REU Site: EcoInformatics Summer Institute

非技术：这个REU网站将帮助支持NSF在两个关键方面促进科学进步的使命：1)为将成为下一代科学家和管理人员的不同本科生群体提供指导，高质量的研究经验；2)在生态信息学（EI）领域取得渐进式进展。生态信息学将信息学的理论和方法（如计算机科学、数学、统计学和工程学）与涉及生态系统及其管理的学科（如生态学、地貌学、植物学）结合起来。该项目的中心目标是增加STEM领域的多样性，因此该项目旨在吸引来自不同种族、文化和生活经历的学生。学生们将在HJ安德鲁斯实验森林度过8周，这是一个由nsf资助的LTER网站和“网络森林”，在跨学科团队中工作。作为项目的一部分，参与者将参与专业发展活动，主题包括有效沟通科学、研究伦理和研究生毕业后的职业选择。REU项目下的研究将侧重于信息和生态网络，应用计算机科学、数学和统计学的网络分析工具来更好地理解生态系统网络及其对干扰的恢复能力。从广义上讲，对网络信息系统和生态系统在干扰后的弹性的研究与整个社会相关，为从网络攻击管理到传粉媒介到水坝流量释放的一切提供信息。这个国家需要一支由科学家、工程师、数学家和计算机科学家组成的劳动力队伍，他们接受过在这一领域工作的培训，更广泛地说，需要在信息技术革命所改变的社会中取得成功。这个REU计划将吸引和帮助留住STEM领域的学生，并在一个有指导和跨学科的环境中培养解决当代环境问题的技能。技术：这个REU网站的首要目标是提供指导，高质量的研究经验，以本科生的不同群体，同时在生态信息学（EI）领域取得渐进式的进步。EI将信息学的理论和方法（如计算机科学、数学、统计学和工程学）与涉及生态系统及其管理的学科（如生态学、地貌学、植物学）结合起来。提议的REU网站的目标是：a)提高参与者的学科和综合跨学科技能，b)培养领导和交流科学的专业人员，c)增强STEM领域的多样性，d)开发网络系统的新研究。在这一提议的更新下，研究将集中在信息和生态网络上，应用计算机科学、数学和统计学的网络分析工具来更好地理解生态系统网络及其对干扰的恢复能力。举例项目将侧重于植物-传粉者网络结构如何在气候变化、自然选择、草甸栖息地丧失和破碎化的情况下实现恢复力，或者如何推进熵的统计、数学和计算机科学模型，并将其应用于溪流网络功能（水流、沉积物、水生昆虫漂移）如何响应扰动的调查。学生们将在HJ安德鲁斯实验森林度过8周，这是一个由美国国家科学基金会资助的LTER网站和“网络森林”，由STEM合作研究人员组成的跨学科小组提供指导。此外，专业发展活动将贯穿整个夏季，涉及各种主题，包括有效沟通科学、研究伦理和研究生毕业后的职业选择。该计划将针对来自以下方面的合格学生：1)非传统背景（第一代大学生，年龄较大的学生），2)代表性不足的少数群体（美洲原住民，西班牙裔和女学生），以及3)STEM研究机会有限的学术机构。REU学生在该项目中进行的综合测量和建模研究将产生关于网络对扰动的稳定性和弹性的新的基础知识，这可以与社会中的其他网络系统相关。此外，该REU计划将帮助培养科学家、工程师、数学家和计算机科学家的劳动力，使他们能够在信息技术革命所改变的社会中取得成功。

Non-Technical: This REU site will help support NSF's mission to promote the progress of science in two key ways, by 1) providing mentored, high-quality research experience to a diverse group of undergraduates who will become the next generation of scientists and managers, and 2) making incremental advancements in the field of EcoInformatics (EI). EcoInformatics unites theory and methods of informatics (e.g. computer science, mathematics, statistics, and engineering) with disciplines involving ecosystems and their management (e.g. ecology, geomorphology, botany). A central objective of the program is to increase the diversity in the STEM fields, and thus the project aims to attract students from a broad range of ethnicities, cultures, and life experiences. Students will spend 8 weeks at the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest, an NSF-funded LTER site and "cyberforest," working in interdisciplinary teams. As part of the program, participants will engage in professional development activities on topics including effectively communicating science, ethics in research, and career alternatives following graduate school. Research under this REU program will focus on informational and ecological networks, applying network analysis tools from computer science, mathematics, and statistics to better understand ecosystem networks and their resilience to disturbance. Broadly, research on the resiliency of networked informational systems and ecosystems following disturbances is relevant across society, informing everything from the management of cyber attacks to pollinators to flow releases from dams. The nation needs a workforce of scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and computer scientists trained to work in this area, and more generally to succeed in a society transformed by the information technology revolution. This REU program will engage and help retain students in field of STEM and develop skills to solve contemporary environmental problems in a mentored and interdisciplinary setting. Technical: The overarching goal of this REU site is to provide mentored, high-quality research experience to a diverse group of undergraduates, while making incremental advancements in the field of EcoInformatics (EI). EI unites theory and methods of informatics (e.g. computer science, mathematics, statistics, and engineering) with disciplines involving ecosystems and their management (e.g. ecology, geomorphology, botany). The objectives of the proposed REU Site are to: a) Advance the disciplinary and synthetic, interdisciplinary skills of participants, b) Develop professionals to lead and communicate science, c) Enhance diversity in the STEM fields, and d) Develop novel research on networked systems. Research under this proposed renewal will focus on informational and ecological networks, applying network analysis tools from computer science, mathematics, and statistics to better understand ecosystem networks and their resilience to disturbance. Example projects will focus on how plant-pollinator network structures achieve resilience in the face of climatic variability, natural selection, and loss and fragmentation of meadow habitats, or how statistical, mathematical, and computer science models of entropy can be advanced and applied in investigations of how stream network functions (flow of water, sediment, drift of aquatic insects) respond to perturbations. Students will spend 8 weeks at the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest, an NSF-funded LTER site and "cyberforest," with mentoring from an interdisciplinary group of collaborating STEM researchers. In addition, professional development activities will be delivered throughout the summer on a variety of topics that include effectively communicating science, ethics in research, and career alternatives following graduate school. This program will target qualified students who originate from: 1) non-traditional backgrounds (first generation college, older students), 2) under-represented minority groups (Native American, Hispanic, and women students), and 3) academic institutions with limited research opportunities in STEM. The integrated measurement and modeling research that REU students conduct in this program will generate new, fundamental knowledge on the stability and resilience of networks to perturbations, which can be relevant to other networked systems in society. Furthermore, this REU program will help develop the workforce of scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and computer scientists trained to succeed in a society transformed by the information technology revolution.