RaMP: Research opportunities and access for diverse scientists (ROADs) in extreme dryland environments

该项目为STEM职业建立了ROAD（不同科学家的研究机会和访问），目标是那些作为本科生获得研究经验的机会有限的学士后。它将为下一代全球变化科学家提供变革性的研究培训和专业发展，并将他们嵌入多元化的专业网络中。学士后将从事尖端科学，涵盖以北极和沙漠旱地环境为重点的问题。这些未充分研究的环境通常被认为是对气候变化、土地利用变化和其他人类活动最敏感的环境。许多这些变化有能力改变地球系统在我们的学员的一生中，只能通过培训这些生态系统的下一代全球变化生物学家来解决。参与者将成为精通数据的全球变化科学家，强大的合作者，有效的沟通者和未来的跨学科领导者。学士后从事研究，重点是确定北极和沙漠旱地环境对全球变化的生物和地球化学反应，从基因到宏观系统的多层次生物组织，同时拥有广泛的导师和同行支持团队。与技术和环境大学和其他学术或其他专业导师的一个全年研究项目将在两个重点领域：（1）种群和物种-适应迅速变化的环境，（2）旱地物种和群落的变化范围。其他方案组成部分包括专业发展讲习班和研讨会，以及网络活动，以确保ROAD学员成功过渡到政府或行业的研究生院或STEM职位。网络合作伙伴包括学术机构、政府机构、工业和教育界的代表。学员还将受益于同行指导，以帮助他们导航研究活动，导师-学员关系和项目后计划，包括研究生院或行业，机构和非政府组织的职位。该项目的导师将作为一个模式的方法，专注于后学士学位的经验，为其他少数民族服务机构，以支持多元化的下一代STEM专业人士。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

This project establishes ROADs (Research Opportunities and Access for Diverse Scientists) to STEM careers aimed at postbaccalaureates who had limited opportunity for research experience as undergraduates. It will provide the next generation of global change scientists with transformative research training and professional development, and embed them within a diverse professional network. Postbaccalaureates will engage in cutting-edge science spanning questions focused on dryland environments of the Arctic and deserts. These understudied environments are often identified as being the most sensitive to climate variability, land use change, and other human activities. Many of these changes have a capacity to alter the Earth System within the lifetime of our trainees and can be tackled only by training the next generation of global change biologists in these ecosystems. Participants will become data-savvy global change scientists, strong collaborators, effective communicators, and interdisciplinary leaders of the future.Postbaccalaureates engage in research focusing on identifying biological and biogeochemical responses of dryland environments of the Arctic and deserts to global change at multiple levels of biological organization from genes to macrosystems, while having an extensive support team of mentors and peers. A year-round research project with UTEP and other academic or other professional mentors will be in two focal areas: (1) populations and species [mal]-adaptation to rapidly changing environments, and (2) shifting ranges of dryland species and communities. Other programmatic components include professional development workshops and seminars, and network events to ensure a successful transition of ROADs trainees to graduate school or STEM positions in government or industry. Network partners include representatives from academic institutions, government agencies, industry, and education. Trainees will also benefit from peer mentoring to help them navigate research activities, mentor-mentee relationships and post-program plans, including graduate school or positions in industry, agencies, and non-governmental organizations. The project mentors will serve as a model approach focused on the postbaccalaureate experience for other Minority Serving Institutions to support a diverse next generation of STEM 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.