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

该项目得到了本科生研究经验(REU)站点计划的支持，该计划是一个NSF范围的计划，尽管每个理事会都管理着自己的REU站点竞赛。该计划支持本科生积极参与研究，努力向他们介绍科学研究，以鼓励他们继续参与国家的科学研究和开发事业。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而设计的研究项目。REU计划是NSF培养多元化、具有国际竞争力和全球参与的科学和工程劳动力这一目标的主要贡献者。社会、行为和经济(SBE)科学局授予美国考古中心REU场地赠款，目的是发展批判性思维能力、STEM技能和科学素养，这些都是本科生在科学事业中取得成功和/或为关于科学的公共对话做出知情贡献所必需的。该REU网站提供以下方面的指导和实践经验：1)科学问题的解决和假设检验；2)研究设计和实施；3)数据收集和分析；4)结果解释；5)在一个合作的、跨学科的考古学/生态学项目的背景下进行专业和公共交流，每个学生参与一年。科学过程最好是通过身临其境的研究体验来传授：因此，这个REU网站培训未来的科学家和精通科学的公民基本的合作技能，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，使本科生沉浸在以问题为导向的研究中，并允许学生面对这两个领域继承的挑战，同时教导他们成为科学信息的批判性评估者，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合作的跨学科考古学和生态学研究获得的，该研究调查了密西西比河和伊利诺伊河交汇处的深层人类-生态系统相互作用。随着人类对河流生态系统的修改升级，将深度时间视角整合到当前的区域生态模型中至关重要。人类对河流系统和相关环境的参与延续了数千年，但我们对人类影响的衡量至多涵盖了19世纪末至今。这为衡量工业化农业、城市发展、气候变化、入侵物种引进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。总体而言，生态科学以及我们对河流生态系统的理解，其特点是对人类长期存在于这片丰富的河流景观的欣赏不足。该计划向所有大学生开放，同时面向社区大学生和其他缺乏经验或获得研究机会的人。通过与刘易斯和克拉克社区学院的机构联系，促进了招生工作，刘易斯和克拉克社区学院是密西西比河沿岸八个州九所社区学院联盟的牵头机构。

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.