US-Ghana Student Research Collaborations: Modeling Social, Economic, and Ecological Sustainability on the Coast of Ghana

西华盛顿大学的首席研究员塞思·范伯格与佛罗里达墨西哥湾沿岸大学的菲利普·奥尔曼合作，将为美国本科生进行为期10个月的跨学科体验，重点是在西非进行一个月的实地研究。美国团队将与来自莱贡加纳大学的教职员工和学生团队合作。学生将研究社会和文化行为对经济和自然世界之间复杂互动的分层影响。具体地说，这笔赠款将把学生带到加纳沿海阿达福阿的一个独特的实地考察地点，在那里他们将从事与更广泛关注社会可持续发展相关的社会学和生态学研究。本科生学习经历包括三个阶段。首先，美国学生将在秋季学期学习两门大学课程。这些课程将由私人投资主任共同授课，内容包括学术内容、旅行经验的后勤指导以及为数据收集过程做准备的有针对性的方法培训。第二，在秋季学期结束后，学生们将与PI一起前往加纳进行为期一个月的研究体验。第三，学生从西非回国后将担任导师和研究顾问。知识价值：与可持续发展的统一主题相一致的社会学和生物学兴趣的两个主要主题将被讨论：1)海龟保护和生态旅游的存在是否会影响村民？特别是对海龟保护的行为和态度，以及一般的自然资源管理？2)哪些因素决定雌性海龟筑巢地点的选择，这些因素如何影响海龟卵的存活和发育？在Ada Foah现场，养殖做法阻止了对筑巢的棱皮海龟的屠宰。具体地说，学生们将参与一个长期的海龟监测项目，在这个项目中，他们将标记和测量濒危棱皮龟和橄榄里德利海龟，同时与加纳本科生同事一起在周围社区进行社会调查研究。学生的工作将是对文化信仰、海龟种群生存能力、经济发展和外部刺激(例如，竞争村庄、加纳野生动物分部的决定、捕鱼做法和海岸变化)之间的动态交流进行持续评估。通过实地实地研究自然资源保护、生态旅游的经济影响以及引发或抑制这些互动的文化实践，学生将为理清环境、经济需求和社会行为之间复杂和分层的因果机制的科学努力做出贡献。更广泛的影响：这种积累的学习经验将为所有参与者带来许多好处。美国教师来自不同的学科和不同的大学，促进了智力和后勤合作，其中还将包括加纳大学莱贡分校社会学和海洋学的研究科学家。该计划为学生提供了学习关于重点主题的跨学科学术内容的机会，在研究过程中与加纳学生团队合作，并将网络技术用作未来计划参与者的导师。学生们还将体验沉浸在异国文化中的变革性好处，并在未来国内外的学术和职业生涯中携带全球科学知识和新开发的技能。

The principal investigator, Seth Feinberg of Western Washington University, working with Philip Allman of Florida Gulf Coast University, will conduct a 10-month interdisciplinary experience for U.S. undergraduate students that will be highlighted by one month of field research in West Africa. The U.S. team will collaborate with a team of faculty and students from the University of Ghana in Legon. Students will examine the layered effects of social and cultural behaviors on complex interactions between economics and the natural world. Specifically, this grant will bring students to a unique field site in Ada Foah, along the coast of Ghana, where they will engage in sociological and ecological research connected to a broader focus on social sustainability. The undergraduate learning experience involves three phases. First, U.S. students will take two university courses during the fall term. These courses will be co-taught by the PIs and will include academic content, logistical instructions for the travel experience, and targeted methodological training in preparation for the data gathering process. Second, after fall term, the students will travel with the PIs to Ghana for one month of research experiences. Third, the students will serve as mentors and research advisors upon their return from West Africa. Intellectual Merit: Two primary topics of sociological and biological interest consistent with the unifying theme of sustainability will be addressed: 1) Will the presence of sea turtle conservation and ecotourism impact villagers? behaviors and attitudes towards sea turtle conservation in particular, and natural resource management in general? 2) What factors determine female nest site choice and how do those factors influence egg survivorship and development? At the Ada Foah field site, cultural practices prevent the slaughter of nesting leatherback sea turtles. Specifically, students will engage in a long-term sea turtle monitoring program where they will tag and measure endangered leatherback and olive ridley sea turtles, while simultaneously working in teams with Ghanaian undergraduate colleagues conducting social survey research in the surrounding communities. The students' work will be an ongoing evaluation of the dynamic interchange between cultural beliefs, sea turtle population viability, economic development, and external stimuli (e.g., competing villages, decisions of the Ghana Division of Wildlife, fishing practices, and coastal change). Through field site-generated research on the topics of natural resource conservation, the economic impacts of ecotourism and the cultural practices that trigger or suppress these interactions, the students will contribute to the scientific effort of disentangling the complex and layered cause and effect mechanisms between the environment, economic need, and social behaviors.Broader Impacts: This accumulative learning experience will have numerous benefits for all participants. The U.S. faculty come from different disciplines and separate universities, promoting an intellectual and logistical collaboration that will also include research scientists in Sociology and Oceanography at the University of Ghana, Legon. The program provides opportunities for the students to learn cross-disciplinary academic content on the focal topic, to work with teams of Ghanaian students during the research process, and to utilize cyber technology as mentors for future program participants. Students will also experience the transformative benefits of immersion in a foreign culture, and carry global scientific knowledge and newly developed skills with them during future academic and professional careers, at home and abroad.