IGERT: Water in the Urban Environment

这项综合研究生教育和研究培训（IGERT）奖支持在马里兰大学巴尔的摩县（UMBC）建立一个城市环境中的水的多学科项目，涉及来自9个系和6个合作机构的32名教师。解决与城市化对水循环的影响有关的复杂问题需要综合的生态、经济和工程方法，以及决策方面的创新。该计划将培养一代了解这些联系的研究生，并准备在多学科团队中工作，以提高对城市环境系统的理解和管理。该项目利用了巴尔的摩生态系统研究总部在UMBC的存在，巴尔的摩生态系统研究总部是美国国家科学基金会长期生态研究网络的两个城市站点之一；与公共机构、非营利组织和私人顾问的合作；巴尔的摩靠近切萨皮克湾，这是一个受城市土地利用变化严重影响的重要沿海生态系统。研究计划围绕三个相互交织的主题：(1)城市水文和污染物运输；(2)城市生物地球化学循环、水生生态系统与人类健康；(3)城市水政策、管理和制度。将提供新的综合课程，这将汇集来自八个博士学位项目的学生，以获得不同学科的观点，术语和数据集的欣赏，需要解决城市环境问题。所有IGERT研究员将在13个合作组织中的一个完成实习，以扩大他们的学术和职业道路视野。IGERT是一项nsf范围内的计划，旨在满足教育美国博士科学家和工程师的挑战，他们具有跨学科背景，所选学科的深厚知识，以及未来职业需求所需的技术，专业和个人技能。该计划旨在通过建立创新的研究生教育和培训模式，在一个超越传统学科界限的合作研究的肥沃环境中，促进研究生教育的文化变革。

This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) award supports establishment of a multidisciplinary program in Water in the Urban Environment at University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) involving 32 faculty from nine departments and six partner institutions. Solutions to the complex problems associated with the effect of urbanization on the water cycle require integrated ecological, economic and engineering approaches, as well as innovations in policy-making. This program will train a generation of graduate students who understand these linkages and are prepared to work in multidisciplinary teams to improve understanding and management of urban environmental systems. The program takes advantage of the presence at UMBC of the field headquarters of the Baltimore Ecosystem Study, one of two urban sites in the NSF Long-Term Ecological Research network; partnerships with public agencies, nonprofits, and private consultants; and the proximity of Baltimore to the Chesapeake Bay, an important coastal ecosystem severely affected by urban land use change. The research program is centered on three interwoven themes: (1) urban hydrology and contaminant transport; (2) urban biogeochemical cycles, aquatic ecosystems, and human health; and (3) urban water policy, management, and institutions. New integrative curricula will be offered, which will bring together students from eight Ph.D. degree programs to gain an appreciation of the varied disciplinary viewpoints, terminology, and data sets required to address urban environmental problems. All IGERT Fellows will complete internships in one of thirteen collaborating organizations to expand their academic and career path horizons. IGERT is an NSF-wide program intended to meet the challenges of educating U.S. Ph.D. scientists and engineers with the interdisciplinary background, deep knowledge in a chosen discipline, and the technical, professional, and personal skills needed for the career demands of the future. The program is intended to catalyze a cultural change in graduate education by establishing innovative new models for graduate education and training in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries.