REU Site: Environmental and Earth Systems Research at Biosphere 2

本科生的研究经验：生物圈2号（B2 REU）的环境和地球系统研究是一个为期10周的夏季研究网站，让本科生有机会体验真实的地球科学研究。每年夏天，十名学生将与导师和同行合作，在环境和地球科学方面进行最先进的研究，并了解STEM的职业生涯。B2 REU学生将从美国各地的申请人中挑选，这些申请人来自几乎没有研究经验的机构和/或来自科学代表性不足的群体，包括少数民族，特别是西班牙裔和美洲原住民，以及第一代学生。生物圈2号设施提供了一个独特的环境，激发学生对环境研究的兴趣，一个强大的导师和科学工作人员团队确保学生建立知识和联系，这将有助于他们未来的职业生涯。除了研究，学生参加各种专业发展活动策划，以促进他们作为科学家的成长。在夏季结束时，学生们将在亚利桑那大学本科生研究研讨会上展示他们的工作，数百名学生将在那里与同学，研究导师和其他教职员工分享他们的工作。我们还支持学生参加他们选择的专业会议，与更大的科学界建立联系并展示他们的工作。B2 REU计划有助于培养下一代环境和地球系统科学的积极，多元化和跨学科的科学家。B2 REU的学生研究项目强调环境挑战和生态系统恢复力背景下的跨学科科学。生物圈2号的基础设施允许在大规模上进行前所未有的控制，并具有雨林，海洋和景观演变观测台（LEO）-一种玻璃下的研究仪器，用于研究土壤和景观形成过程中水文，地质和生物过程之间的相互作用。在标志性的3英亩生物圈2号设施中进行的研究得到了附近自然环境研究的补充，包括NSF临界区天文台（CZO），该天文台沿着圣卡塔利纳山脉的海拔梯度和图森附近的其他实地考察地球系统过程。REU学生项目1）解决跨越传统学科的重要地球系统问题，包括多种方法和认知方式，2）为科学探究提供规模，控制和测量的独特组合，3）帮助学生将他们的研究与环境挑战联系起来。我们通过创造一个热情和支持的环境来支持多样化的学生群体，重点是多样性，公平和包容性;我们为导师提供培训，以确保学生感到他们是研究团队的重要成员。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并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。

Research Experiences for Undergraduates: Environmental and Earth Systems Research at Biosphere 2 (B2 REU) is a 10-week summer research site that gives undergraduate students the opportunity to experience authentic geoscience research. Each summer, ten students will work with mentors and peers to perform state-of-the-art research in environmental and Earth sciences and learn about careers in STEM. B2 REU students will be selected from applicants throughout the United States from institutions with little access to research experiences and/or come from groups underrepresented in science, including minority, particularly Hispanic and Native American, and 1st generation students. The Biosphere 2 facility provides a unique setting to excite students about environmental research and a strong group of mentors and science staff ensures that students build knowledge and connections that will help them in their future careers. In addition to research, students participate in a variety of professional development activities curated to facilitate their growth as scientists. At the end of the summer, students will present their work at the University of Arizona undergraduate research symposium, where hundreds of students convene and share their work with fellow students, research mentors, and other faculty and staff. We also support students to attend a professional meeting of their choice to network with and present their work to the larger scientific community. The B2 REU program helps train the next generation of motivated, diverse, and interdisciplinary scientists for environmental and Earth system sciences. Student research projects in the B2 REU emphasize interdisciplinary science in the context of environmental challenges and ecosystem resilience. Biosphere 2 infrastructure allows for unprecedented control at large scales and features a rainforest, an ocean, and the Landscape Evolution Observatory (LEO) – a research instrument under glass for studying interactions among hydrologic, geologic, and biologic processes during formation of soil and landscapes. Research in the iconic, 3-acre Biosphere 2 facility is complemented by studies in nearby natural settings, including the NSF Critical Zone Observatory (CZO) that examines Earth systems processes along the elevation gradient of the Santa Catalina Mountains and at other field sites close to Tucson. REU student projects 1) address important Earth systems questions that cut across traditional disciplines and include multiple approaches and ways of knowing, 2) provide a unique combination of scale, control, and measurement for scientific inquiry, and 3) help students link their research to environmental challenges. We support the diverse cohorts of students by creating a welcoming and supportive environment that is focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion; and we provide training to mentors to ensure that students feel they are valued members of research teams.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.