Long-term Perspectives on Human-River Dynamics at the Confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers: Interdisciplinary Research for Students in Ecology and Archeology

该项目由本科生研究经验（REU）站点计划支持，该计划是nsf范围内的计划，尽管每个理事会管理自己的REU站点竞赛。本项目支持大学生积极参与科研，引导大学生从事科学研究，鼓励大学生继续投身国家的科学研究和发展事业。REU项目让学生以有意义的方式参与正在进行的研究项目或专门为此目的设计的研究项目。REU计划是NSF发展多样化、具有国际竞争力和全球参与的科学和工程劳动力的目标的主要贡献者。社会，行为和经济（SBE）科学理事会将此REU网站授予美国考古中心，目的是培养批判性思维能力，STEM技能和科学素养，这些都是本科生在科学事业上取得成功和/或为有关科学的公共对话做出明智贡献所必需的。该REU网站提供以下方面的指导和实践经验：1)科学问题解决和假设检验；2)研究设计与实施；3)数据收集与分析；4)结果解释；5)在一个合作的、跨学科的考古/生态项目的背景下，科学知识的专业和公众交流，每个学生都参与其中一年。科学过程最好通过沉浸式的研究体验来教授：因此，这个REU网站培养未来的科学家和科学头脑公民的基本合作技能，以及通过跨学科研究了解当今问题的方式。这个REU网站以人类学和生态科学为独特的跨学科重点，让本科生沉浸在问题导向的研究中，让学生面对这两个领域的挑战，同时教会他们成为科学信息的关键评估者，并为他们在科学领域的职业生涯做好准备。上述能力是通过参与跨学科考古学和生态学研究，在密西西比河和伊利诺斯河汇合处调查人类生态系统的深度相互作用而获得的。随着人类对河流生态系统的不断升级，在当前的区域生态模型中整合深度时间视角是非常重要的。人类对河流系统和相关环境的影响已经延续了数千年，但我们对人类影响的测量最多只涵盖了19世纪末至今。这为衡量工业化农业、城市发展、气候变化、入侵物种引入和其他人为因素对河流生态系统的影响留下了一个明显缩短的视角。总的来说，生态科学，以及我们对河流生态系统的理解，其特点是对人类在这片丰富的河流景观中的长期存在缺乏充分的认识。该项目对所有大学生开放，同时针对社区大学生和其他缺乏经验或获得研究机会的人。刘易斯克拉克社区学院是位于密西西比河沿岸八个州的九个社区学院联盟中的领导机构，通过与该学院的机构联系促进了招聘。

This project is supported under the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Sites program, which is an NSF-wide program although each Directorate administers its own REU Site competition. This program supports active research participation by undergraduate students in an effort to introduce them to scientific research so as to encourage their continued engagement in the nation's scientific research and development enterprise. REU projects involve students in meaningful ways in ongoing research programs or in research projects designed especially for the purpose. The REU program is a major contributor to the NSF's goal of developing a diverse, internationally competitive, and globally-engaged science and engineering workforce. The Social, Behavioral and Economic (SBE) sciences Directorate awarded this REU Site grant to the Center for American Archaeology with the goal of developing critical thinking proficiency, STEM skills, and scientific literacy that are necessary for undergraduate students to have successful careers in science and/or to make informed contributions to public dialogues about science. This REU Site provides instruction and practical experiences in 1) scientific problem-solving and hypothesis-testing; 2) research design and implementation; 3) data collection and analysis; 4) interpretation of results; and 5) professional and public communication of scientific knowledge within the context of a collaborative, multi-year interdisciplinary archeological/ecological project in which each student is involved for one year. The scientific process is best taught through immersive research experiences: thus, this REU site trains future scientists and scientifically savvy citizens in essential collaboration skills and the ways in which today's problems are informed through interdisciplinary research. This REU site, with a unique interdisciplinary focus on anthropological and ecological sciences, immerses undergraduate students in problem-oriented research and allows students to confront challenges inherit to both fields while teaching them to be critical evaluators of scientific information and preparing them for careers in the sciences. The aforementioned competencies are gained through participation in collaborative interdisciplinary archeological and ecological research investigating deep-time human-ecosystem interactions at the confluence of the Mississippi and Illinois rivers. Integrating deep-time perspectives within current regional ecological models is keenly important as humans escalate modifications of riverine ecosystems. Human engagement with riverine systems and associated environments extends over millennia, yet our measurement of human impacts encompasses at most the late 19th century to the present. This leaves a markedly foreshortened perspective against which to measure effects of industrial farming, urban development, climate change, invasive species introductions, and other anthropogenic factors, on riverine ecosystems. Ecological science in general, as well as our understanding of river ecosystems, is characterized by an underdeveloped appreciation for the long-term presence of humans in this rich riverine landscape. The program is open to all college students, while targeting community college students and others with little experience or access to research opportunities. Recruitment is facilitated through institutional ties with Lewis & Clark Community College as the lead institution in a nine community college consortium located in eight states along the Mississippi River region.