River Basins Research Initiative NSF-REU Site

SargentThe River Basins Research initiative（RBR）NSF-REU Site将把12个本科理科专业纳入一个广泛的跨学科研究计划，该计划的重点是对整个南卡罗来纳州北部的河流系统进行系统表征。 目前，RBR的努力包括地球和环境科学，生物学和化学部门的科学，社会学，经济学和政治学部门的社会科学。参与该计划的教师开发了跨学科整合的模型系统。 其结果是来自不同学科领域的教师和学生之间的共生互动。这项研究计划的长期目标是量化人类对南卡罗来纳州北部地区下布罗德河流域河流系统的影响程度。格林维尔-斯帕坦堡大都市区是美国发展最快的大都市区之一，位于下布罗德河流域的源头地区。 因此，水质和水资源问题对当地社区以及布罗德河/桑蒂河流域下游社区越来越重要。 收集的水质数据包括化学数据（包括痕量金属在内的七种阳离子、七种阴离子和碱度）、电导率、溶解氧、温度、鱼类和水生昆虫的丰度和多样性、细菌丰度和排放量。

SargentThe River Basins Research initiative (RBR) NSF-REU Site will incorporate 12 undergraduate science majors into an extensive interdisciplinary research program that is focused on the systematic characterization of river systems throughout the upstate of South Carolina. At present the RBR effort encompasses the Earth and Environmental Sciences, Biology, and Chemistry Departments in the sciences, and the Sociology, Economics, and Political Science Departments in the social sciences. The faculty involved in this program have developed a model system for interdisciplinary integration. The result is a symbiotic interaction between faculty and students from different disciplinary areas. The long-term goal of this research program is to quantify the extent of human impact on river systems in the Lower Broad River Basin in the upstate region of South Carolina. The Greenville-Spartanburg metropolitan area, one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the country, is located in the headwater region of the Lower Broad River Basin. As a result, water quality and water resource issues are of increasing importance to the local community as well as the communities in the downstream portion of the Broad River/Santee River Basin. Water quality data collected include chemical data (seven cations including trace metals, seven anions, and alkalinity), conductivity, dissolved oxygen, temperature, fish and aquatic insect abundance and diversity, bacterial abundances, and discharge.