Exploring Evidence of the Anthropocene: Archaeological and Ecological Interdisciplinary Research Experiences for First Generation Students in the Upper Mississippi River System

该项目由SBE董事会的本科生研究经验（REU）网站计划资助。因此，它具有科学和社会效益，并整合了研究和教育。越来越多的科学家认为，最近人类对地球生物圈的改变使我们进入了一个新的地质时代，即人类世，人类活动是环境和生态系统结构和功能的主要驱动力。虽然最近的环境变化主导了人类世的讨论，但人们已经使用和改变了地球的生态系统数千年。人类世所带来的科学和人类挑战将要求研究人员和公民具备应用跨学科科学知识所需的STEM技能。整合考古学和生态学数据可以为人类世的社会背景、时间和区域变化提供新的见解。这个REU网站的目标是促进第一代大学生的科学技能和跨学科性，使他们成为思想家，准备好迎接人类世的环境挑战。学生将从事为期8周的考古学和生态学跨学科研究项目，调查密西西比河上游系统（UMRS）人类世的深层证据。与来自南伊利诺伊大学爱德华兹维尔，伊利诺伊大学-伊利诺伊州自然历史调查和西伊利诺伊大学的学者合作，学生将获得实地调查，实验室研究，和数据分析有助于一个研究计划，使用跨学科的方法来理解UMRS中人类世的背景。这个REU网站的学生将研究和促进一个新兴的机构，研究人类与河流系统相互作用的寿命的文献，使用正在进行的长期鱼类监测数据和记录在鱼类遗骸中的数据，这些数据来自跨越千年的考古遗址。很少有研究在一个被一系列社会文化传统占据的区域生态系统中采取这样一个深时间视角。这个REU网站的学生进行的研究将使用这些数据来检查UMRS中人类世的证据在新的时间和区域尺度。通过结合考古和生态研究工具，参加该REU计划的学生将获得科学家和公民所需的跨学科STEM和批判性思维技能，以获得创新的解决方案来应对人类世的挑战。这个REU网站将在夏季学期运行8周，学生将被安置在南伊利诺伊大学爱德华兹维尔，爱德华兹维尔，IL。

This project is funded from the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Sites program in the SBE Directorate. As such, it has both scientific and societal benefits, and it integrates research and education. A growing number of scientists are suggesting that recent human alterations to the earth's biosphere have moved us into a new geologic epoch, the Anthropocene, in which human activity is a major driver of environmental and ecosystem structure and function. Although recent environmental alterations dominate the discussion of the Anthropocene, people have used and modified the earth's ecosystems for millennia. The scientific and human challenges created by the Anthropocene will require researchers and citizens with STEM skills necessary to apply interdisciplinary scientific knowledge. Integrating archaeological and ecological data may provide new insights into the social context, timing, and regional variation of the Anthropocene. The goal of this REU site is to promote scientific skills and interdisciplinarity among first generation college students to prepare them to be thinkers ready to approach environmental challenges of the Anthropocene. Students will engage in an 8-week, archaeological and ecological interdisciplinary research project investigating deep-time evidence of the Anthropocene in the Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS). Working with scholars from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, University of Illinois- Illinois Natural History Survey, and Western Illinois University, students will gain practical experience in field investigations, laboratory research, and data analysis contributing to a research program using interdisciplinary approaches to understand the context of the Anthropocene in the UMRS.Students of this REU site will research and contribute to an emerging body of literature that investigates the longevity of human interactions to river systems using ongoing long-term fish monitoring data and data documented in the fish remains from archaeological sites spanning millennia. Few studies have taken such a deep-time perspective within a regional ecosystem occupied by a range of sociocultural traditions. The research conducted by students of this REU site will use these data to examine evidence of the Anthropocene in the UMRS at new temporal and regional scales. By combining archaeological and ecological research tools, students enrolled in this REU program will gain interdisciplinary STEM and critical thinking skills needed by scientists and citizens to derive innovative solutions to confront challenges of the Anthropocene. This REU site will run for 8 weeks during the summer semester and students will be housed at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville, IL.