RCN: The Macrosystems Ecology For All (MEFA) Research Coordination Network

当今世界面临的环境挑战可以是全球性的，比如气候变化，也可以是区域性的，比如干旱。大范围的环境条件与当地生态系统相互作用：气候变化可能导致干旱，使当地植被干燥，增加野火的风险。人类土地利用模式可能会使一个地点的火灾迅速蔓延到其他地点，导致地区性火灾隐患。这个例子说明了理解不同尺度的生态现象之间的联系如何使科学家能够对环境干扰做出预测。大系统生态学是一个新兴的科学领域，它探索不同尺度上地球物理、生物和社会文化过程之间的联系。这项工作是通过对越来越大的环境数据集的分析得出的，比如国家生态观测网(NEON)提供的数据。然而，并不是所有的生态学教师，特别是那些来自以教学为导向的机构的教师，都接受过大系统生态学概念和技术的培训，或者在处理大量环境数据方面的培训。事实上，有一大批生态学教师可以从事大系统生态学的研究，但他们没有这样做。所有人的大系统生态(MEFA)研究协调网络(RCN)将为这些教师提供一个门户，让他们更多地了解宏观系统概念，更新他们的数据科学技能，设计与他们的科学兴趣产生共鸣的包容性研究项目，并培养本科生的动手研究。将强调跨机构合作，以建立团队科学的同志情谊，分享专业知识，并高效地解决大规模生态问题。让更多来自不同个人和机构背景的研究人员从事大系统生态研究，将为这一重要科学领域带来新的视角和创新。通过MEFA提供的师资培训，来自不同社区的更多本科生将接触到新兴的数据科学和宏观系统概念。通过在支持性框架中提供教师发展，MEFA将提高其教师参与者的技能，使他们能够建立一支多样化和包容性的科学队伍，为应对21世纪的非凡环境挑战做好准备。MEFA RCN将主办五次面对面会议和一系列在线研讨会，提供数据科学技术培训，突出宏观系统研究的范例，并支持合作团队和多地点项目的发展，让本科生参与宏观系统生态研究。MEFA将与NEON、BEDE(生物和环境数据教育)网络和EDDIE(环境数据驱动的调查和探索)项目等其他网络合作开展这些培训活动。MEFA将大力强调促进多样性、公平、包容和正义(DEIJ)，在协作科学的背景下提供关于多样性问题的培训，并要求所有研究项目都有DEIJ计划。MEFA将从少数族裔服务机构招聘教师，并为网络中担任项目领导角色的代表性不足群体的教师提供支持。MEFA将由一个网络管理团队和一个网络咨询团队管理，前者将促进MEFA的日常工作，后者将提供宏观系统生态专业知识、DEIJ建议以及关于愿景和组织优先事项的指导。对MEFA实现其目标的进展情况的评估将由测量资源公司(MRC)提供，这是一家全国性的测量和评估公司。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。

Environmental challenges facing the world today can be global in scale, like climate change, or regional in scale, like drought. Large-scale environmental conditions interact with local ecosystems: climate change may lead to a drought that dries local vegetation, increasing the risk of wildfire. Human land use patterns may enable fire in one site to spread quickly to other sites, leading to regional fire hazards. This example illustrates how understanding connections among ecological phenomena across scales allows scientists to make predictions about environmental disturbances. Macrosystems ecology is an emerging scientific field that explores links among geophysical, biological, and social-cultural processes at different scales. This work is informed by analysis of increasingly large environmental datasets, like those made available by the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON). However, not all ecology faculty, particularly those from teaching-oriented institutions, have been trained in macrosystems ecology concepts and techniques, or in working with large sets of environmental data. Indeed, there is a large pool of ecology faculty who could engage with macrosystems ecology but are not doing so. The Macrosystems Ecology For All (MEFA) Research Coordination Network (RCN) will provide a gateway for such faculty to learn more about macrosystems concepts, update their data science skills, design inclusive research projects that resonate with their scientific interests, and foster hands-on research with undergraduates. Collaboration across institutions will be emphasized to build camaraderie for team science, share expertise, and address large-scale ecological questions with efficiency. Having more researchers from diverse personal and institutional backgrounds engaging with macrosystems ecology will bring fresh perspectives and innovation to this important scientific field. Through the faculty training provided by MEFA, more undergraduate students from different communities will be exposed to emerging data science and macrosystems concepts. By providing faculty development in a supportive framework, MEFA will enhance the skills of its faculty participants and enable them to build a diverse and inclusive scientific workforce prepared to engage with the extraordinary environmental challenges of the 21st century.The MEFA RCN will sponsor five in-person meetings and a series of online workshops that provide training in data science techniques, highlight examples of macrosystems research, and support the development of collaborative teams and multi-site projects that engage undergraduates in macrosystems ecology research. MEFA will partner with other networks including NEON, the BEDE (Biological and Environmental Data Education) Network, and Project EDDIE (Environmental Data-Driven Inquiry and Exploration) in developing these training activities. MEFA will have a strong emphasis on promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ), providing training on diversity issues in a collaborative science context, and requiring that all research projects have a DEIJ plan. MEFA will recruit faculty from minority-serving institutions and provide support for faculty from underrepresented groups serving in project leadership roles within the network. MEFA will be governed by a Network Management Team who will facilitate the daily workings of MEFA and a Network Advisory Team who will provide macrosystems ecology expertise, DEIJ advice, and guidance on vision and organizational priorities. Assessment of MEFA’s progress toward its goals will be provided by Measurement Resources Company (MRC), a national measurement and evaluation firm.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.