REU Site: Environmental and Earth Systems Research at Biosphere 2

本科生的研究体验：生物圈2号环境与地球系统研究(B2REU)是一个为期10周的暑期研究网站，让本科生有机会体验真实的地球科学研究。每年夏天，十名学生将与导师和同行合作，进行最先进的环境和地球科学研究，并了解STEM的职业。B2 REU学生将从全美几乎没有机会获得研究经验的机构的申请者中挑选出来，和/或来自科学界代表性较低的群体，包括少数群体，特别是西班牙裔和美洲原住民，以及第一代学生。生物圈2号设施提供了独特的环境来激发学生对环境研究的兴趣，强大的导师和科学工作人员团队确保学生建立知识和联系，这将有助于他们未来的职业生涯。除了研究，学生还参加各种专业发展活动，以促进他们作为科学家的成长。暑期结束时，学生们将在亚利桑那大学本科生研究研讨会上展示他们的工作，数百名学生聚集在一起，与同学、研究导师和其他教职员工分享他们的工作。我们还支持学生参加他们选择的专业会议，以便与更大的科学界建立联系并向其展示他们的工作。B2 REU计划帮助培养环境和地球系统科学方面的下一代有动力的、多样化的和跨学科的科学家。B2 REU的学生研究项目强调在环境挑战和生态系统弹性的背景下的跨学科科学。生物圈2号基础设施允许在大范围内进行前所未有的控制，并以雨林、海洋和景观演变天文台(LEO)为特色，LEO是一种玻璃下的研究仪器，用于研究土壤和景观形成过程中水文、地质和生物过程之间的相互作用。这一标志性的3英亩生物圈2号设施的研究得到了附近自然环境研究的补充，包括美国国家科学基金会临界区天文台(CZO)，该天文台研究了沿圣卡塔利纳山脉的海拔梯度和图森附近的其他野外地点的地球系统过程。REU学生项目1)解决跨越传统学科的重要地球系统问题，包括多种认识方法和方法，2)为科学研究提供规模、控制和测量的独特组合，以及3)帮助学生将他们的研究与环境挑战联系起来。我们通过创造一个关注多样性、公平和包容性的欢迎和支持的环境来支持不同的学生群体；我们为导师提供培训，以确保学生感到他们是研究团队中有价值的成员。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Research Experiences for Undergraduates: Environmental and Earth Systems Research at Biosphere 2 (B2 REU) is a 10-week summer research site that gives undergraduate students the opportunity to experience authentic geoscience research. Each summer, ten students will work with mentors and peers to perform state-of-the-art research in environmental and Earth sciences and learn about careers in STEM. B2 REU students will be selected from applicants throughout the United States from institutions with little access to research experiences and/or come from groups underrepresented in science, including minority, particularly Hispanic and Native American, and 1st generation students. The Biosphere 2 facility provides a unique setting to excite students about environmental research and a strong group of mentors and science staff ensures that students build knowledge and connections that will help them in their future careers. In addition to research, students participate in a variety of professional development activities curated to facilitate their growth as scientists. At the end of the summer, students will present their work at the University of Arizona undergraduate research symposium, where hundreds of students convene and share their work with fellow students, research mentors, and other faculty and staff. We also support students to attend a professional meeting of their choice to network with and present their work to the larger scientific community. The B2 REU program helps train the next generation of motivated, diverse, and interdisciplinary scientists for environmental and Earth system sciences. Student research projects in the B2 REU emphasize interdisciplinary science in the context of environmental challenges and ecosystem resilience. Biosphere 2 infrastructure allows for unprecedented control at large scales and features a rainforest, an ocean, and the Landscape Evolution Observatory (LEO) – a research instrument under glass for studying interactions among hydrologic, geologic, and biologic processes during formation of soil and landscapes. Research in the iconic, 3-acre Biosphere 2 facility is complemented by studies in nearby natural settings, including the NSF Critical Zone Observatory (CZO) that examines Earth systems processes along the elevation gradient of the Santa Catalina Mountains and at other field sites close to Tucson. REU student projects 1) address important Earth systems questions that cut across traditional disciplines and include multiple approaches and ways of knowing, 2) provide a unique combination of scale, control, and measurement for scientific inquiry, and 3) help students link their research to environmental challenges. We support the diverse cohorts of students by creating a welcoming and supportive environment that is focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion; and we provide training to mentors to ensure that students feel they are valued members of research teams.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.