RaMP: Exploration of Variation across Levels of Organization in a CHANGEable World: Fostering CHANGE through Research in a Community of Practice

CHANGE项目将为学士学位后的参与者提供指导研究经验，其中许多人将来自传统上在生命科学领域代表性不足的群体。学员将参与跨生物水平（如分子、细胞、组织、整个生物体、种群）的研究项目，探索生物体如何应对快速变化的环境。培养未来几代生物学家，使他们能够轻松地在不同的生物学水平上工作和协作，以建立未来发现的能力，这是当务之急。CHANGE网络包括来自学术界、非政府组织、政府机构和工业界的专家，以及致力于促进学员专业发展的网络成员。CHANGE将招募来自不同背景的学士学位以上毕业生，以便根据几个地理相关主题扩大对科学研究的参与；各种合作机构（包括部落学院）也将从这一过程中受益。大多数生物对全年可预测的环境变化做出反应。然而，人为影响已导致不可预测的扰动增加，并改变了以前可预测的日变化和季节变化的时间和发生。虽然同一物种的一些个体和种群正在进行调整，但其他个体和种群可能没有。人们越来越认识到，要全面了解这种恢复力的变化，需要一种综合的方法。CHANGE项目的参与者在指导下进行的研究将确定稳健性和弹性的基本特性，使某些种群或物种能够持续应对快速的环境变化。该研究将为以下日益相关的问题提供见解：(1)什么是随着气候变化而变化的能力？(2)关键水平或组织的变化是否能够应对未来的变化？(3)什么样的反应能促成适应性变化？CHANGE项目将采用基于证据的实践来创建一个实践社区，并提供有意的指导，以实现一个支持性的、个性化的学习和研究环境。通过参与CHANGE计划，参与者将准备成为农村，EPSCoR州的领导者，并能够解决基本的生物学问题，同时在不断变化的地球上参与中西部上游的生物学重要性问题。CHANGE项目的一个独特目标是系统地开发和传播一种以证据为基础的指导本科毕业生的模式。通过这种方式，我们的网络将加强国家努力，建立更加包容不同人口的项目。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。

The CHANGE program will provide mentored research experiences for post-baccalaureate participants, many of whom will be from groups traditionally underrepresented in the Life Sciences. Mentees will engage in research projects across biological levels (e.g., molecules, cells, tissues, whole organisms, populations) exploring how organisms respond to rapidly changing environments. It is imperative to train future generations of biologists to be able to easily work and collaborate across different biological levels to build capacity for future discovery. The CHANGE network includes diverse experts from academia, a non-governmental organization, government agencies and industry, as well as network members focused on enhancing professional development of trainees. CHANGE will recruit post-baccalaureates from diverse backgrounds in order to broaden participation in scientific research according to several geographically relevant themes; diverse partnering institutions (including tribal colleges) will also benefit from this process. Most organisms respond to predictable environmental changes across the day and year. However, anthropogenic influences have led to an increase in unpredictable perturbations and altered the timing and occurrence of previously predictable daily and seasonal changes. While some individuals and populations of the same species are adjusting, others may not, and there is a growing appreciation that a comprehensive understanding of this variation in resilience requires an integrative approach. The mentored research conducted by participants in the CHANGE program will identify fundamental properties of robustness and resilience that enable certain populations or species to persist in response to rapid environmental change. The research will provide insight into increasingly relevant questions such as the following: (1) What is the ability to change as the climate changes?; (2) Does variation at critical levels or organization enable response to future change?; and (3) What responses enable adaptive change? The CHANGE program will employ evidence-based practices to create a community of practice, with intentional mentoring that enables a supportive, individualized learning and research environment. Through participation in the CHANGE program, participants will be prepared to become leaders in a rural, EPSCoR state and capable of tackling basic biological questions while engaging with questions of biological importance for the Upper Midwest on a changing planet. One unique goal of the CHANGE program is to systematically develop and disseminate an evidence-based model of mentoring post baccalaureates. In this way, our network will enhance national efforts to establish programs that are more inclusive of diverse populations.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.