Developing a Strategic Plan for Upham Woods, a Field Station and Living Lab of the University of Wisconsin-Madison

Upham Woods户外学习中心是威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校的一个野外研究站和生活实验室，它正在召集来自其所在大学主校区、其他野外研究站和全国各地大学的合作伙伴，为他们的野外研究站制定战略计划。Upham Woods在威斯康星大学系统内作为一个单独管理的实体度过了48年之后，回到了威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校。最近的重组为实地站的运营提供了一个设想和规划过程的机会，特别是与研究、创新以及与主校区学生和教师的联系有关。通过一项战略计划，Upham Woods将更好地融入大学，为本科生提供基于地点的环境教育机会，否则他们可能没有机会在课堂外获得丰富的教育经验。此外，通过更多的创新和研究，将Upham Woods的参与扩展到大学景观中，每年与现场站接触的12,000名青年和成年人的接触将得到加强和更加强大。观众将了解并在某些情况下亲身体验与威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校有关的Upham Woods景观研究，从而增强该大学自然科学研究的更广泛影响。Upham Woods户外学习中心将制定一项5年战略计划，以解决以下问题：a)推进Upham Woods景观研究；b)扩大机会，使其更有意地融入威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校作为一个生活实验室；c)通过大学课程、学生组织和研究项目，促进大学生在Upham Woods的接触和参与。d)确定未来的资助项目，以确保Upham Woods研究计划的可持续性；e)为实地站制定数据管理计划。在该项目为期一年的时间里，Upham Woods将主持并共同促进一系列研讨会，重点关注现场站管理（评估和多样性、公平和包容有效实践）、人文和自然科学。每次讲习班将召集Upham Woods的一位具有相关专业知识的合作伙伴，为大学生制定研究大纲，提出加强实地站业务的建议，并确定寻求赠款资助的机会。每次讲习班产生的数据将为正式战略计划提供信息，Upham Woods将向为此项目召集的战略规划委员会提交正式战略计划。该项目的总体目标是为Upham Woods制定一个战略计划，以确保野外研究站的研究项目的寿命和可持续性，同时增强其对广泛受众的影响。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。

Upham Woods Outdoor Learning Center, a field station and living laboratory of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is convening partners from their home university’s main campus and other field stations and universities around the country to develop a strategic plan for their field station. Upham Woods institutionally returned to the University of Wisconsin-Madison after spending 48 years as part of a separately administered entity within the University of Wisconsin system. This recent reorganization presents an opportunity to undertake a visioning and planning process for the field station operations – specifically related to research, innovation, and connections to students and faculty from main campus. With a strategic plan to more intentionally integrate into the university, Upham Woods will better serve as a field station that provides place-based, environmental education opportunities to undergraduate students that otherwise may not have the opportunity to have enriching educational experiences outside of the classroom. Additionally, by extending Upham Woods engagement into the collegiate landscape with more innovation and research, the engagement with the 12,000 youth and adults that the field station reaches annually will be enhanced and more robust. That audience will learn about, and in some cases experience firsthand, the research on the landscape at Upham Woods that is associated with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, enhancing the broader impacts of the natural science research of the university. Upham Woods Outdoor Learning Center will develop a 5-year strategic plan that addresses a) the advancement of research on the landscape at Upham Woods, b) expanding opportunities for more intentional integration into the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a living laboratory, c) promoting access and involvement of university students at Upham Woods through university courses, student organizations, and research projects, d) identifying future grant projects that will ensure the sustainability of the research program at Upham Woods and e) develop a data management plan for the field station. Over the one-year duration of this project, Upham Woods will host and co-facilitate a series of workshops that focus in field station administration (evaluation and diversity, equity, and inclusion effective practices), humanities, and natural sciences. Each workshop will convene a partners of Upham Woods with the relevant expertise to develop research prospectuses for collegiate students, recommendations for enhancing field station operations, and identify opportunities to pursue grant funding. The data generated in each of these workshops will inform the formal strategic plan that Upham Woods will present to the strategic planning committee assembled for this project. The overarching goal of this project is to develop a strategic plan for Upham Woods that ensures the longevity and sustainability of the research program at the field station while enhancing its reach to a broad audience.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.