NRT: Aeroecology as a Test-bed for Interdisciplinary STEM Training

NRT：航空生态学作为跨学科STEM培训的试验台美国已经建立了巨大的基础设施，用于远程测量地球物理环境的许多方面，以造福社会，如卫星，雷达，望远镜和相机。白宫科学和技术政策办公室向科学界提出了挑战，要求扩大对地球观测基础设施的使用，以产生新的知识，并提供超出最初设想的额外社会效益。授予俄克拉荷马州大学的国家研究培训（NRT）奖通过开发和测试一种新的模式来应对这一挑战，该模式用于培训硕士和博士生在生物多样性保护和生态系统管理的新方法中使用现有的地球观测数据。实习计划将实施和评估地球观测科学，社会和可持续发展（EOS 3）的跨学科课程计划和跨学科研究沉浸计划。该培训计划预计将为三所大学的一百二十（120）名研究生做好准备，其中包括三十（30）名受资助的学员，他们将从事航空生态学新兴学科的研究。空气生态学侧重于了解动物在大气层（低层大气）中的相互作用。航空生态学是从生物学，气象学，地理学和计算机科学的界面出现，并通过环境科学和对人类健康和安全的关注与社会科学有着密切的联系。工程技术的进步正在将大气层从一个巨大的开放空间转变为我们用于通信（手机塔），能源生产（风力涡轮机）和运输（飞机和无人机系统）的资源。这些对大气层的不断入侵促使人们需要了解和管理一系列新的人类-生物多样性相互作用和冲突。该NRT项目将以培训联合体在航空生态学方面的独特优势为基础，作为对地球观测数据的一种迅速增长的新用途。NRT将起源于俄克拉荷马州大学，首先在特拉华州大学复制，然后在内布拉斯加大学林肯分校复制，然后辐射到全国各地的其他联盟机构。这种NRT模式将包括沟通，数据分析，基于团队的科学技能和创业精神的培训。与私人，政府和非营利组织的实习机会也将帮助学员获得当地，国家和国际环境中的专业技能。每个参与机构将通过实施最佳实践来促进多样性，以便在招聘，保留和指导研究生方面实现包容性。严格评估NRT模式对学生学习、教师发展和制度变革的影响，将为未来广泛改善跨学科研究生教育的努力提供信息。NSF研究培训（NRT）计划旨在鼓励开发和实施大胆、新颖、具有潜在变革性和可扩展性的STEM研究生教育培训模式。 该培训轨道致力于在高优先级的跨学科研究领域的STEM研究生的有效培训，通过全面的培训模式，是创新的，以证据为基础，并与不断变化的劳动力和研究需求保持一致。

NRT: Aeroecology as a Test-bed for Interdisciplinary STEM Training The United States has built tremendous infrastructure for remotely measuring many aspects of the Earth's physical environment to provide benefits to society, such as satellites, radars, telescopes, and cameras. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy has challenged the scientific community to expand the uses of this Earth observation infrastructure to generate new knowledge and provide additional societal benefits beyond those that were initially envisioned. This National Research Traineeship (NRT) award to the University of Oklahoma addresses this challenge by developing and testing a new model for training master's and doctoral students to use existing Earth observation data in new approaches to biodiversity conservation and ecosystem management. The traineeship program will implement and evaluate an interdisciplinary coursework program in Earth-observation for Science, Society, and Sustainability (EOS3) and an interdisciplinary research immersion program. This traineeship anticipates preparing one hundred and twenty (120) graduate students, including thirty (30) funded trainees, across three universities in the emerging discipline of aeroecology. Aeroecology focuses on understanding the interactions of animals in the aerosphere (lower atmosphere). Aeroecology is emerging from the interface of biology, meteorology, geography, and computer science and has strong connections to social sciences both through environmental science and concerns about human health and safety. Engineering advances are transforming the aerosphere from a vast open space into a resource that we use for communication (cell phone towers), energy production (wind turbines), and transportation (aircraft and unmanned aerial systems). These mounting incursions into the aerosphere drive a need to understand and manage a new suite of human-biodiversity interactions and conflicts. This NRT project will build on unique strengths of the training consortium in aeroecology as a rapidly growing new use of Earth-observation data. The NRT will originate at the University of Oklahoma, replicate first at the University of Delaware, then at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and later radiate to additional consortium institutions across the nation. This NRT model will include training in communication, data analytics, team-based science skills, and entrepreneurship. Externship opportunities with private, government, and non-profit organizations will also help trainees gain professional skills in local, national, and international settings. Each participating institution will foster diversity through the implementation of best practices for inclusiveness in recruiting, retaining, and mentoring of graduate students. Rigorous evaluation of the impact of the NRT model on student learning, faculty development, and institutional change will inform future efforts to broadly improve interdisciplinary graduate education.The NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) Program is designed to encourage the development and implementation of bold, new, potentially transformative, and scalable models for STEM graduate education training. The Traineeship Track is dedicated to effective training of STEM graduate students in high priority interdisciplinary research areas, through the comprehensive traineeship model that is innovative, evidence-based, and aligned with changing workforce and research needs.