NRT: Future Rivers: Training a scientifically innovative, communication savvy STEM workforce for sustaining food-energy-water services in large and transboundary river ecosystems

NRT：未来河流：培训一支具有科学创新精神、善于沟通的 STEM 劳动力，以维持大型跨境河流生态系统中的粮食能源水服务

• 批准号: 1922004
• 负责人: Gordon Holtgrieve
• 金额: $ 300万
• 依托单位: University of Washington
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-09-01 至 2025-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1922004&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NRT; Future; Rivers; Training; scientifically

Large freshwater ecosystems are lifelines for a majority of the world's population, providing ecosystem goods and services critical to economies and livelihoods. Despite the important societal and economic benefits of these freshwater systems, the ability to predict impacts from ecosystem change and to evaluate tradeoffs is limited. A better understanding of conceptual and quantitative frameworks for evaluating the physical, biological, and social dynamics that sustain freshwater ecosystem services would allow for better management of these critical resources. This National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) award to the University of Washington will develop an innovative, culturally-aware STEM workforce fluent in state-of-the-art approaches for sustaining food-energy-water services in large river ecosystems and who are prepared to effectively safeguard ecosystem services for a growing world population. The project is driven by an urgent need for interdisciplinary scientists who can address current and future environmental problems by employing the quantitative tools required to integrate, model, and visualize complex datasets and often conflicting outcomes. The Future Rivers NRT training will include coursework and group activities that emphasize quantitative and interdisciplinary literacy. Students will engage in research that integrates transboundary rivers across the world, spanning a range of human disturbance and regional economic development regimes. The project anticipates training sixty (60) MS and PhD students, including eighteen (18) funded trainees, from disciplines across natural resource science, engineering, social science, health science, and policy.The overall goals of the Future Rivers NRT project are to develop a trained workforce in 21st century quantitative and data science approaches to sustain and safeguard food-energy-water services in large river ecosystems, while researching new ways to better predict impacts and safeguard these resources. The project will use numerical modeling and data science to catalyze new approaches for addressing the grand challenge of achieving sustainability in large Food, Energy, and Water Systems (FEWS). To integrate the research and learning, the Future Rivers project follows an active learning model that starts with the presentation of new information, followed by directed practice and exercises, and ends with the application of knowledge gained in a new context. Project training activities are centered around five primary educational objectives: 1) develop new technical and data science skills; 2) foster innovative interdisciplinary and international science integration; 3) improve trainee communication skills; 4) increase cultural awareness and inclusivity among faculty, trainees, and participants; and 5) create networks and opportunities for student career development. Specific project components focus on data science training and careers (courses, hackathon events, research summits, career fairs); communication and outreach skillsets (workshops, science communication film contests); equity and inclusivity training; and interdisciplinary river FEWS issues (courses, seminar series, and summer institutes that include some international locations).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 program is dedicated to effective training of STEM graduate students in high priority interdisciplinary or convergent research areas through comprehensive traineeship models that are innovative, evidence-based, and aligned with changing workforce and research needs.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

大型淡水生态系统是世界上大多数人口的生命线，为经济和生计至关重要的生态系统商品和服务提供。尽管这些淡水系统具有重要的社会和经济利益，但预测生态系统变化影响并评估权衡方面的影响的能力是有限的。更好地理解概念和定量框架，以评估维持淡水生态系统服务的物理，生物学和社会动态，将可以更好地管理这些关键资源。这项国家科学基金会研究培训（NRT）授予华盛顿大学将在最先进的方法中开发一种创新的，具有文化意识的STEM劳动力，以维持大型河流生态系统中的食品能 - 水服务，并准备在不断增长的世界人群中有效地保护生态系统。该项目的迫切需要跨学科科学家，他们可以通过采用整合，模型和可视化复杂数据集并经常相互矛盾的结果所需的定量工具来解决当前和未来的环境问题。未来的河流NRT培训将包括强调定量和跨学科素养的课程和小组活动。学生将参与整合世界各地跨界河流的研究，涵盖一系列人类干扰和区域经济发展制度。该项目预计将从自然资源科学，工程，工程，社会科学，健康科学和政策的学科中进行培训六十（60）个MS和博士学位学生，包括18（18）名资助的学员。保护这些资源。 该项目将使用数值建模和数据科学来促进新方法，以应对在大型食品，能源和水系统中实现可持续性的巨大挑战（少数）。为了整合研究和学习，未来的河流项目遵循一个主动学习模型，该模型从展示新信息开始，然后进行定向实践和练习，最后以在新环境中获得的知识的应用结束。项目培训活动集中在五个主要的教育目标上：1）发展新的技术和数据科学技能； 2）培养创新的跨学科和国际科学融合； 3）提高学员的沟通能力； 4）提高教师，学员和参与者之间的文化意识和包容性； 5）为学生职业发展创造网络和机会。特定的项目组成部分着眼于数据科学培训和职业（课程，黑客马拉松活动，研究峰会，职业展览会）；沟通和外展技能（研讨会，科学传播电影比赛）；公平和包容性培训；以及跨学科的河流少数问题（课程，研讨会系列和包括一些国际地点的夏季学院）。NSF研究训练（NRT）计划旨在鼓励开发和实施用于STEM研究生教育培训的大胆，新的潜在变革性的新型变革模型。该计划致力于通过全面的跨学科或收敛性研究领域的STEM研究生进行有效培训，通过全面的培训模型，这些模型具有创新性，基于循证的，并且与不断变化的劳动力和研究需求保持一致。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过使用基金会的知识优点和广泛影响来评估NSF的法定任务，并被视为值得的支持。