EPSCOR RII Track 1: Managing Idaho's Landscapes for Ecosystem Services

在这个为期五年的项目中，爱达荷州刺激竞争研究的实验计划（ID-EPSCoR）旨在促进对中等城市面对气候变化和城市增长时社会和生态系统以及生态系统服务之间反馈的理解。 管理爱达荷州的项目？生态系统服务景观（英里），建立爱达荷州？研究复杂的社会生态过程，特别是与水需求和生态系统服务价值相关的过程的能力。 本研究描述了城市增长和生态变化的模式，确定城市增长和生态变化的社会驱动因素，确定有价值的生态系统服务，构建综合建模框架，开发可视化和虚拟化工具，并生成和传播社会生态系统的知识。 该项目的主要参与机构是：爱达荷州大学、博伊西州立大学和爱达荷州州立大学。 来自爱达荷州南部学院、爱达荷州北方学院、刘易斯-克拉克州立学院、爱达荷州西部学院和爱达荷州东部技术学院的教师和学生也将参与这一项目。的城市地区正处于一个强劲的发展阶段和边界之间的变化爱达荷州？中国的中等城市和未开发土地正在加速。 城市人口中心的发展和扩张及其伴随的人口增长正在产生人口和文化的变化，这些变化正在改变生态系统服务的定义和价值。 这些动态是在气候变化和资源需求变化的背景下发生的。 该提案旨在促进对中等城市面对气候变化和城市增长时社会和生态系统与生态系统服务之间的反馈的理解。 迈尔斯建造了爱达荷州？研究复杂的社会生态过程，特别是与水需求和生态系统服务价值相关的过程的能力。 这项研究将描述城市增长和生态变化的模式，确定城市增长和生态变化的社会驱动因素，确定有价值的生态系统服务，构建综合建模框架，开发可视化和虚拟化工具，并生成和传播社会生态系统的知识。 三个研究领域已被选定，因为他们不同的生态系统服务需求，供水，和城市增长轨迹：博伊西/宝藏谷，Coeur d？阿琳/波斯特福尔斯和波卡泰洛/爱达荷州福尔斯。 更广泛的影响这个项目有潜力产生变革性的知识，超越了基于地点的研究，适用于其他半干旱，中等规模的城市正在增长，无论是在国家和国际上。 新的STEM和辅导计划和研讨会将特别侧重于招募女性，美洲原住民，西班牙裔和其他少数民族，而K-12活动将侧重于服务不足的人群。 MILES本科生研究实习（MURI）将提供300个本科生奖学金，让科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）本科生参与实践，带薪暑期和学年研究经验。 提议者将努力使统一登记机制大量参与MURI活动。 带来和学习社区计划将利用基于现场的MILES经验，在每个研究地点为大学教师，一年级本科生，高中STEM教师，高中三年级和四年级学生以及爱达荷州公共电视记者提供服务。 这些活动旨在促进广泛的利益攸关方和公众参与。 爱达荷州EPSCoR在招聘和留住女性、代表性不足的少数族裔（URM）学生以及来自爱达荷州的教职员工和学生方面制定了雄心勃勃的目标？现有100个STEM Pipeline K-12计划和5个PUI。 这些活动的社会效益将是提高公众对生态系统及其服务的认识，改善生活质量和生态系统健康，从而提高提供支持可持续性的科学决策的能力。

In this five-year project Idaho Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (ID-EPSCoR) seeks to advance understanding of feedbacks between social and ecological systems and ecosystem services in mid-sized cities in the face of climate change and urban growth. The program, Managing Idaho?s Landscapes for Ecosystem Services (MILES), builds Idaho?s capacity to study complex social-ecological processes, especially those associated with water demand and valuation of ecosystem services. This research characterizes patterns of urban growth and ecological change, identify social drivers of urban growth and ecological change, identify valuable ecosystem services, construct an integrated modeling framework, develop visualization and virtualization tools, and generate and disseminate knowledge of social-ecological systems. The major participating institutions in this project are: University of Idaho, Boise State University and Idaho State University. Faculty and students from the College of Southern Idaho, Northern Idaho College, Lewis-Clark State College, College of Western Idaho and Eastern Idaho Technical College will also be engaged in this project.Intellectual MeritIdaho?s urban areas are in a strong development phase and the border changes between Idaho?s mid-sized cities and undeveloped land are accelerating. The development and expansion of urban population centers and its concomitant population growth are producing demographic and cultural shifts that are altering how ecosystem services are defined and valued. These dynamics are occurring against a backdrop of climate change and resource-demand change. This proposal seeks to advance understanding of feedbacks between social and ecological systems and ecosystem services in mid-sized cities in the face of climate change and urban growth. MILES builds Idaho?s capacity to study complex social-ecological processes, especially those associated with water demand and valuation of ecosystem services. This research will characterize patterns of urban growth and ecological change, identify social drivers of urban growth and ecological change, identify valuable ecosystem services, construct an integrated modeling framework, develop visualization and virtualization tools, and generate and disseminate knowledge of social-ecological systems. Three study areas have been selected because of their different ecosystem services demands, water provisioning, and urban growth trajectories: Boise/Treasure Valley, Coeur d?Alene/Post Falls, and Pocatello/Idaho Falls. Broader ImpactsThis project has the potential for transformative knowledge generation that reaches beyond the place-based study and is applicable to other semi-arid, mid-sized cities undergoing growth, both nationally and internationally. New STEM and mentoring programs and workshops will specifically focus on recruiting females, Native Americans, Hispanics and other minorities, while K-12 activities will focus on underserved populations. MILES Undergraduate Research Internships (MURI) will provide 300 undergraduate scholarships to engage Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) undergraduates in hands-on, paid summer and academic year research experiences. The proposers will strive to have significant participation of URMs in the MURI activity. The Bringing and Learning Communities program will leverage field-based MILES experiences at each of the study sites for cohorts of college faculty, 1st year undergraduates, high school STEM teachers, high school juniors and seniors, and Idaho Public TV journalists. The activities are designed to foster broad stakeholder and public engagement. Idaho EPSCoR has ambitious goals for recruitment and retention of women, underrepresented minority (URM) students and faculty and students from Idaho?s 100 existing STEM Pipeline K-12 programs and five PUIs. The societal benefit of these activities will be the improved public understanding of ecosystems and their services, and improved quality of life and ecosystem health as a result a greater ability to provide science-based decisions that support sustainability.