NRT: Graduate Climate Adaptation Research that Enhances Education and Responsiveness of science at the management-policy interface (Grad-CAREER)

气候变化是21世纪科学和社会面临的重大挑战。在美国西部，气候变化正在增加干旱和火灾的威胁。这种威胁既需要新的基于科学的信息，也需要由科学家、管理者、政策制定者和其他公民组成的有效团队，他们可以利用这些信息来解决问题。这项授予犹他州立大学的国家科学基金会研究培训(NRT)奖将培训下一代气候适应科学家，以满足这些重要需求。该项目预计培训80(80)名MS和博士生，其中包括28(28)名资助的实习生，他们来自自然、物理和社会科学、工程学和数学。该项目将使STEM毕业生为将科学与管理和政策相结合的职业做好准备，以了解和适应不断变化的气候，并将提供对如何适应不断变化的气候的新的基于科学的理解。该项目将在8个系和5个学院提供9个硕士学位和8个博士学位，创建气候适应科学专业。该培训计划强调跨学科研究，并整合了信息学、建模、沟通、领导力、项目管理、风险评估、不确定性下的决策和跨学科团队合作方面的培训。项目研究将促进对不断变化的水文气候(干旱和洪水)、火情(频率、烧毁面积和严重程度)、土地覆盖(范围变化和入侵)、社会和经济影响以及潜在适应的了解。该项目将研究、指导和实际经验紧密结合在一起，并将促进科学家、联邦、州和地方土地管理者、政策制定者、受训人员和公民利益相关者之间的合作。学员将完成与政府、行业或非政府组织合作伙伴的新型两部分实习，该实习包括为期一年的研究工作室，并将学员嵌入创造可操作的科学的循环中。其他新颖的元素包括个性化的交流计划和以研究为基础的课程，并辅之以短期课程。项目团队将测试教育元素的模型，以更好地为未来的STEM劳动力做好准备，使其能够从事越来越多样化的跨学科研究、管理、教育和政策相关职业，包括应用数据密集型技术、基于云的协作、与不同受众的沟通以及项目管理。对该计划及其要素的全面评估将为研究生STEM教育的最佳实践提供信息。NSF研究培训(NRT)计划旨在鼓励开发和实施大胆的、具有潜在变革意义的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。

Climate change is a major 21st-century challenge for science and society. In the American West, changing climate is increasing the threats of drought and fire. Such threats require both new science-based information and effective teams of scientists, managers, policy-makers and other citizens who can use that information to solve problems. This National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) award to Utah State University will train the next generation of climate adaptation scientists to meet those important needs. The project anticipates training eighty (80) MS and PhD students, including twenty-eight (28) funded trainees, from the natural, physical, and social sciences, engineering, and mathematics. This project will prepare STEM graduates for careers that integrate science with management and policy to understand and adapt to changing climate and will provide new science-based understanding of ways to adapt to changing climate. This project will create a Climate Adaptation Science specialization within nine MS and eight PhD degrees, offered in eight departments and five colleges. The training program emphasizes interdisciplinary research and integrates training in informatics, modeling, communication, leadership, project management, risk assessment, decision-making under uncertainty, and interdisciplinary teamwork. Project research will advance understanding of changing hydroclimate (drought and flood), fire regimes (frequency, area burned, and severity), land cover (range shifts and invasions), social and economic effects, and potential adaptations. The project closely integrates research, instruction, and real-world experience and will foster collaborations among scientists, federal, state, and local land managers, policy-makers, trainees, and citizen stakeholders. Trainees will complete a novel two-part internship with a government, industry, or NGO partner that brackets a year-long research studio and embeds trainees in a cycle of creating actionable science. Other novel elements are an individualized communication plan and research-based curriculum supported with short-courses. The project team will test models for educational elements to better prepare the future STEM workforce for an increasing variety of interdisciplinary research, management, educational, and policy-related careers, including application of data-intensive techniques, cloud-based collaboration, communication with diverse audiences, and project management. Comprehensive assessments of the program and its elements will inform best practices in graduate STEM education. The NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) Program is designed to encourage the development and implementation of bold, new potentially transformative 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.