Collaborative Research: NRT-INFEWS: Systems Thinking Training for Research ON Geography-based Coastal Food Energy Water Systems (STRONG-CFEWS)

合作研究：NRT-INFEWS：基于地理的沿海食品能源水系统研究的系统思维培训（STRONG-CFEWS）

• 批准号: 1735222
• 负责人: Kristin Wilson Grimes
• 金额: $ 50万
• 依托单位: University of The Virgin Islands
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-09-01 至 2023-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1735222&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; NRT; INFEWS; Systems

With 40% of the world's population residing within 100 kilometers of a coast, these environments are critical to local and global economies. In China, the world's largest exporter, more than half of the country's population lives along its industrialized coastlines. Population densities in the United States are highest in coastal counties, representing 39% of the U.S. population. In such densely populated areas, human activity related to the generation and use of food, energy and water has been linked to impacts such as nitrogen pollution that degrades the quality of coastal waters. This degradation affects reef ecosystems, fisheries, and people's economic livelihoods and health. Replenishment requires innovative systems thinking and better consideration of the way food, energy, and water systems are integrated in terrestrial and coastal environments. Systems thinking considers the whole system including engineered infrastructure, the environment, and sociocultural aspects, rather than an assembly of isolated parts. Integrating sociocultural dynamics and meaningful engagement of community stakeholders is fundamental to this approach. This National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) award to the University of South Florida (USF) and the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) will develop a community-engaged training and research program in systems thinking. Graduate Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) students will design innovative, holistic solutions (e.g., technological, organizational) to better manage complex and interconnected food, energy, and water systems in coastal locations. The project will train 109 graduate students, including 23 funded PhD-level trainees from engineering and applied anthropology at USF and 6 MS-level trainees from marine and environmental sciences from the Historically Black University partner, UVI in four locations: Tampa, Florida, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Barbados and Belize. This award will prepare students to create innovative systems to address complex problems and will serve as a model for training a STEM-focused workforce.The research supporting this training program focuses on the leverage points (technological, policy, and organizational) in designing food-energy-water systems in a specific geographic context to improve the sustainability of the overall system across different scales. This NRT will advance graduate training through: 1) a transformative research training framework guiding students to conceptualize the interactions between food-energy-water systems and define their research questions from a systems perspective; 2) a context based interdisciplinary training approach including newly developed co-taught courses, multi-discipline field-based training and research experiences that take place in the U.S. and internationally, and strong partnerships with local practitioners and community-grounded organizations; and 3) learning outcomes of our program in terms of interdisciplinary, 21st century, and local and global competency skills of graduate students and impactful research in the management of resources for food, energy, and water security. 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 comprehensive traineeship models that are innovative, evidence-based, and aligned with changing workforce and research needs.This project is co-funded by the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program. The LSAMP program supports comprehensive, evidence-based, and sustained approaches to broadening participation of students from racial and ethnic groups historically underrepresented in STEM.

世界上40%的人口居住在距离海岸100公里以内的地方，这些环境对当地和全球经济至关重要。在中国这个世界上最大的出口国，超过一半的人口居住在沿着工业化的海岸线。美国沿海县的人口密度最高，占美国人口的39%。在这些人口密集地区，与粮食、能源和水的生产和使用有关的人类活动与氮污染等影响有关，氮污染降低了沿海沃茨的质量。这种退化影响到珊瑚礁生态系统、渔业以及人们的经济生计和健康。补给需要创新的系统思维，更好地考虑食物、能源和水系统在陆地和沿海环境中的整合方式。系统思维考虑整个系统，包括工程基础设施，环境和社会文化方面，而不是孤立部分的组装。整合社会文化动态和社区利益攸关方的有意义参与是这一方法的根本。这项授予南佛罗里达大学（USF）和维尔京群岛大学（UVI）的国家科学基金会研究培训（NRT）将开发一个社区参与的系统思维培训和研究计划。研究生科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）的学生将设计创新的，整体的解决方案（例如，技术、组织），以更好地管理沿海地区复杂且相互关联的粮食、能源和水系统。该项目将培训109名研究生，其中包括23名由南佛罗里达大学资助的工程和应用人类学博士级学员，以及6名来自历史上的黑人大学合作伙伴UVI的海洋和环境科学硕士级学员，培训地点为：坦帕、佛罗里达、美属维尔京群岛、巴巴多斯和伯利兹。该奖项将培养学生创造创新系统，以解决复杂的问题，并将作为培养以STEM为重点的劳动力的典范。支持该培训计划的研究重点是在特定地理环境下设计食品-能源-水系统的杠杆点（技术，政策和组织），以提高整个系统在不同尺度上的可持续性。该NRT将通过以下方式推进研究生培训：1）一个变革性的研究培训框架，引导学生从系统的角度概念化食品-能源-水系统之间的相互作用并定义他们的研究问题; 2）基于背景的跨学科培训方法，包括新开发的共同授课课程，多学科的实地培训和研究经验，发生在美国和国际上，与当地从业人员和社区组织建立了强有力的伙伴关系; 3）我们的计划在跨学科，21世纪世纪，研究生的本地和全球能力技能方面的学习成果，以及在粮食，能源和水安全资源管理方面的有影响力的研究。NSF研究培训（NRT）计划旨在鼓励为STEM研究生教育培训开发和实施大胆的，新的潜在变革模式。该培训跟踪致力于在高优先级的跨学科研究领域的STEM研究生的有效培训，通过全面的培训模式是创新的，以证据为基础，并与不断变化的劳动力和研究需求保持一致.该项目是由路易斯·斯托克斯少数民族参与联盟（LSAMP）计划共同资助. LSAMP计划支持全面，循证和持续的方法，以扩大历史上在STEM中代表性不足的种族和族裔群体的学生的参与。