RaMP: Woods to Water (W2W) for Training the Next Generation of Ecologists and Natural Resource Managers

维持生物多样性和生态系统服务需要子孙后代学会理解和维护陆地和水生生态系统之间的连通性。保持生态连通性可以促进生态系统在气候变化中的恢复力，这在美国东南部（SEUS）尤为重要，因为它是美国生态和生物多样性最丰富的地区之一。基于经验的学习可以帮助早期职业科学家了解陆地和水生生态系统之间的关键联系。然而，由于缺乏获得公共土地的机会以及实地和课堂培训机会不足，SEUS的经验学习机会往往受到限制。缺乏实践教育经验对那些在生态和自然资源领域历来代表性不足的群体的学生产生了不成比例的影响，并降低了劳动力的整体多样性。“从森林到水”（W2W）项目提供了一种以使命为导向、亲身实践的方法，将年轻人的注意力集中在全球气候变化问题上，帮助培养能够找到解决方案的一代人。通过提供标准化方法和数据科学方面的培训，W2W将为劳动力队伍增加30名经过实地培训的生态学家，增加生态学的多样性、公平性、包容性和可及性。为了实现这一目标，W2W将在陆地和水生环境中提供沉浸式队列和实地项目的培训机会。W2W利用美国国家科学基金会的国家生态观测网络（NEON）和伊肖韦的琼斯中心（JCI；一个非营利性研究站）的培训，培训学士学位后的关键领域技术，将生态系统之间的水、碳和营养流动联系起来——这是生态连通性的关键标志。W2W RaMP学员将在两个SEUS NEON领域接受培训：Ozarks综合体，有三对陆地和水生NEON场地，包括受威胁的长叶松生态系统的最西北范围；东南部，在JCI广阔的长叶松生态系统中有两个地点。W2W的参与者将通过培训模块获得身临其境的体验，并获得NEON和JCI的实践经验。参与者将与在这些站点内外工作的科学家、技术人员和研究人员进行互动。该计划将课堂、实地、实验室和独立研究方法相结合，提供全面的生态实地体验，参与者将获得实地研究的知识、技能和自信。W2W团队将有机会展示和发表他们的研究成果，并获得认证生态学家的专业证书。对于参与者来说，这个项目将促进他们向生态劳动力的过渡。对于生态学科，该计划将使生态科学多样化，并支持我们在面对气候变化时扩大对环境系统的理解。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。

Sustaining biological diversity and ecosystem services requires that future generations learn to understand and maintain connectivity between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Maintaining ecological connectivity promotes ecosystem resilience in a changing climate, which is particularly important in the Southeastern United States (SEUS) —one of the most ecologically and biologically diverse regions of the US. Experience-based learning can help early career scientists understand critical linkages between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. However, opportunities for experience-based learning in the SEUS are frequently limited by a lack of access to public lands and insufficient field and classroom training opportunities. The lack of hands-on educational experiences disproportionately impacts students from groups that are historically underrepresented in ecology and natural resources, and reduces the overall diversity of the workforce. The Woods to Water (W2W) program provides a mission-driven, hands-on approach that focuses young people's attention on global climate change to help develop a generation that can find solutions. By providing training in standardized methods and data science, W2W will add 30 field-trained ecologists to the workforce, increasing diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in ecology.To achieve this goal, W2W will provide training opportunities with an immersive cohort- and field-based program in terrestrial and aquatic settings. W2W leverages training with NSF’s National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) and the Jones Center at Ichauway (JCI; a non-profit research station) to train postbaccalaureates in key field techniques that link water, carbon, and nutrient fluxes among ecosystems —a key signature of ecological connectivity. W2W RaMP mentees will receive training in two SEUS NEON Domains: the Ozarks complex, with three pairs of terrestrial and aquatic NEON field sites, including the northwesternmost range of the threatened longleaf pine ecosystem; and the Southeast, with two sites in JCI’s expansive longleaf pine ecosystem. W2W participants will gain immersive experience through training modules and hands-on experience with both NEON and JCI. Participants will interact with scientists, technicians, and researchers working in and around these sites. The program will dovetail classroom, field, laboratory, and independent research approaches to provide comprehensive ecological field experiences, and participants will gain knowledge, skills, and self-confidence in field research. W2W cohorts will have opportunities to present and publish their research and obtain professional credentials as certified ecologists. For participants, this program will facilitate transition into the ecological workforce. For the discipline of ecology, the program will diversify the ecological sciences, and support the need to expand our understanding of environmental systems in the face of a changing climate.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.