RCN-UBE: San Francisco Bay Research Coordination Network for Student Opportunities in Avian Research to enhance STEM education and assess human impacts on avian biodiversity

该项目将通过将一组教师、学生和志愿者聚集在一起，实施一项以鸟类及其栖息地研究为重点的体验式学习和研究计划，评估和监测南旧金山湾（每年在南北半球之间迁徙的鸟类的南北“空中高速公路”的重要组成部分）鸟类种群的健康状况，为国家利益服务。该计划将向本科生，特别是来自服务欠缺社区的本科生介绍实地和实验室的STEM活动，从而促进学生对鸟类的欣赏及其对生态和人类福祉的重要性，同时也增加他们的就业机会。该项目将通过为学生提供动手实地研究和后续实验室活动的机会来推进生物科学教育，这些学生目前没有机会在户外环境中获得这种体验式学习。该计划还将通过揭示人类如何影响自然生态系统以及社会如何应对这一挑战来推进基础知识。让学生接触环境科学的职业道路将使他们的就业前景多样化，并教会他们成为各国最终依赖的国家和全球资源的有效管理者。全球生物多样性的急剧下降，特别是该国鸟类数量的急剧下降，凸显了该项目的重要性。这笔拨款将允许新的研究协调网络为旧金山湾鸟类研究学生机会研究协调网络（SOAR）实施教育和研究活动。该网络由来自四所大学（斯坦福大学、圣何塞州立大学、圣克拉拉大学和加州大学圣克鲁斯分校）、一个社区学院区（西谷/使命社区学院区）和三个非政府组织（旧金山湾鸟类天文台、加州科学院/自然主义者和eBird——后者基于康奈尔鸟类学实验室）的研究人员组成。该计划将包括为学生制作新的户外学习模块和新课程，旨在吸引代表性不足的群体从事STEM职业；跨院校共享教育资源；在研究及教育场所出版的刊物；新的、整合的鸟类学数据集；以及为参与的学生提供实习和其他职业发展机会。该项目的核心理念是让学生参与到“边做边学”的科学过程中，同时享受并利用与自然直接接触的机会来学习科学——这是国家和全球社会福祉的两个关键议程。该项目由生物基础设施司生物科学理事会和本科教育司教育和人力资源理事会共同资助，作为他们努力解决本科生物学教育的愿景和变化所带来的挑战的一部分：行动呼吁奖（http://visionandchange/finalreport/This）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 will serve the national interest by bringing together a group of faculty, students, and volunteers to implement an experiential learning and research program focused on the study of birds and their habitats, assessing and monitoring the health of bird populations in the South San Francisco Bay (an important portion of a north-south “highway in the sky” for birds that annually migrate between the northern and southern hemispheres). The program will introduce undergraduate students, especially those from underserved communities, to STEM activities in both the field and laboratory, thus promoting students’ appreciation of birds and their significance for ecological and human wellbeing, while also enhancing their career opportunities. The program will advance biological science education through opportunities for hands-on field research and follow-up lab activities for students who do not presently have access to such experiential learning in outdoor settings. This program will also advance fundamental knowledge, by revealing how humans are influencing natural ecological systems, and how society can respond to that challenge. Exposure of students to career paths in environmental sciences will diversify their job prospects and teach them to be effective stewards of the national and global resources upon which nations ultimately depend. The dramatic decline of biodiversity, globally, and of bird populations in the country in particular, underscores the significance of this project. The funding for this grant will allow the new Research Coordination Network to implement educational and research activities for The San Francisco Bay Research Coordination Network for Student Opportunities in Avian Research (SOAR). The network is composed of investigators from four universities (Stanford, San Jose State, Santa Clara, and UC Santa Cruz), a community college district (West Valley/Mission Community College District), and three non-governmental organizations (San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory, California Academy of Sciences/iNaturalist, and eBird – the latter based out of the Cornell Ornithology Lab). The program will include production of new outdoor learning modules for students and new courses aimed at attracting under-represented groups to STEM careers; cross-institutional sharing of educational resources; publications in research and education venues; new, consolidated, ornithological datasets; as well as internships and other career-advancement opportunities for participating students. The central philosophy of the program is to engage students in the process of science “learning by doing”, while enjoying and capitalizing the opportunity of studying science in direct contact with nature – two critical agendas for the wellbeing of society in the nation and globally. This project is being jointly funded by the Directorate for Biological Sciences, Division of Biological Infrastructure, and the Directorate for Education and Human Resources, Division of Undergraduate Education as part of their efforts to address the challenges posed in Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action (http://visionandchange/finalreport/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.