Collaborative Research: REU Site: The Socio-Ecological Role of Greenways in Urban Systems - An Interdisciplinary Approach

该项目由社会，行为和经济科学理事会（SBE）本科生研究经验（REU）站点计划资助。REU项目集研究和教育于一体，具有科学和社会效益。该REU站点授予田纳西州查塔努加大学和伊利诺伊州爱德华兹维尔的南伊利诺伊大学，将在三年内为10名学生提供为期10周的培训。研究在田纳西州的查塔努加、伊利诺伊州的爱德华兹维尔和田纳西州的克利夫兰进行。预计总共有30名学生，主要来自研究机会有限的学校或来自代表性不足的群体，将在该项目中接受培训。学生们将学习如何做出政策决定以及如何进行跨学科研究，许多学生将在科学会议上向当地决策者和社区利益相关者展示他们的工作成果。这项研究将把绿道网络整合到更广泛的城市科学领域，并提高我们对城市地区绿道网络对环境和人类相关影响的理解。该计划的评估将通过在线SALG URSSA工具进行。课程结束后，将对学生进行跟踪，以确定他们的职业道路。这个为期3年的研究经验的主题是通过研究城市绿道网络中人类和自然系统之间的相互作用来增强环境的复原力和可持续性。这项研究基于三个基本问题：1)微气候的人为和生态驱动因素是什么？2)城市绿道网络中的人类使用模式是什么？3)关于城市绿道动态的经验证据如何为更广泛的科学界和当地社区利益相关者提供减轻城市环境影响和社会差异的方法？学生们将在跨学科的团队中工作，并根据每个城市的绿道的社会和生态特征来评估绿道的变化。每个团队的结果将合并成一个更大的数据集，用于评估不同城市规模的绿道特征。调查结果将与社区领导人和利益相关者分享，告知他们绿道系统目前的影响以及扩大绿道网络的潜在机会。学生将学习和应用相关技能：生物多样性；数据收集、分析和可视化；地理信息系统（GIS）；还有，基于证据的政策制定。这些技能将被用来更好地理解绿道网络内小气候变化的人类和生物驱动因素，并为政策制定者提供减轻环境影响和社会差异的最佳途径，以创建更具弹性的城市。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project is funded from the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Sites program in the Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE). The REU program has both scientific and societal benefits integrating research and education. This REU Site award to University of Tennessee Chattanooga, located in Chattanooga, TN, and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in Edwardsville, IL, will support the training of 10 students for 10 weeks for three years. Research is conducted at Chattanooga, TN, Edwardsville, IL, and Cleveland, TN. It is anticipated that a total of 30 students, primarily from schools with limited research opportunities or from an under-represented group, will be trained in the program. Students will learn how policy decisions are made and how interdisciplinary research is conducted, with many presenting the results of their work at scientific conferences and to local policymakers and community stakeholders. The research will integrate greenway networks into the broader field of urban science and improve our understanding of the environmental and human associated impacts of greenway networks in urban areas. Assessment of the program will be done through the online SALG URSSA tool. Students will be tracked after the program in order to determine their career paths.The theme for this 3-year research experience focuses on enhancing environmental resilience and sustainability by examining the interaction between human and natural systems within urban greenway networks. The research is grounded in three fundamental questions: 1) What are the human and ecological drivers of microclimate? 2) What are the human usage patterns in urban greenway networks? 3) How can empirical evidence on urban greenway dynamics inform the broader scientific community and local community stakeholders on ways to mitigate environmental impacts and social disparities in cities? Students will work in interdisciplinary teams and assess how greenways vary based on social and ecological characteristics of the greenway in each respective city. Results from each team will be combined into a larger dataset which will be used to assess greenway characteristics in varying city sizes. The findings will be shared with community leaders and stakeholders to inform them of the current impacts of their greenway system and potential opportunities for expanding the greenway network. Students will learn and apply skills related to: biodiversity; data collection, analysis, and visualization; geographic information systems (GIS); and, evidence-based policymaking. These skills will then be used to better understand the human and biological drivers of microclimate variation within greenway networks and inform policymakers as to the best ways to mitigate environmental impacts and social disparities in order to create more resilient cities.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.