Mentoring Institute for Sediment Transport (MIST) for Early Career Professionals at the 2023 EWRI World Environmental and Water Resources Congress and the AGU Fall Meeting

该项目旨在打破不同科学和工程学科泥沙研究人员之间有限的专业互动以及地球科学和工程学科缺乏多样性的障碍。考虑到气候变化将产生更严重的自然灾害，这些灾害将不成比例地影响到弱势群体，包括在地球科学和工程领域代表性不足的群体，将能够应对这一日益增长的环境挑战的不同研究人员聚集在一起是至关重要的。该旅行奖建立了泥沙运输研究人员指导研究所（MIST），将科学和工程领袖（导师）与早期职业专业人士（学员）联系起来。旅游资金将支持25名早期职业学员参加2023年ASCE EWRI世界环境与水资源大会或2023年AGU秋季会议。这种支持将使被指导者能够在其中一次会议期间参加年度指导会议，并且它将启动未来的MIST活动。MIST旨在成为一个由导师和学员之间的种族，性别和民族多样性组成的包容性研究所。MIST是一个虚拟网络，将导师（学术界、政府机构和行业中有成就的专业人士）与处于职业生涯早期阶段的学员（包括终身制或非终身制教师、非营利机构或联邦实验室的研究人员、博士后学者和学生）联系起来，重点关注来自代表性不足群体的个人。MIST将与其他指导网络合作，包括AGU地球和行星表面过程部分的学生指导计划和Mentoring365 （chronus.com）。学员将在会议之前招募，目标是来自少数民族服务机构的代表性不足的专业人士和学生，并通过诸如“妇女促进河流研究系列研讨会”等机制进行宣传。MIST还将创建一份具有技术知识和热情的合格导师名单，以指导被指导者。在会议之前，MIST将为学员匹配导师。在EWRI和AGU秋季会议上，学员将参加强调沉积物运输最新研究的技术会议，还将参加年度面对面指导会议。MIST旨在帮助学员成为未来科学和工程领域的领导者。通过这些活动，该项目预计将1)在知名期刊上出版一本特刊，精选会议上的学员和导师论文；2)促进两个专业协会之间的合作；3)为早期职业人士创建一个包容、多样化的指导网络。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 aims to break barriers of limited professional interaction among sediment researchers from different science and engineering disciplines and the lack of diversity in both geoscience and engineering disciplines. Given that climate change will produce more severe natural disasters that will disproportionately affect vulnerable populations, including groups typically underrepresented in geoscience and engineering fields, it is critical to bring together a diverse group of researchers capable of tackling this growing set of environmental challenges. This travel award develops a Mentoring Institute for Sediment Transport researchers (MIST) to connect science and engineering leaders (mentors) with early career professionals (mentees). Travel funding will support 25 early-career mentees to attend the 2023 ASCE EWRI World Environmental and Water Resources Congress or the 2023 AGU Fall Meeting. This support will enable mentees to attend an annual mentoring meeting during one of these conferences, and it will kick off future MIST activities.MIST aims to be an inclusive institute consisting of racial, gender, and ethnic diversity among mentors and mentees. MIST is a virtual network that connects mentors — accomplished professionals in academia, governmental agencies, and industries — with mentees in early career stages, including tenure or non-tenure track faculty, researchers in non-profit institutions or federal laboratories, postdoctoral scholars, and students, with a focus on individuals from underrepresented groups. MIST will collaborate with other mentoring networks including the Student Mentoring Program in the AGU Earth and Planetary Surface Processes section and Mentoring365 (chronus.com). Mentees will be recruited prior to the proposed conferences, targeting underrepresented professionals and students from Minority Serving Institutions, and advertising via mechanisms such as the Women Advancing River Research Seminar Series. MIST will also create a list of qualified mentors who have technical knowledge and enthusiasm to guide mentees. Prior to the conference, MIST will match mentees with mentors. At the EWRI and AGU Fall meetings, mentees will participate in technical sessions highlighting state-of-the-art research in sediment transport and will also participate in an in-person annual mentoring meeting. MIST aims to help the mentees to become future leaders in science and engineering. Through these activities, the project expects to 1) publish a special issue in a reputable journal of selected mentee and mentor papers from the conferences, 2) foster collaborations across two professional societies, and 3) create an inclusive, diverse mentoring network for early career professionals.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.