Complex Systems Modeling for Environmental Problem Solving

该提案中的科学、工程和推广都集中在解决环境问题的复杂系统建模上，这对州和地区至关重要，也是佛蒙特州S&amp；T计划的组成部分。有三个主要组成部分：生物复杂性的一个研究小组；推行溪流外展计划，以加强科学教育、促进多元化和服务社会；并通过激励创新与私营部门建立联系。佛蒙特大学（UVM）在建模和计算方面具有相当的实力，在生态和进化的复杂系统建模方面的势头日益强劲。UVM教师设计了复杂的系统模型，用于分析入侵物种，地下水和进化动力学。VT EPSCoR的战略投资将把这些教师聚集在一起，形成一个非常强大的合作和跨学科的生物复杂性小组，专注于环境问题。这个小组的科学家和工程师将开发新的计算工具和创造性模型，这些工具和模型广泛适用于复杂的系统，甚至在生态学之外，比如天气模式或新材料。VT EPSCoR将实施一项资源投资计划，为这个有才能的团队建立人力和物质基础设施，这将导致重要的基础、协作和创新研究。除了硬件之外，该小组还将获得必要的技术援助，以促进世界级的研究、外部顾问、指导、程序员和网络。我们将招收研究生和博士后。VT EPSCoR和UVM将共同为在生物复杂性领域建立有价值的研究提供必要的资源。除了基础研究外，生物复杂性小组成员还将共同努力，整合尚普兰湖流域研究中现有和即将发布的数据集，并使用复杂系统对这些数据进行建模。这个统一的项目不仅会产生广泛有用的计算工具和识别数据集差距的原型测试，而且还会为分析非常不同的数据集（例如磷或氮径流，入侵物种，藻类繁殖）创建一个单一的资源，它将在从未达到的水平上培养整合，但对该地区至关重要。该项目将对土地使用管理和该地区的经济产生长期影响，包括纽约和曲海贝省。一些数据集将来自VT EPSCoR的教育和多样性推广项目，称为？流项目吗?它将收集尚普兰湖流域溪流的数据并建立模型。因此，研究小组和科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）教育外展计划将提供有关流域的迫切需要的信息，这些信息将在自然资源管理者努力应对该地区的监管和投资时立即使用。溪流项目的一个重要新影响是，除了STEM职业中代表性不足的学生外，还将有针对性地纳入农村贫困人口。该提案旨在通过为创新研究创造新的激励机制，并鼓励私营部门、生物复杂性集团和溪流项目之间的互动，从而提高私营部门的生产力。VT EPSCoR在推广STEM教育和多样性方面取得了实质性进展，并在私营部门投资促进小企业创新研究（SBIR）活动方面取得了实质性进展。VT EPSCoR提出了一个新的实验，以刺激创新研究，将推进新的国家标准和技术计划的目标。同样，屡获殊荣的STEM教育和多元化推广计划也对教学、学生对STEM专业的兴趣以及STEM学生的多样性产生了影响。一个新的评估计划将根据具体的标准来衡量所有这些拟议项目的进展。

The science, engineering and outreach within this proposal all focus on Complex Systems Modeling for Environmental Problem Solving, and are of central importance to the State and region and integral to the State S&T Plan for Vermont. There are three main components: a research group in Biocomplexity; a Streams Project for Outreach to enhance science education enhancement, diversity and service to society; and outreach to the private sector through incentives for innovation.The University of Vermont (UVM) has considerable strength in modeling and computation with increasing momentum in complex systems modeling in ecology and evolution. UVM faculty have designed complex systems models for the analysis of invasive species, ground water, and evolutionary dynamics. Strategic investments by VT EPSCoR will bring these faculty members together and lead to an extremely strong collaborative and interdisciplinary Biocomplexity Group who focus on the environmental problems. The scientists and engineers in this group will develop new computational tools and creative models that are broadly applicable to complex systems even outside ecology, such as weather patterns or new materials. VT EPSCoR will implement a plan of resource investment to build the human and physical infrastructure for this talented group that will lead to important fundamental, collaborative, and innovative research. In addition to hardware, the group will receive the technical assistance necessary to foster world-class research, external consultants, mentoring, programmers, and networking. Graduate students and postdoctoral associates will be recruited to join the group. Together, VT EPSCoR and UVM will provide the necessary resources for building meritorious research in the area of Biocomplexity.In addition to fundamental research, Biocomplexity Group members will work together to integrate existing and forthcoming datasets from research on the Lake Champlain watershed, and use complex systems to model these data. Not only will this unifying project result in broadly useful computational tools and tests of prototypes that identify gaps in data sets, but it will also create a single resource for analysis of very disparate datasets (e.g. phosphorous or nitrogen runoff, invasive species, algae blooms) and it will cultivate integration on a level never been achieved but critically important for the region. This project will have long-term impacts on land use management and the region's economy, including New York and the province of Québec. Some of the data sets will come from VT EPSCoR's educational and diversity outreach program called the ?Streams Project? which will collect and model data on Lake Champlain watershed streams. Thus both the research group and the outreach program for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education will contribute urgently needed information about the watershed that will be of immediate use to natural resource managers as they grapple with regulation and investment in the region. An important new impact of the Streams Project will be the targeted inclusion of the rural poor in addition to students under-represented in STEM careers. This proposal is designed to boost private-sector productivity by creating new incentives for innovative research and encouraging interaction among the private sector, the Biocomplexity Group and the Streams project. VT EPSCoR has made substantial progress in outreach for STEM education and diversity, and in private sector investments to promote Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) activity. VT EPSCoR proposes a new experiment to stimulate innovative research that will forward the goals of the new State S&T Plan. Similarly, the award winning STEM education and diversity outreach program has had an impact on teaching, student interest in STEM majors, and diversity among STEM students. A new assessment plan will measure progress in all these proposed projects against specific metrics.