IRES Track II: Systems-based transdisciplinary approaches to coral reef science and conservation

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Coral reefs are iconic ecosystems that provide goods and services to millions of people worldwide and support tremendous biodiversity. Modern coral reef science encompasses broad scientific fields, including biology, geology, chemistry, and physics, necessitating a cross-disciplinary effort to understand these complex ecosystems and how they will respond to local and global anthropogenic change. Our goal is to inspire the next generation of scientists to bridge diverse scientific disciplines to gain a transdisciplinary understanding of coral reef ecosystems. To reach this goal, we will offer a series of three Advanced Science Institutes (ASI) in Australia that will foster the collaborative environment necessary to address the existing and emergent needs of the coral reef scientific and conservation communities. We will model these graduate-level courses after approaches developed for Earth Systems science, which combine traditional disciplines to build a holistic understanding of Earth as a complex and adaptive system. By incorporating a team of domestic and international experts from various disciplines in coral reef science, these ASIs will help to address the current shortage in transdisciplinary researchers equipped to deal with the complex problems facing coral reefs and other marine ecosystems. Training through these ASIs will address specific and measurable societal needs by improving the quality of STEM education for U.S.-based, marine science graduate students, ultimately enhancing the science and technology available to inform public environmental policy. A key priority will be to recruit U.S.-based graduate students from traditionally underrepresented groups (women, persons with disabilities, and minorities) to promote diversity and equity in STEM research fields. By meeting these goals, we will increase the competitiveness of American STEM education programs in the international market, foster international partnerships in research and education between the U.S. and Australia, and enhance the American workforce in STEM industry, agency, and academia.Given the unprecedented pressure from climate change and other anthropogenic stressors that coral reefs and the communities that depend on them face, proactive management and novel techniques at the margins of terrestrial and marine ecosystems are urgently needed to counteract the degradation of these ecosystems. As a response to the shortage of broadly trained, transdisciplinary coral reef scientists, these ASI workshops in far-north Queensland, Australia will develop a systems-based approach to target student training in a range of disciplines related to coral reef science and conservation. Students will have the unique opportunity to interact with experts in a range of fields, including, but not limited to, ecology, biogeochemistry, physiology, animal behavior, molecular biology, and environmental social science. Students will first learn about socio-ecological resilience and anthropogenic impacts on natural systems at the School for Field Studies (SFS), Centre for Rainforest Studies (CRS) in the Atherton Tablelands (7 days), the only place in the world where land and ocean-based UNESCO World Heritage Sites meet (Daintree Rainforest and Great Barrier Reef). The group will then travel to the Lizard Island Research Station (LIRS), a state-of-the-art, island-based research facility in the northern Great Barrier Reef (14 days), where students will learn from and be guided through independent research projects by a diverse group of American and Australian coral reef scientists. Through lectures, class work, field immersions, and independent projects, these ASIs will engage students in hands-on research that fosters a transdisciplinary understanding of coral reef ecosystems. This pioneering program will teach students how holistic approaches are critical to addressing human impacts on ecosystems while preparing them to address the next big-picture scientific problems. The international location will provide students with valuable networking and professional development, broadening the students´ career opportunities.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.