Establishment of a Statewide Environmental Sciences Education and Research Training Program in Nevada

内华达大学和社区学院系统（UCCSN）将在环境科学领域开发一个综合的、全系统的教育和研究培训项目，重点是将环境化学、环境生物学、生态学和人类健康等学科联系起来。环境科学中强调的跨学科领域是一项重要的倡议，因为内华达州正经历着前所未有的人口增长率（过去四年每年5%），远远超过其他所有州。此外，房价上涨仅限于拉斯维加斯（克拉克县）、里诺和斯帕克斯（瓦肖县）以及卡森市等城市中心。在过去的四十年里，这种增长的净影响是将该州从一个以农村为主的环境转变为一个以城市为主的环境。这种转变的速度是前所未有的，对人类健康和自然资源的影响才刚刚开始得到认识。目前的努力将促进制定一个有凝聚力的全州方案，以解决内华达州环境质量与人口健康和自然资源之间的关系。该计划要求以下内容：(1)开发环境科学研究生教育和培训的全系统基础设施，因为没有一个UCCSN单位具有单独开发卓越计划的深度和广度；(2)发展研究基础设施，通过将基础研究与任务导向研究相结合，并强调内华达州的优先问题，鼓励UCCSN的教师和研究生将更多的竞争性研究投入到环境科学领域；(3)在内华达州建立培训和网络基础设施，就环境科学问题向民众提供信息和教育，重点是将UCCSN的教育和研究专业知识与公共和私营部门的商业利益联系起来。这三个基础设施平台将通过内华达大学里诺分校（UNR）的环境科学与健康研究生课程（ES&amp；H）实施；该项目是联合国大学环境科学与工程中心（CESE）的一部分。ES&amp；H项目将积极扩展到包括内华达州大学拉斯维加斯分校（UNLV）的教师和研究生，最终实现全面合作。这将是UCCSN系统范围内学位和培训项目的第一个例子，并将成为未来科学和工程领域其他系统研究生项目发展的模板。

9553361 Taylor The University and Community College System of Nevada (UCCSN) will develop an education and research tpaining program in the environmental sciences that is integrated and system-wide, with an emphasis on linking the disciplines of environmental chemistry, environmental biology, ecology, and human health. This interdisciplinary area of emphasis within the environmental sciences is an important initiative because the State of Nevada is experiencing an unparalleled rate of population growth (5% per year over the last four years), which is far in excess of all other states. In addition, the increases are confined to the urban centers in Las Vegas (Clark County), Reno and Sparks (Washoe County) and Carson City. The net effect of this growth over the last four decades has been to transform the state from a predominantly rural to a largely urban environment. The rate of transformation is unprecedented, and the consequences for human health and natural resources are just beginning to be recognized. The current effort will stimulate the development of a cohesive statewide program to address the relationship between quality of the environment and the health of human populations and natural resources in Nevada. The program calls for the following: (1) to develop a system-wide infrastructure for graduate education and training in the environmental sciences because none of the UCCSN units have the depth and breadth to individually develop a program of excellence; (2) to develop a research infrastructure to encourage UCCSN faculty and graduate students to devote more of their competitive research to the environmental sciences by linking basic and mission-oriented research and emphasizing priority problems in the state of Nevada; and (3) to develop a training and networking infrastructure in Nevada to inform and educate the population on issues in the environmental sciences, focusing on linking the educational and research expertise in the UCCSN with bus iness interests in the public and private sector. These three platforms of the infrastructure will be implemented through the Graduate Program of Environmental Sciences and Health (ES&H) at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR); this program is part of the Center for Environmental Sciences and Engineering (CESE) at UNR. The ES&H program will be aggressively expanded to include faculty and graduate students from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), leading to eventual full partnership. This will be the first example of a system-wide degree and training program within UCCSN and will serve as a template by which other systemic graduate programs in the sciences and engineering can be developed in the future.