IRES: US-Estonia Research Partnership in Reconstructing Past Climate Dynamics

北欧过去气候变化的记录将提高我们预测北大西洋地区未来环境变化的能力。这个IRES项目将与爱沙尼亚的一流大学合作，培训学生掌握跨学科的实地环境科学方法，以便建立波罗的海地区过去温度和降水变化的档案。每年的项目将包括最初的指导，为期5周的国际夏季实地和实验室指导，学年期间在国内机构的后续实验室工作，以及春季的会议报告。每年将招募4名学生（本科生和研究生）和1名在职公共科学教师（RET），所有本科生参与者将来自伊利诺伊州北部的两年制学院。来自代表性不足群体的学生将成为目标，每年至少有一名本科生来自非stem背景。该项目将采用多代理方法来探索北欧历史气候变化的时间和原因。学生项目将相互关联，以更好地了解北半球温度变化和北大西洋平均状态条件如何影响波罗的海东部地区的气候动态。这些数据集将作为预测北半球未来变化的工具。学生项目将集中于湖泊沉积物地球化学(稳定同位素- ？18O和？13C)、古生态学和生物学作为重建过去气候条件的工具。教育目标是：1)让学生参与与社会相关的科学主题，以促进对STEM领域的兴趣；2)为参与者提供最先进的科研方法指导，为他们进入STEM专业、职业生涯和获得更高学位做好准备；3)通过指导和公开演讲培养参与者的书面和口头沟通能力；4)招募代表性不足的少数族裔学生和在职公共科学教师，以促进公立学校的多样性和可持续影响。项目组成部分、项目团队和参与者经验将由地球科学教育研究专家进行严格评估。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Records of past climate variability from northern Europe will improve our ability to predict future environmental changes in the North Atlantic region. This IRES project will partner with premier universities in Estonia to train students in interdisciplinary field-based environmental science methods in order to develop archives of past temperature and precipitation changes from the Baltic region. Each year the project will involve initial orientations, 5 weeks of international summer field and lab-based instruction, follow-up laboratory work at home institutions during the academic year, and conference presentations in the spring. A total of 4 students (undergraduate and graduate) and 1 in-service public science teacher (RET) each year will be recruited, and all the undergraduate participants will be from 2 year colleges in northern Illinois. Students from underrepresented groups will be targeted, and at least one undergraduate student per year will be from a non-STEM background.This project will apply a multi-proxy approach to explore the timing and causes of historic climate variability in northern Europe. Student projects will be interrelated to develop a better understanding of how shifting Northern Hemisphere temperatures and mean-state conditions of the North Atlantic Ocean have influenced the climate dynamics of the eastern Baltic region. These datasets will serve as predictive tools for future variation across the Northern Hemisphere. Student projects will focus on lake sediment geochemistry (stable isotopes - ?18O and ?13C), paleoecology, and biology as tools to reconstruct past climate conditions. The educational goals are to: 1) Engage students in societally-relevant scientific topics to promote interest in STEM fields; 2) Mentor participants in state-of-the-art scientific research methods to better prepare them for STEM majors, careers, and advanced degrees; 3) Develop participants written and oral communication skills through mentoring and public presentations; and 4) Recruit underrepresented minority students and in-service public science teachers to promote diversity and sustainable impacts in public schools. The program components, project team, and participant experience will be rigorously evaluated by a geoscience education research specialist.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.