IRES Track I: Integrating freshwater science and sustainability: Training opportunities in a rapidly changing Yucatan Peninsula ecological corridor.

IRES 轨道 I：淡水科学与可持续发展的结合：快速变化的尤卡坦半岛生态走廊的培训机会。

• 批准号: 2106454
• 负责人: J Klump
• 金额: $ 29.98万
• 依托单位: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-10-01 至 2024-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2106454&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: IRES; Track; Integrating; freshwater; science

It has been suggested that the ultimate challenge of the 21st century is to reconcile the inherent conflict between human activity and environmental sustainability. Nowhere is this challenge greater than in dealing with increasing pressure on freshwater resources. Using a theme: “A River Runs Through It: Building a future from the flow of history and hydrology in an ecological corridor”, this IRES program will expose ~21 U.S. students in 3 cohorts over 3 years to a 7-week field experience. Each year will focus on the approaches, methods, and challenges inherent in resolving such conflicts in the Bacalar Ecological Corridor in the Yucatan, Mexico. This region, which has been extensively inhabited by humans for well over 3000 years dating back to the Mayans, is under consideration as a Ramsar Convention of Wetlands of International Importance site. Along with the local community, this region finds itself at the leading edge of experiencing the economic benefits of eco-tourism, and the challenge of maintaining the pristine environment which is driving a growing economy and a rapidly increasing level of use and occupation. Immersing students in an environment where the complexity of maintaining sustainable economic growth is front and center, the importance of water is obvious and compelling, and the role of science is recognized, both for fundamental understanding and for societal relevance, is the overarching goal of this project. The program seeks three major broad impacts: 1) interdisciplinary training in freshwater studies, 2) integrated, collaborative research that can ultimately inform management and policy, and 3) new cultural and personal experiences, exchange, and appreciation. All three will take advantage of traditional ecological knowledge, social context, and cultural awareness, and provide students the opportunity to experience the challenges of natural resource conservation and economic growth as adjudicated through policy and its underlying societal pressures. The concept of flow is a unifying principle, not only in water science, but in the course of human events. Like freshwater ecosystems everywhere, three major forces come together in this system and understanding their interactions is essential for viable, sustained environments and economies whose benefits accrue both today and into the future: 1) Surficial and subterranean hydrologic system dynamics, 2) Ecological complexity, and 3) Human use, the built environment, and engagement. These forces are a common feature of every freshwater system. Bacalar serves as a laboratory in which these forces are playing out in real time and the “flows” are changing rapidly. Opportunities for undergraduate and graduate student research exist across related areas giving the program latitude in matching student interests to a variety of fields including hydrogeology, aquatic biogeochemistry, mangrove and wetland ecology, carbon cycling, stromatolite ecology, climate dynamics, GIS mapping, remote sensing, community engagement, resource management and decision making. The program will take advantage of collaborations with the El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR) a federally supported research lab and college in Chetumal, the Centro Regional de Educación Normal. Lic. Javier Rojo Gómez (Bacalar Normal College), and the Bacalar Public High School system (COBACH).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.

有人提出，21世纪的最终挑战是调和人类活动与环境可持续性之间的内在冲突。 这一挑战最大的莫过于应对淡水资源日益增加的压力。该 IRES 项目以“一条河流贯穿其中：在生态廊道中从历史和水文的流动中构建未来”为主题，将在 3 年的时间里让约 21 名美国学生分 3 个组进行为期 7 周的实地体验。每年都会重点关注解决墨西哥尤卡坦半岛巴卡拉尔生态走廊此类冲突所固有的途径、方法和挑战。该地区早在玛雅人时期就已广泛居住了 3000 多年，目前正在考虑将其作为拉姆萨尔国际重要湿地公约的地点。该地区与当地社区一起，处于体验生态旅游经济效益的前沿，也面临着维护原始环境的挑战，而原始环境正在推动经济增长和使用和占领水平的迅速提高。 该项目的总体目标是让学生沉浸在一个以维持可持续经济增长的复杂性为中心、水的重要性显而易见且引人注目、科学的作用得到认可的环境中，无论是对于基本理解还是社会相关性。 该计划寻求三个主要的广泛影响：1）淡水研究的跨学科培训，2）最终可以为管理和政策提供信息的综合、协作研究，以及3）新的文化和个人体验、交流和欣赏。 这三者都将利用传统的生态知识、社会背景和文化意识，为学生提供体验政策及其潜在社会压力所带来的自然资源保护和经济增长挑战的机会。 流动的概念不仅在水科学中，而且在人类事件的过程中都是一个统一的原则。与世界各地的淡水生态系统一样，该系统中汇聚了三种主要力量，了解它们之间的相互作用对于当今和未来都能产生效益的可行、可持续的环境和经济至关重要：1) 地表和地下水文系统动态，2) 生态复杂性，以及 3) 人类利用、建筑环境和参与。这些力是每个淡水系统的共同特征。 Bacalar 作为一个实验室，这些力量在其中实时发挥作用，并且“流”正在迅速变化。相关领域存在本科生和研究生研究的机会，使该项目可以灵活地将学生的兴趣与多个领域相匹配，包括水文地质学、水生生物地球化学、红树林和湿地生态学、碳循环、叠层石生态学、气候动力学、GIS 制图、遥感、社区参与、资源管理和决策。 该计划将利用与 El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR) 的合作，这是一个联邦支持的研究实验室和切图马尔大学，即师范教育中心。利克。哈维尔·罗霍·戈麦斯（巴卡拉尔师范学院）和巴卡拉尔公立高中系统 (COBACH)。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优点和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。