IRES: Student-led social-ecological research in the drylands of Kenya and Colorado

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This IRES proposal will provide an opportunity for fifteen total students (five per year over three years) to conduct social-ecological research on drylands, comparing systems in Colorado and Kenya. The program will recruit students at the beginning of their sophomore year and each cohort's activities will include coursework and research over three semesters at Colorado State University plus five weeks in Kenya working with mentors at the University of Nairobi. The student's individual projects will be "inquiry-driven" research questions developed by the students in collaboration with mentors at Colorado State's Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory and the Center for Sustainable Dryland Ecosystems and Societies at the University of Nairobi, with whom the US investigators have a long history of collaboration. The need to consider landscapes as systems of interacting elements in which humans are integral components is widely respected, and the project includes an excellent matrix and mentoring plan to ensure strong individual research activities are developed. Importantly, the inquiry-driven model has been shown to produce strong educational development outcomes for students that will provide professional development that promotes the ability to conduct self-motivated, independent work based on critical thinking. The program includes four phases. The students will first spend two full semesters in training and preparation for their field research. This phase will include a drylands seminar course, training in CSU's SUPER (Skills for Undergraduate Participation in Ecological Research) program and partnering with faculty and near-peer mentors leading to drafting of a research question for their field research in Kenya. The second phase will be the field work in Kenya, working under the supervision and guidance of faculty at the University of Nairobi at one or two possible field sites. The third phase will be an academic semester of analyses of field data, culminating in scientific presentations in several venues as well as preparing materials for stakeholders in Kenya. In the fourth phase students may continue their research and/or serve as peer mentors for future cohorts and other ecological training programs at CSU. Important research results will be incorporated in course materials and program insights both socio-ecological and educational will be published in the appropriate literature. The project includes effective assessment plans and insights about student learning will be carried forward to develop courses and field experiences with UoN that combine scientific excellence with student needs/preferences. Overall, this project has tremendous potential to help produce well-rounded students with a strong understanding of the interactions of ecological systems with human systems and who are ready to pursue a range of professional opportunities.