NRT: Aeroecology as a Test-bed for Interdisciplinary STEM Training

NRT：空气生态学作为跨学科STEM培训的试验台美国已经建立了巨大的基础设施，用于远程测量地球物理环境的许多方面，以造福社会，如卫星、雷达、望远镜和照相机。白宫科学和技术政策办公室要求科学界扩大对地球观测基础设施的使用，以产生新的知识，并提供超出最初设想的额外社会效益。这项授予俄克拉荷马大学的国家研究培训奖(NRT)通过开发和测试一种新的模式来应对这一挑战，该模式用于培训硕士和博士生在生物多样性保护和生态系统管理的新方法中使用现有的地球观测数据。培训计划将实施和评估地球观测科学、社会和可持续发展(EOS3)的跨学科课程计划和跨学科研究沉浸计划。这个培训项目预计将培养120名研究生，其中包括来自三所大学的空气生态学新兴学科的受训者。空气生态学侧重于了解动物在大气层(低层大气)中的相互作用。空气生态学是生物学、气象学、地理学和计算机科学的交叉学科，通过环境科学和对人类健康和安全的关注，它与社会科学有着密切的联系。工程技术的进步正在将大气层从广阔的开放空间转变为我们用于通信(手机发射塔)、能源生产(风力涡轮机)和交通(飞机和无人驾驶航空系统)的资源。这些不断增加的对大气层的入侵促使人们需要了解和管理一系列新的人类与生物多样性的相互作用和冲突。该NRT项目将建立在空气生态学培训联盟独特优势的基础上，作为对地观测数据的快速增长的新用途。NRT将起源于俄克拉荷马大学，首先在特拉华大学复制，然后在内布拉斯加大学林肯分校复制，然后辐射到全国各地的更多联盟机构。这种NRT模式将包括沟通、数据分析、基于团队的科学技能和企业家精神方面的培训。私人、政府和非营利组织的外部培训机会也将帮助学员在当地、国家和国际环境中获得专业技能。每个参与机构都将通过实施在招收、留住和指导研究生方面包容性的最佳做法来促进多样性。对NRT模式对学生学习、教师发展和制度变革的影响进行严格评估，将为未来广泛改善跨学科研究生教育的努力提供信息。NSF研究培训(NRT)计划旨在鼓励开发和实施大胆、新的、潜在的变革性和可扩展的STEM研究生教育培训模式。培训路径致力于通过创新的、基于证据的、与不断变化的劳动力和研究需求保持一致的综合培训模式，在高度优先的跨学科研究领域对STEM研究生进行有效培训。

NRT: Aeroecology as a Test-bed for Interdisciplinary STEM Training The United States has built tremendous infrastructure for remotely measuring many aspects of the Earth's physical environment to provide benefits to society, such as satellites, radars, telescopes, and cameras. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy has challenged the scientific community to expand the uses of this Earth observation infrastructure to generate new knowledge and provide additional societal benefits beyond those that were initially envisioned. This National Research Traineeship (NRT) award to the University of Oklahoma addresses this challenge by developing and testing a new model for training master's and doctoral students to use existing Earth observation data in new approaches to biodiversity conservation and ecosystem management. The traineeship program will implement and evaluate an interdisciplinary coursework program in Earth-observation for Science, Society, and Sustainability (EOS3) and an interdisciplinary research immersion program. This traineeship anticipates preparing one hundred and twenty (120) graduate students, including thirty (30) funded trainees, across three universities in the emerging discipline of aeroecology. Aeroecology focuses on understanding the interactions of animals in the aerosphere (lower atmosphere). Aeroecology is emerging from the interface of biology, meteorology, geography, and computer science and has strong connections to social sciences both through environmental science and concerns about human health and safety. Engineering advances are transforming the aerosphere from a vast open space into a resource that we use for communication (cell phone towers), energy production (wind turbines), and transportation (aircraft and unmanned aerial systems). These mounting incursions into the aerosphere drive a need to understand and manage a new suite of human-biodiversity interactions and conflicts. This NRT project will build on unique strengths of the training consortium in aeroecology as a rapidly growing new use of Earth-observation data. The NRT will originate at the University of Oklahoma, replicate first at the University of Delaware, then at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and later radiate to additional consortium institutions across the nation. This NRT model will include training in communication, data analytics, team-based science skills, and entrepreneurship. Externship opportunities with private, government, and non-profit organizations will also help trainees gain professional skills in local, national, and international settings. Each participating institution will foster diversity through the implementation of best practices for inclusiveness in recruiting, retaining, and mentoring of graduate students. Rigorous evaluation of the impact of the NRT model on student learning, faculty development, and institutional change will inform future efforts to broadly improve interdisciplinary graduate education.The NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) Program is designed to encourage the development and implementation of bold, new, potentially transformative, and scalable models for STEM graduate education training. The Traineeship Track is dedicated to effective training of STEM graduate students in high priority interdisciplinary research areas, through the comprehensive traineeship model that is innovative, evidence-based, and aligned with changing workforce and research needs.