FSML: Developing a Strategic Plan for the Bowdoin Scientific Station

鲍登学院获得了一笔赠款，作为战略规划工作的一部分，该学院将对鲍登科学站(BSS)的项目和设施进行外部审查。BSS成立于75年前，是鲍登学院位于芬迪湾三岛群岛的生物研究站(www.Bowdoin.edu/kent-Island/)。在野外站和海洋实验室(FSML)中，BSS是不寻常的，因为它由一所本科文科学院运营，提供进入各种陆地和海洋栖息地的途径，具有显著的生态特征(大潮汐、迁徙动物中的极端亲水性、自交相容植物、尽管温带的北方植物群落，以及地理上孤立的动植物种群)，并拥有几个有价值的长期生态数据库，其中一些跨度超过55年。但真正让BSS与众不同的是它的科学生产力。考虑到它的规模小(最多25人，包括工作人员)，季节性使用，以及对本科生的关注，该站的发表率异常高(203篇同行评议论文，其中37%是本科生撰写或合著的)。在过去的5年里发表了25篇论文。BSS培训并激励了数千名学生，他们有机会与该领域的专业生物学家密切合作。在之前NSF的支持下，BSS对其基础设施进行了现代化改造，扩大了研究项目，并与美国和加拿大的研究人员开展了新的合作。然而，它从未制定过战略计划，而且由于地理位置偏远，从未对其项目或设施进行过外部审查。外部审查将是更大的规划工作的一部分，包括：1)机构自我评估；2)地方社区组织的参与；3)起草战略计划；4)召开对方案、设施和战略计划草案的外部审查(由这笔赠款支持)；以及5)根据外部审查小组的意见对战略计划进行最终修订和通过。审查将侧重于研究机会、数据管理、教育规划、设施和基础设施、自然资源管理、社区推广、安全和财务可持续性。审查小组将由高级管理人员和科学家组成，他们拥有管理成功的防扩散安全措施的丰富经验，并积极参与生物外勤站组织或国家海洋实验室协会。团队成员将代表从分子到生态系统规模的各种科学学科。战略计划和外部审查报告将探讨在缅因湾/芬迪湾系统周围建立一个密克罗尼西亚联邦系统合作网络的机会，以解决区域范围内的研究问题。BSS是一项特别有价值的研究和教学资产，通过让他们有机会与专业生物学家密切合作，培训和激励了数千名学生。这段经历对这些学生产生了深远而持久的影响，他们中有不成比例的人继续从事科学和环境管理工作。通过为空间站确定新的研究趋势和新的科学领域，该项目将提高空间站支持创新研究的能力，并增加它所能提供的教育机会。显然，这些规划工作将使鲍登学院的学生和教职员工受益。但由于空间站传统上大约三分之一的用户来自其他机构(包括本科生、研究生和教职员工)，这个规划项目的影响将远远超出Bowdoin社区。战略规划还将使BSS能够改进其环境管理和土地管理方案。

Bowdoin College has been awarded a grant to convene an external review of programs and facilities of the Bowdoin Scientific Station (BSS) as part of a strategic planning effort. Established over 75 years ago, BSS is Bowdoin College's biological research station in the Bay of Fundy's Three Islands archipelago (www.bowdoin.edu/kent-island/). BSS is unusual among field stations and marine laboratories (FSMLs) because it is operated by an undergraduate liberal arts college, provides access to a wide variety of terrestrial and marine habitats, has remarkable ecological characteristics (macro tides, extreme philopatry among migratory animals, self-compatible plants, boreal plant communities despite temperate location, and geographically isolated plant and animal populations), and possesses several valuable long-term ecological databases, some of which span more than 55 years. But what makes BSS truly extraordinary is its scientific productivity. Considering its small size (25 person maximum capacity, including staff), seasonal usage, and undergraduate focus, the Station has an unusually high publication rate (203 peer-reviewed papers, 37% of which were authored or co-authored by undergraduate students). Twenty-five papers have been published in the past 5 years. BSS has trained and inspired thousands of students who have had the opportunity to work in close collaboration with professional biologists in the field. With previous support from NSF, BSS has modernized its infrastructure, expanded its research programs, and developed new collaborations with researchers from the U.S. and Canada. However, it has never had a strategic plan and, because of its remote location, has never had an external review of its programs or facilities. The external review will be part of a larger planning effort that will include: 1) an institutional self-evaluation; 2) engagement of local community organizations; 3) drafting of a strategic plan; 4) convening an external review of programs, facilities, and the draft strategic plan (supported by this grant); and 5) final revising and adoption of the strategic plan based on input from the external review team. The review will focus on research opportunities, data management, educational programming, facilities and infrastructure, natural resource management, community outreach, safety, and financial sustainability. The review team would consist of senior administrators and scientists who have significant experience managing successful FSMLs, and who are active in the Organization of Biological Field Stations or the National Association of Marine Laboratories. Team members would represent a variety of scientific disciplines from molecular- to ecosystem-scales. The strategic plan and external review report will explore opportunities to develop a collaborative network of FSMLs bordering the Gulf of Maine/Bay of Fundy system to address research questions at the regional scale. BSS is an exceptionally valuable research and teaching asset, which has trained and inspired thousands of students by giving them the opportunity to work in close collaboration with professional biologists. This experience has a profound and lasting effect on these students, a disproportionate number of whom go on to careers in science and environmental management. By identifying emerging research trends and new scientific niches for BSS, this project will improve the Station's ability to support innovative research and enhance the educational opportunities that it can provide. Clearly, these planning efforts will benefit Bowdoin's students and faculty. But since approximately 1/3 of the Station's users traditionally come from other institutions (including undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty), the impact of this planning project will reach far beyond the Bowdoin community. Strategic planning will also enable BSS to improve its environmental stewardship and land management programs.