NRT-INFEWS: Preparing future leaders: Rural resource resiliency (R3)

到2050年，美国和世界各地的农村社区都面临着为90多亿人生产粮食的挑战。与此同时，许多这样的社区——包括堪萨斯州西部的社区——正面临着威胁其生存的严峻挑战，如水资源短缺、经济压力和人口减少。农村社区要在更加不确定的未来适应和繁荣发展，就需要开发新的技术和实践，以实现可持续农业，而这反过来又需要具有创新思维的领导人。这项授予堪萨斯州立大学的国家科学基金会研究培训（NRT）奖将通过结合工程、经济学和社会学知识来满足农民、工业和社会的需求，使学生成为以科学为基础的领导者和弹性农村社区的倡导者。学生将通过互动课程与农民、政府和行业接触，并通过创新课程和团队合作培养相关技能。这个综合项目预计将培养50名硕士和博士研究生，其中包括25名受资助的学员，他们来自工程学院、艺术学院、科学学院和农业学院。堪萨斯州西部和其他半干旱地区的粮食、能源和水系统需要有足够的能力适应短期冲击和长期不利条件（例如，地下水进一步枯竭，粮食和能源利益之间对水资源的竞争日益加剧）。化肥生产对资源的需求不断增加)。通过该项目资助的跨学科研究工作将侧重于可持续农业的资源保护、恢复和再利用，包括：(1)面对干旱的土壤、水和微生物系统的创新；(2)有效粮食生产的水文科学和水资源保护系统；(3)将动物粪便转化为可用能源、水和肥料的厌氧生物反应器。单靠工程创新并不能使农村社区更具复原力；至关重要的是，解决方案也要解决利益相关者之间的认知、障碍和态度，以满足他们的短期需求，同时在更长的时间框架内实现向更具弹性的系统动态的过渡。通过该项目进行的NRT培训将通过与堪萨斯州西南部的生产商和行业、州首府的政策制定者的沉浸式体验，以及整合理论、实践和国际讨论的跨学科课程，培养具有文化能力的跨学科问题解决者。此外，与农业高中教师的接触将培养实习生的领导技能，实习生的成功将得到以团队为基础的教师和同伴指导的支持。美国国家科学基金会研究实习生（NRT）计划旨在鼓励开发和实施大胆的、具有潜在变革性的STEM研究生教育培训新模式。该项目致力于通过创新、循证、适应不断变化的劳动力和研究需求的综合培训模式，在高优先级跨学科研究领域对STEM研究生进行有效培训。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。

Rural communities in the United States and across the world are faced with the challenge of producing food for over 9 billion people by 2050. At the same time, many of these communities - including those in Western Kansas - are facing serious challenges that threaten their survival, such as water shortages, economic pressures, and a population decline. For rural communities to adapt and thrive in a more uncertain future requires the development of new technologies and practices to enable sustainable agriculture, which in turn requires leaders who can think outside the box. This National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) award to Kansas State University will prepare students to become science-based leaders and advocates for resilient rural communities by combining engineering, economics, and sociological knowledge to meet the needs of farmers, industry, and society. Students will engage with farmers, government and industry through interactive sessions and will develop relevant skills through innovative coursework and teamwork. This comprehensive program anticipates training fifty (50) master's and doctoral students, including twenty-five (25) funded trainees, from the colleges of engineering, arts and sciences, and agriculture, A resilient food, energy, and water system in Western Kansas and other semi-arid regions requires sufficient capacity to adapt to short-term shocks and long-term adverse conditions (e.g., further groundwater depletion, growing competition for water between food and energy interests, increasing resource demands for fertilizer production). The interdisciplinary research efforts funded through this project will focus on resource conservation, recovery, and reuse for sustainable agriculture, including: (1) innovations for soil, water and microbial systems in the face of drought, (2) hydrologic science and water conservation systems for efficient food production, and (3) anaerobic bioreactors to transform animal waste into usable energy, water, and fertilizer. Engineering innovations alone will not bring about more resilient rural communities; it is critical that solutions also address perceptions, barriers, and attitudes among stakeholders to meet their shorter-term needs while enabling transitions to more resilient system dynamics over longer time frames. NRT training through this program will create culturally competent, interdisciplinary problem-solvers through immersive experiences with producers and industry in Southwest Kansas, policy makers in the state capital, and interdisciplinary coursework that integrates theory, practice, and international discussions. In addition, outreach to agricultural high school teachers will develop trainee leadership skills and trainee success will be supported by team-based faculty and peer mentoring. The NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) Program is designed to encourage the development and implementation of bold, new potentially transformative models for STEM graduate education training. The program is dedicated to effective training of STEM graduate students in high priority interdisciplinary research areas through comprehensive traineeship models that are innovative, evidence-based, and aligned with changing workforce and research needs.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.