Exploring Evidence of the Anthropocene: Archaeological and Ecological Interdisciplinary Research Experiences for First Generation Students in the Upper Mississippi River System

该项目由SBE理事会的本科生研究经验(REU)站点计划资助。因此，它兼具科学和社会效益，并将研究和教育融为一体。越来越多的科学家提出，最近人类对地球生物圈的改变将我们带入了一个新的地质时代--人类世，在这个时代，人类活动是环境和生态系统结构和功能的主要驱动力。尽管最近的环境变化主导了人类世的讨论，但数千年来，人们一直在使用和修改地球的生态系统。人类世造成的科学和人类挑战将需要研究人员和具有STEM技能的公民应用跨学科的科学知识。综合考古和生态数据可能会为人类世的社会背景、时间和区域变化提供新的见解。这个REU网站的目标是在第一代大学生中促进科学技能和跨学科，让他们做好准备，成为思想家，准备应对人类世的环境挑战。学生将参与一个为期8周的考古学和生态学交叉学科研究项目，调查密西西比河上游水系(UMRS)人类世的深层证据。与来自南伊利诺伊大学爱德华斯维尔分校、伊利诺伊大学-伊利诺伊自然历史调查分校和西伊利诺伊大学的学者合作，学生们将获得实地调查、实验室研究和数据分析方面的实践经验，为一个研究计划做出贡献，该研究计划使用跨学科的方法来了解南伊利诺伊大学人类世的背景。该REU网站的学生将研究并为新兴的文献主体做出贡献，该文献使用持续的长期鱼类监测数据和从跨越数千年的考古遗址的鱼类遗骸中记录的数据来调查人类与河流系统的相互作用的持久性。很少有研究在一个被一系列社会文化传统占据的区域生态系统中采取如此深入的视角。这项由REU网站的学生进行的研究将使用这些数据在新的时间和区域尺度上检查UMRS中的人类世证据。通过结合考古和生态研究工具，注册这个REU项目的学生将获得科学家和公民所需的跨学科STEM和批判性思维技能，以获得应对人类世挑战的创新解决方案。这个REU网站将在夏季学期运行8周，学生将被安置在伊利诺伊州爱德华兹维尔的南伊利诺伊大学爱德华兹维尔。

This project is funded from the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Sites program in the SBE Directorate. As such, it has both scientific and societal benefits, and it integrates research and education. A growing number of scientists are suggesting that recent human alterations to the earth's biosphere have moved us into a new geologic epoch, the Anthropocene, in which human activity is a major driver of environmental and ecosystem structure and function. Although recent environmental alterations dominate the discussion of the Anthropocene, people have used and modified the earth's ecosystems for millennia. The scientific and human challenges created by the Anthropocene will require researchers and citizens with STEM skills necessary to apply interdisciplinary scientific knowledge. Integrating archaeological and ecological data may provide new insights into the social context, timing, and regional variation of the Anthropocene. The goal of this REU site is to promote scientific skills and interdisciplinarity among first generation college students to prepare them to be thinkers ready to approach environmental challenges of the Anthropocene. Students will engage in an 8-week, archaeological and ecological interdisciplinary research project investigating deep-time evidence of the Anthropocene in the Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS). Working with scholars from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, University of Illinois- Illinois Natural History Survey, and Western Illinois University, students will gain practical experience in field investigations, laboratory research, and data analysis contributing to a research program using interdisciplinary approaches to understand the context of the Anthropocene in the UMRS.Students of this REU site will research and contribute to an emerging body of literature that investigates the longevity of human interactions to river systems using ongoing long-term fish monitoring data and data documented in the fish remains from archaeological sites spanning millennia. Few studies have taken such a deep-time perspective within a regional ecosystem occupied by a range of sociocultural traditions. The research conducted by students of this REU site will use these data to examine evidence of the Anthropocene in the UMRS at new temporal and regional scales. By combining archaeological and ecological research tools, students enrolled in this REU program will gain interdisciplinary STEM and critical thinking skills needed by scientists and citizens to derive innovative solutions to confront challenges of the Anthropocene. This REU site will run for 8 weeks during the summer semester and students will be housed at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville, IL.