REU Site: Ecohydrology of Tropical Montane Forests—Diversity in Science, Interdisciplinary Breadth, and Global Awareness

这个REU网站每年将支持8名学生，他们从全国范围内从两年制和四年制院校招募，参加为期10周的国际研究体验。参与者将在来自四所学院(农业和生命科学、工程、地球科学和布什政府学院)的德克萨斯农工大学(TAMU)教员以及哥斯达黎加的国际专家的指导下工作。参赛者将在哥斯达黎加圣伊西德佩尼亚斯布兰卡斯附近的TAMU Soltis中心度过5周的校园生活。该计划旨在通过以下方式促进学生对未来科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)职业的发展：A)展示科学多样性的基本重要性；B)灌输跨学科广度的能力和鉴赏力，同时扩大对森林、水、人和地球之间相互联系的认识；以及C)通过在热带森林和附近地点提供变革性的国际研究经验来培养全球意识。除了开展研究项目外，学生还将开展专业发展活动，以培养他们对STEM研究和继续教育的认同感，并参与文化交流和实践学习项目，以增强他们在多元化和全球化社会中有效生活和工作的能力。预期成果包括在领先的研究期刊上联合发表师生论文、研究会议报告以及评估国际实地经验的成功程度的研究。项目负责人将分享招募不同学生群体的战略，项目设计和管理，以及通过研讨会和其他影响深远的渠道建立成功的国际REU项目。这个国际REU网站独特的学习环境支持交叉发现，将气候和土地管理与热带生态系统功能和森林为当地社区提供的相关水文服务联系起来，例如清洁可靠的饮用水和水电发电。主要的科学问题将包括：气候变化将如何影响热带森林生态系统的功能、水的可靠性、生物多样性和土壤碳固定？土地管理如何通过蒸散、树叶湿润持续时间和生产力的变化影响陆地-大气相互作用？以及森林如何为受气候、土地管理和自然地质影响的当地社区提供水文服务？我们的招募和多阶段选拔过程优先考虑来自这一区域联盟的潜在影响、适当的期望和态度以及对队列多样性的贡献。队列建设活动旨在创建一个包容性和支持性的学习社区，以提高批判性思维、解决问题、沟通和协作的技能。还将进行教育项目评估，以了解作为研究人员的学生体验和自我概念的完整时间表。除了标准的项目前和项目后调查外，还将使用更频繁的评估来评估学生在研究过程的各个方面对过度自信和挣扎周期的体验。该计划的其他成果包括通过TAMU卓越教学中心和协助TAMU本科生研究办公室举办研讨会，主题包括应用程序设计、招聘和选择流程、设定适当的期望、队列建设、设计旨在“进入研究”的专业发展，以及在海外留学模式之外建立成功的国际项目。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。

This REU site will support eight students per year, recruited nationwide from 2-year and 4-year institutions, to participate in a 10-week international research experience. Participants will work under the guidance of Texas A&M University (TAMU) faculty from four colleges (Agriculture and Life Sciences, Engineering, Geosciences, and Bush School of Government), alongside international experts based in Costa Rica. Participants will spend 5 weeks on-campus at TAMU and 5 weeks at the TAMU Soltis Center near San Isidro de Peñas Blancas, Costa Rica. This program aims to enhance student development towards future careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by A) demonstrating the foundational importance of Diversity in Science; B) instilling competencies and appreciation for Interdisciplinary Breadth while broadening awareness of the interconnection between forests, water, people, and planet; and C) fostering Global Awareness by providing a transformational international research experience within the tropical forest and nearby sites. In addition to conducting research projects, students will undertake professional development activities to foster their acceptance of a place in STEM research and continuing education and participate in cultural exchanges and hands-on learning projects that enhance their ability to live and work effectively in a diverse and global society. The expected outcomes include joint faculty-student publications in leading research journals, research conference presentations, and studies to assess the success of international field experiences. The project directors will share strategies to recruit diverse student cohorts, program design and management, and building successful international REU programs through workshops and other far-reaching outlets.The unique learning environment of this international REU site supports crosscutting discoveries that relate changing climate and land management to tropical ecosystem function and associated hydrological services provided by forests for local communities, e.g., clean reliable drinking water and hydropower generation. Key science questions will include, among others: how will altered climate affect tropical forest ecosystem function, water reliability, biodiversity, and soil carbon sequestration?; how does land management affect the land-atmosphere interaction through changes in evapotranspiration, leaf wetness duration, and productivity?; and how are hydrological services provided by forests for local communities affected by climate, land management, and natural geology? Our recruitment and multi-phase selection process prioritizes potential impact from this REU, appropriate expectations and attitudes, and contribution to diversity of the cohort. Cohort-building activities are designed to create an inclusive and supportive learning community to improve skills in critical thinking, problem solving, communication and collaboration. Educational program assessment will also be conducted to understand the full timeline of student experience and self-conception as researchers. In addition to standard pre- and post-program surveys, more frequent assessments will be used to evaluate students’ experiences with overconfidence versus struggle cycles for various aspects of the research process. Additional outcomes of this program include workshops through the TAMU Center for Teaching Excellence and assisting with the TAMU Office of Undergraduate Research on topics such as application design, processes for recruitment and selection, setting appropriate expectations, cohort-building, designing professional development aimed at ‘entering research’, and building successful international programs outside of the study abroad model.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.