Planning Grant: Developing a plan for a Watershed Education and Research Center

迈阿密大学获得一笔赠款，使其生态研究中心（ERC）能够与当地的自然区，休斯顿森林州立公园（HWSP）合作，制定一个流域教育和研究中心的计划。 迈阿密的生态学家已经形成了一个独特的理解的生态过程中运作的分水岭，排水到HWSP水库和影响区域景观变化对水生环境。 正式确定ERC和HWSP之间的这种关系将使更广泛的受众能够了解这一分水岭研究。项目内容包括：（1）针对不同利益攸关方群体的重点小组（包括船民，度假者，当地居民，地区农民，研究人员，教育工作者和其他人）为中心收集想法，（2）来自迈阿密设计协作（MDC）的教师和学生的跨学科团队，其中包括营销人员，心理学家，图形设计师和建筑师，为图形，虚拟，和物理布局的中心，和（3）研究人员，大学管理人员，州和联邦立法者，私人基金会，并授予机构，以创建一个计划，为中心提供资金。 该中心的愿景是使参观者能够与研究人员互动，并通过虚拟和动手实验参与实时数据收集和假设检验。在规划过程中征求不同利益相关者社区的意见，包括明确征求附近城市地区少数民族社区的意见，可能会确保他们对合作的支持。让一个真正跨学科的团队参与规划过程，将产生一个动态的计划，将广大受众的利益纳入其中。从长远来看，一代又一代的学生、研究人员、教师、渔民、船民和其他人将亲身体验解释数据的挑战、设计实验的复杂性和发现的兴奋。

Miami University is awarded a grant which will enable its Ecology Research Center (ERC) to collaborate with a local natural area, the Hueston Woods State Park (HWSP), in the development of a plan for a Watershed Education and Research Center. Miami ecologists have developed a unique understanding of the ecological processes operating in the watershed that drains into the HWSP reservoir and the impact regional landscape changes have on the aquatic environment. Formalizing this relationship between the ERC and HWSP will make this watershed research accessible to a broader audience. The project includes: (1) focus groups targeting varied stakeholder communities (including boaters, vacationers, local residents, area farmers, researchers, educators, and others) to gather ideas for the center, (2) an interdisciplinary team of faculty and students from the Miami Design Collaborative (MDC), which includes marketers, psychologists, graphics designers and architects, to develop a plan for the graphical, virtual, and physical layout of the center, and (3) researchers, university administrators, state and federal legislators, private foundations, and granting agencies to create a plan for funding the center. The vision is for a center that enables visitors to interact with researchers and participate in realtime data collection and hypothesis testing through both virtual and hands-on experiments.Soliciting the input of varied stakeholder communities in the planning process, including explicitly seeking input from minority communities in nearby urban areas, is likely to ensure their support for the collaboration. Involving a truly interdisciplinary team in the planning process will result in a dynamic plan that incorporates the interests of that broad audience. In the long-term, generations of students, researchers, teachers, fishermen, boaters, and others will experience first-hand the challenges of interpreting data, the intricacies of designing experiments, and thrill of discovery.