NRT: Interdisciplinary Consortium for Applied Research in Ecology and Evolution (ICARE): Broadening Participation Across the Environmental Sciences in Baltimore Harbor

美国国家科学基金会研究培训（NRT）奖授予巴尔的摩马里兰大学，将提供一个创新的培训计划，旨在扩大环境工作人员的参与，并赋予下一代科学家将研究应用于环境问题解决的能力。针对巴尔的摩港面临的社会生态挑战，NRT项目整合了(1)跨部门实习，让学生进行与政策相关的科学研究；(2)一系列以技能为基础的课程，让学生为环保工作作好准备；(3)专业促进的跨学科培训课程，让学生、导师和社区利益相关者参与进来。该项目预计将培养30名硕士生，其中包括18名来自生物科学、地理与环境系统、化学、生化和环境工程系的受资助学员。另有150名硕士生和博士生有望从该项目开发和实施的课程中受益。该计划将为来自代表性不足群体的学生提供为期两年的论文硕士课程，该课程整合了(1)一系列基于技能的课程，(2)跨学科培训，包括两个累积的导航器（跨学科解决问题的工具）培训课程，(3)单独定制的学科课程，以及(4)跨部门应用研究实习。NRT的活动将集中在高度城市化和工业化的巴尔的摩港，它形成了帕塔普斯科河的盆地和切萨皮克湾上游的主要支流。虽然许多海港的环境问题是公众所知的，但关于海港健康的科学文献却少得惊人。因此，实习研究项目将由一个由至少一名教师和一名专业科学家组成的团队提供建议，这些科学家来自巴尔的摩港从事社会经济或环境研究的行业、政府或非营利部门。这些校外合作伙伴将担任研究顾问和讲师，为学员提供双向知识交流，帮助确定实施新政策或评估现有政策以保护海港所需的研究。其他社区利益攸关方也将参加跨学科培训课程。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，在高优先级跨学科或融合研究领域对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。

This National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) award to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County will deliver an innovative training program designed to broaden participation in the environmental workforce and empower the next generation of scientists to apply research to environmental problem-solving. Focusing on the socio-ecological challenges facing Baltimore Harbor, the NRT project integrates (1) a cross-sector internship in which students conduct policy-relevant scientific research; (2) a series of skills-based courses to prepare students for the environmental workforce; and (3) professionally-facilitated interdisciplinary training sessions that engage students, mentors, and community stakeholders. The project anticipates training thirty (30) master's students, including eighteen (18) funded trainees from Biological Sciences, Geography and Environmental Systems, and Chemical, Biochemical and Environmental Engineering departments. An additional one hundred fifty (150) master's and doctoral students are expected to benefit from the courses developed and implemented through this program.The program will deliver a two-year, thesis-master's program to students from underrepresented groups that integrates (1) a series of skills-based courses, (2) interdisciplinary training with two, cumulative CoNavigator (an interdisciplinary problem-solving tool) training sessions, (3) an individually tailored curriculum of disciplinary courses, and (4) a cross-sector applied research internship. NRT activities will focus on the highly urbanized and industrialized Baltimore Harbor, which forms the basin of the Patapsco River and a major tributary embayment of the upper Chesapeake Bay. Though many of the Harbor's environmental issues are public knowledge, scientific literature on the health of the Harbor is surprisingly scant. Trainee research projects therefore will be advised by a team consisting of at least one faculty member and one professional scientist from industry, government, or the non-profit sector engaged in socioeconomic or environmental research in Baltimore Harbor. These off-campus partners will serve as research advisors and instructors for trainees in a two-way knowledge exchange that helps identify research needed for implementing new policies or evaluating existing policies to protect the Harbor. Additional community stakeholders will also participate in the interdisciplinary training sessions.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 or convergent 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.