REU Site: Changing Dynamics of Hydrological Systems in Urban Areas: Response To Human Disturbance and Climate Change

世界城市地区的水文挑战提供了一个令人信服的理由，从事多学科的城市水文研究的本科生。干旱、过度使用、退化和人口增长正在给城市地区造成巨大压力。随着世界人口的55%居住在城市地区和城市人口的不断扩大，培养下一代科学家来解决城市水文问题是关键。另一个挑战是，得不到充分服务的群体在水文工作人员队伍中的代表性不足，因此，他们往往不参与直接影响其社区的决策。为了解决这些问题，该项目提出了一套垂直整合的导师为重点的教育和研究经验，为来自城市水文学领域代表性不足的背景的本科生提供职业途径。我们的提案旨在吸引来自代表性不足背景的积极主动的学生，在为期10周的本科生研究体验（REU）夏季培训计划中通过一系列嵌套活动来研究城市水文问题。 计划活动包括独立研究，专业培训，指导，社会活动，研究和培训实地活动，以及暑期后活动。REU的研究活动包括五个专题领域的调查：（1）城市地区的地表水文学;（2）气候驱动的城市地下水变化;（3）气象学和降水沿沿着沿海城市走廊;（4）城市河流的水化学/水化学方法的发展，以及;（5）城市沿海流域的河流沉积和恢复。这一建议的智力价值是通过本科生参与高层次的城市水文研究建立的。学生对城市水文系统的研究将提供对城市流域重要水文过程的理解。这项研究将有助于了解气候和城市水文系统的气候变化，这需要进一步研究和长期监测。该提案的更广泛影响集中在招募和留住来自水文科学代表性不足背景的学生。 因此，这一努力旨在扩大水资源决策的代表性。该REU计划提供多学科培训和教育，重点关注受气候变化影响的城市水文学，以及在政策和技术决策中整合多样性和人口公平的挑战。 该计划的目标是：1）在具有城市水文学领域研究兴趣的核心教师团队的指导和指导下，为学生提供丰富的文化体验; 2）增加在与水有关的领域（如水文地质学，流域分析和水文建模）攻读高级学位的学生人数; 3）增加代表性不足的学生，特别是那些没有机会获得研究机会和/或专业发展的学生的数量，为这些学生提供研究和机会，以追求研究生学位或就业。为了实现这些目标，REU计划包括参与监督研究，培训活动，指导活动，社会活动，研究和培训实地活动以及后REU活动。研究活动包括五个专题领域的调查：（1）城市地区的地表水文学;（2）气候驱动的城市地下水变化;（3）气象学和降水沿沿着沿海城市走廊;（4）城市河流的水化学/水化学方法的发展，以及;（5）河流沉积和恢复在加州沿海流域。培训活动包括为本科生学员举办的半天研讨会，涵盖几个专业主题，包括在空间和时间数据分析短期课程中培养计算技能，技术写作/摘要准备以及海报/口头演示。指导活动包括REU学生加上教师和研究生之间的周五下午会议，他们有有关职业和专业发展和挑战的非正式讨论。 社交活动包括三个周末的社交活动，以创造REU学生和教师同行之间的纽带。一项结合研究和培训的活动包括为期四天的实地考察，通过科罗拉多河流域的下部定于第三周结束。在夏季REU活动完成后，教师导师将继续与学生学员合作，通过会议出版物和学生参与者的演讲完成REU研究成果的传播，并在可行的情况下提供职业指导。 我们希望REU的努力，以帮助引导学生进入生产性研究企业后，他们在该计划的任期是完整的。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

Hydrologic challenges in urban areas of the world provide a compelling reason to engage undergraduate students in multidisciplinary urban hydrologic research. Drought, overuse, degradation, and population growth are causing significant stress upon urban areas. With 55% of the world's population residing in urban areas and urban populations expanding, it is key to train a future generation of scientists to tackle urban hydrologic problems. Another challenge is that underserved groups are inadequately represented in the hydrologic workforce and are, thus, often not involved in policy decisions that directly impact their communities. To address these concerns, this project presents a vertically integrated set of mentor-focused education and research experiences to provide career pathways for undergraduate students from underrepresented backgrounds in the field of urban hydrology. Our proposal aims to attract motivated students from underrepresented backgrounds to investigate urban hydrological problems through a nested series of events during a 10-week Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) summer training program. Program activities include independent research, professional training, mentoring, social activities, a research and training field activity, and post-summer activities. The REU research activities include investigations in five topical areas: (1) surface hydrology of urban areas; (2) climate-driven changes in urban groundwater; (3) meteorology and precipitation along coastal urban corridors; (4) hydrochemistry of urban streams/hydrochemical methods development, and; (5) river sedimentation and restoration in urban coastal watersheds. The intellectual merit of this proposal is established through undergraduate engagement in high-level urban hydrologic research. Student research on urban hydrologic systems will provide an understanding of important hydrologic processes in urban watersheds. The research will contribute to the understanding of climate and anthropogenic-forced change in urban hydrologic systems that require additional study and long-term monitoring. The broader impacts of the proposal are focused on recruiting and retaining students from underrepresented backgrounds in the hydrological sciences. As a result, this effort aims to expand representation in water resources decision making.This REU program provides multidisciplinary training and education focused on urban hydrology affected by climate change, and challenges of integrating diversity and demographic equity in policy and technical decisions. Objectives of the program are to: 1) provide students an enriching and cultural experience under the guidance and mentorship of a core group of faculty with research interests in fields of urban hydrology; 2) increase the number of students pursuing advanced degrees in water-related fields, such as hydrogeology, watershed analysis, and hydrologic modeling, and; 3) increase the number of underrepresented students and especially those that do not have access to research opportunities and/or professional development, providing exposure/training in research and opportunities for these students to pursue graduate degrees or employment. To accomplish these objectives, the REU program includes engagement in supervised research, training activities, mentoring activities, social activities, a research and training field activity, and post-REU activities. Research activities include investigations in five topical areas: (1) surface hydrology of urban areas; (2) climate-driven changes in urban groundwater; (3) meteorology and precipitation along coastal urban corridors; (4) hydrochemistry of urban streams/hydrochemical methods development, and; (5) river sedimentation and restoration in California coastal watersheds. Training activities include half-day workshops for undergraduate mentees covering several professional topics including developing computing skills in the Spatial and Temporal Data Analysis short course, technical writing/abstract preparation, and poster/oral presentation. Mentoring activities include Friday afternoon meetings between REU students plus faculty and graduate students where they have informal discussions related to career and professional development and challenges. Social activities include three weekend social events to create bonds between REU students and faculty peers. A combination research and training activity includes a four-day field trip through the lower part of the Colorado River Basin scheduled for the end of the third week. After the summer REU activity is complete, faculty mentors will continue to work with student mentees to finalize the dissemination of the REU research results through conference publications and presentations by the student participants and to provide career guidance as practicable. We expect the REU effort to help lead students into productive research enterprises after their term in the program is complete.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.