NRT-INFEWS: Agricultural Biotechnology in Our Evolving Food, Energy & Water Systems (AgBioFEWS)

农业生物技术的创新可能实现生物技术长期以来的承诺，即帮助养活世界上不断增长的人口，同时保持生态系统的完整性。然而，过去的经验表明，从技术创新到提高可持续性和生产力的道路具有相当大的复杂性和不确定性。面对改善食物、能源和水（FEW）系统的挑战，需要整合来自许多自然科学以及社会、政治和伦理领域的知识。这项授予北卡罗来纳州立大学的国家科学基金会研究培训（NRT）奖将为参加各种自然科学和社会科学硕士和博士课程的研究生提供跨学科的知识和方法，以帮助打造农业生物技术应用增强FEW系统的未来，同时最大限度地减少意想不到的后果。总的来说，AgBioFEWS项目将培养至少62名硕士和博士研究生，包括22名获得资助的博士生，他们来自生物、农业和社会科学领域。该实习项目将与两所历史上的黑人大学合作，为他们的学生提供实习机会，并为这些学生加入NRT项目建立途径。与来自行业、政府和非营利机构的专家的持续互动将使学生接触到不同的职业道路。对于新一代的学生来说，他们必须能够整合来自不同、复杂的研究领域的知识和不确定性，从而为农业生物技术的开发和利用做出贡献。了解事实和价值观如何影响决策；并通过与不同社区的基于证据的接触建立他们的可信度。利用北卡罗莱纳州的扩展网络，AgBioFEWS学员将在生态脆弱地区的一个小型农业社区共同生活，开始他们的项目。他们将从北卡罗莱纳州农村的农民、推广人员、环保人士和其他公共利益相关者那里获得实际的学习机会。这种体验也是为了建立团队凝聚力。随后的课程和活动将把学生对农业生物技术和少数系统的观点扩展到国家和国际范围。AgBioFEWS的课程将整合到现有的遗传工程与社会研究生辅修课程和新兴的公共科学辅修课程中。这些课程将涉及基因工程技术、农业、政策分析、科学传播以及为学生在政府、工业、国际发展和学术界的职业生涯做好准备所需的其他主题。所有AgBioFEWS学员将在2-3名教师的指导下参加一个跨学科的团队项目，博士生预计将在他们的论文中纳入跨学科的农业生物技术和FEW系统。主要的研究工作范围从调查当前生物技术产品对少数社会生态系统的影响到开发潜在的未来产品。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。

Innovations in agricultural biotechnology may fulfill biotechnology's longstanding promise to help feed the world's growing population while preserving ecosystem integrity. Yet past experience suggests that paths from technological innovation to improved sustainability and productivity entail considerable complexity and uncertainty. Meeting challenges of improving food, energy and water (FEW) systems requires the integration of knowledge from a number of natural sciences as well as from social, political, and ethical domains. This National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) award to North Carolina State University will provide graduate students who are enrolled in diverse natural and social science masters and PhD programs with the interdisciplinary knowledge and approaches needed to help forge futures where agricultural biotechnology applications enhance FEW systems while minimizing unintended consequences. In all, the AgBioFEWS program will train at least sixty-two (62) masters and PhD students, including twenty-two (22) funded PhD students, from biological, agricultural, and social sciences. The traineeship program will partner with two historically black universities, offering internships to their students, and will establish a path for these students to join the NRT program. Continuous interaction with experts from industry, government, and non-profit agencies will expose students to diverse career paths. For a new generation of students to contribute to development and utilization of agricultural biotechnology in ways that enhance FEW systems, they must be able to integrate knowledge and uncertainties from diverse, sophisticated fields of study; understand how facts and values influence decision-making; and establish their trustworthiness through evidence-based engagement with diverse communities. Tapping into North Carolina State's extension network, AgBioFEWS trainees will begin their programs living together in a small farming community situated in an ecologically fragile landscape. They will receive hands-on learning from farmers, extension agents, conservationists, and other public stakeholders in rural North Carolina. This experience is also designed to build team cohesiveness. Subsequent coursework and activities will expand student perspectives on agricultural biotechnology and FEW systems to national and international scales. AgBioFEWS course offerings will be integrated into an established graduate minor in Genetic Engineering and Society and an emerging minor in Public Science. The courses will address techniques of genetic engineering, agriculture, policy analysis, science communication, and other topics needed to prepare students for careers in government, industry, international development, and academia. All AgBioFEWS trainees will participate in an interdisciplinary team project under the direction of 2-3 faculty members, and doctoral trainees are expected to incorporate interdisciplinary agricultural biotechnology and FEW systems into their dissertations. Major research efforts range from investigating the impact of current biotechnology products on FEW socio-ecological systems to the development of potential future products. 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.