REU Site: Disturbance Ecology in Central Appalachia

位于肯塔基州里士满的东肯塔基大学的REU Site奖将在2020-2022年夏季期间支持10名学生进行为期10周的培训。学生们将驻扎在肯塔基州的里士满，并将在偏远的阿巴拉契亚野外站进行研究。预计共有30名学生将在该计划中接受培训，这些学生主要来自研究机会有限的学校或来自代表性不足的背景。学生将学习研究是如何进行的，许多人将在科学会议上展示他们的工作成果。研究结果旨在帮助塑造资源管理，为该地区带来社会经济利益。将通过SALG Urssa在线工具对该方案进行评估。项目结束后，将对学生进行跟踪，以确定他们的职业道路。该项目的学生使用生态和地理信息系统(GIS)技术来探索高生物多样性地区的干扰和气候变化的影响。学生直接与教师导师和合作者合作，包括机构专业人员，并参与所有方面的研究。学生和导师在水生和陆地栖息地工作，研究流域和区域尺度上的动植物种群，并使用基于现场的数据收集和基于地理信息系统的技术。学生获得自然历史和陆地航行经验，以及生态学研究必不可少的其他方面的实地工作。团队活动确保了一支充满活力的队伍，他们探索自然，发展技能，包括道德、领导力、文化敏感性和职业发展。学生与他们的社区接触，发展与科学家和公众的沟通技能，同时探索他们自己的研究的影响，在一个充满争议的环境中，与资源开采、气候变化和环境保护的经济和文化权衡有关。有关该计划的更多信息，请访问https://bioreu.eku.edu/，，或联系PI(David Brown博士邮箱：david.Brown@eku edu)或联合PI(Kelly Watson博士邮箱：kelly.watson@eku edu)。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并已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，被认为值得支持。

This REU Site award to Eastern Kentucky University, located in Richmond, KY, will support the training of 10 students for 10 weeks, during the summers of 2020-2022. Students will be based in Richmond, KY and will conduct research at remote Appalachian field stations. It is anticipated that a total of 30 students, primarily from schools with limited research opportunities or who are from underrepresented backgrounds, will be trained in the program. Students will learn how research is conducted, and many will present the results of their work at scientific conferences. Research findings are intended to will help shape resource management in a way that would bring socioeconomic benefits to the region. Assessment of the program will be done thru the online SALG URSSA tool. Students will be tracked after the program in order to determine their career paths.Students in this program use ecological and geographic information systems (GIS) techniques to explore the implications of disturbance and climate change in a region of high biodiversity. Students work directly with faculty mentors and collaborators, including agency professionals, and participate in all aspects of research. Students and mentors work in aquatic and terrestrial habitats studying plant and animal populations at watershed and regional-scales and use field-based data collection along with GIS-based techniques. Students gain natural history and land navigation experience, and other aspects of field work essential to ecological research. Team activities ensure a dynamic cohort who explore nature and develop skills, including ethics, leadership, cultural sensitivity, and career development. Students engage with their community and develop communication skills with scientists and the public, while exploring the implications of their own research in a setting rife with controversy related to the economic and cultural trade-offs of resource extraction, climate change, and environmental conservation. More information about the program is available by visiting https://bioreu.eku.edu/, or by contacting the PI (Dr. David Brown at david.brown@eku.edu) or the co-PI (Dr. Kelly Watson at kelly.watson@eku.edu).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.