significantly and demonstrably extend the success of research and educational opportunities at the SML.