RCN-UBE Incubator: Developing a Faculty Network in a Biodiversity Hotspot: the Research Experiences in Southern California For Undergraduate Ecologists Network

生态学本质上是多学科的，往往需要长时间和大空间尺度的调查。虽然从事真正的生态学研究的本科生是专业生态学家的培训的一个重要组成部分，大多数本科生的研究，特别是在主要的本科院校（PUI），是有限的时间和空间尺度。此外，研究通常是与学生在教师导师的实验室“孤立”，从而与他/她/他们的研究同行隔离。为了解决这些问题，并为学生提供更多的研究机会，项目组的目标是开发在南加州的本科生生态学家网络（RESCUE-net）的研究经验。通过将该地区的教师聚集在一起，RESCUE-net还将促进新的研究合作，并允许参与的教师分享专业知识和资源。合作将集中在保护加州植物区系省，一个生物多样性的热点。这笔赠款支持形成RESCUE-net，一个教师网络在南加州致力于开发机会，以吸引和培训不同的学生的保护劳动力和提高学生的学习，同时提高教师的研究计划在PUI的范围和建立一个社区的研究人员谁确定为教师学者。在一系列的会议和研讨会上，RESCUE-net的成员将共同努力，以确定1）为不同的本科生群体提供真实的，协作的研究经验的障碍;和2）网络可以加强在PUI的本科生研究的具体方式，并将研究带入课堂。利用这些信息，RESCUE-net将开发一个框架，使更多的本科生能够进行以学生为中心的研究项目，解决加州植物区所面临的许多环境挑战。该项目由生物科学理事会，生物基础设施部和教育和人力资源理事会共同资助，本科教育部作为他们努力解决的一部分，在“本科生物学教育的愿景和变化：行动呼吁”所提出的挑战（网址：//visionandchange/finalreport）该奖项反映了NSF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进行评估，被认为值得支持的搜索.

Ecology is inherently multidisciplinary and often requires inquiry over long periods and across large spatial scales. Although engaging undergraduates in authentic ecological research is a critical component in the training of professional ecologists, most undergraduate research, particularly at primarily undergraduate institutions (PUIs), is limited in time and spatial scales. In addition, research is often carried out with a student being "siloed" in the faculty mentor's lab and thus isolated from his/her/their research peers. To address these issues and to provide more research opportunities for students, the project team aims to develop the Research Experiences in Southern California for Undergraduate Ecologists Network (RESCUE-net). By bringing faculty from across the region together, RESCUE-net will also catalyze new research collaborations and allow participating faculty to share expertise and resources. Collaborations will focus on preserving the California Floristic Province, a biodiversity hotspot.This grant supports the formation of RESCUE-net, a network of faculty in southern California dedicated to developing opportunities to attract and train diverse students for the conservation workforce and improve student learning while enhancing the scope of faculty research programs at PUIs and building a community of researchers who identify as teacher-scholars. In a series of meetings and workshops, the members of RESCUE-net will work together to identify 1) barriers to providing authentic, collaborative research experiences to a diverse group of undergraduates; and 2) concrete ways the network can enhance undergraduate research at PUIs and bring that research into the classroom. Using this information, RESCUE-net will develop a framework that enables more undergraduates to conduct student-centered research projects that address the many environmental challenges facing the California Floristic Province.This project is being jointly funded by the Directorate for Biological Sciences, Division of Biological Infrastructure, and the Directorate for Education and Human Resources, Division of Undergraduate Education as part of their efforts to address the challenges posed in "Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action" (http://visionandchange/finalreport).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.