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

该项目是根据本科生（REU）网站计划，这是一个NSF范围内的计划，虽然每个董事会管理自己的REU网站竞争的研究经验的支持。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发展事业。REU项目以有意义的方式让学生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发展多元化，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，旨在培养批判性思维能力，STEM技能和科学素养，这对于本科生在科学领域取得成功和/或为科学公众对话做出明智贡献是必要的。该网站提供教学和实践经验1）科学解决问题和假设检验; 2）研究设计和实施; 3）数据收集和分析; 4）结果解释;和5）科学知识的专业和公众交流在一个合作的，多年的跨学科考古/生态项目中，每个学生都参与了一年。科学过程最好通过沉浸式的研究经验来教授：因此，这个REU网站培养未来的科学家和科学精明的公民，掌握必要的协作技能，以及通过跨学科研究了解当今问题的方式。这个REU网站，具有独特的跨学科的重点是人类学和生态科学，沉浸在以问题为导向的研究本科生，并允许学生面对挑战继承到两个领域，同时教他们成为科学信息的关键评价者，并为他们在科学事业做好准备。上述能力是通过参与合作的跨学科考古和生态研究，调查在密西西比河和伊利诺伊河的汇合处的深时间人类生态系统的相互作用获得的。随着人类对河流生态系统的改造升级，将深时视角与当前区域生态模型相结合非常重要。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测量最多涵盖了世纪末到现在。这使得一个明显缩短的角度来衡量工业化农业，城市发展，气候变化，入侵物种的引进，和其他人为因素对河流生态系统的影响。一般而言，生态科学以及我们对河流生态系统的理解，其特点是对人类在这一丰富的河流景观中的长期存在缺乏充分的认识。该计划是开放给所有大学生，而针对社区学院的学生和其他几乎没有经验或获得研究机会。通过与刘易斯·克拉克社区学院的机构联系促进了招聘，该学院是位于密西西比河沿着八个州的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.