Project Profile
Education of the Next Generation of Environmental Scientists and Engineers
Washington State University
Abstract
This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) award supports the establishment of a multidisciplinary graduate training program of education and research in environmental science and engineering. Graduate students from a variety of fields will be trained in a dynamic multidisciplinary context that will produce environmental scientists and engineers who… more »
This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) award supports the establishment of a multidisciplinary graduate training program of education and research in environmental science and engineering. Graduate students from a variety of fields will be trained in a dynamic multidisciplinary context that will produce environmental scientists and engineers who will be able to lead the development of solutions to global environmental problems. These professionals will have a strong desire to work with experts in other disciplines, be ready for both industrial and academic careers, and be able to cross cultural and national barriers. Trainees will work in co-located laboratories with researchers from eight departments in three colleges at WSU, performing cutting-edge, fundamental, and applied research focused on understanding the physical, chemical, and biological phenomena that occur at the interfaces between material phases.
Students will participate in an integrated training program that includes a formalized instructional mentoring program and specialized coursework and educational activities. The program is enhanced by internships at national laboratories, government agencies, industrial facilities, Indian nation environmental departments, or at cooperating international institutions. Outstanding graduate students will be recruited via undergraduate research participation and interactions with targeted regional colleges and universities, including two Tribal colleges. Women, Hispanic and Native American participants will be actively recruited. During the five-year training program, participation by at least 66 students is anticipated.
IGERT is an NSF-wide program intended to facilitate the establishment of innovative, research-based graduate programs that will train a diverse group of scientists and engineers to be well-prepared to take advantage of a broad spectrum of career options. IGERT provides doctoral institutions with an opportunity to develop new, well-focussed multidisciplinary graduate programs that transcend organizational boundaries and unite faculty from several departments or institutions to establish a highly interactive, collaborative environment for both training and research. In this second year of the program, awards are being made to twenty-one institutions for programs that collectively span all areas of science and engineering supported by NSF. This specific award is supported by funds from the Directorates for Biological Sciences, for Geosciences, for Engineering, for Education and Human Resources, and from the Office of Polar Programs. « less
