Project Profile
IGERT: Novel ecosystems, rapid change, and no-analog conditions: the future of biodiversity conservation in human-dominated landscapes
University of Wisconsin at Madison
Abstract
This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) award trains the next generation of interdisciplinary scientists to design biodiversity conservation strategies in the face of novel environments, and develops an integrative program of experiential learning, engaged scholarship, and problem-focused research on biodiversity conservation.
Intellectual Merit… more »
This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) award trains the next generation of interdisciplinary scientists to design biodiversity conservation strategies in the face of novel environments, and develops an integrative program of experiential learning, engaged scholarship, and problem-focused research on biodiversity conservation.
Intellectual Merit: Humans are now the dominant biogeographic, evolutionary, and climatic force on Earth. As we change the environment ever more rapidly, new climate conditions are emerging that have no historical analogs, novel ecosystems are flourishing, and people are creating new land use patterns and demographic, economic, and political realities. This program will support a community of practice in which social scientists, climatologists, ecologists, computer scientists, geneticists, economists, statisticians, remote sensing specialists and others collaborate in interdisciplinary teams to find solutions for future biodiversity conservation in novel environments.
Broader Impacts: This IGERT award advances discovery and understanding by integrating research and experiential learning, and by establishing and strengthening collaborations among disciplines within UW-Madison, and with partners in government, conservation organizations, and abroad. A participatory research approach will ensure broad dissemination of findings, thereby enhancing scientific understanding and social benefits. A suite of new graduate seminars will train students in collaborating, and in communicating with broader audiences, and in integrating research and education. Continuing feedback from agencies and communities will ensure that results are relevant for policy formulation at both state and national levels, and program elements have been designed to engage students from underrepresented groups in partnership with existing on- and off-campus organizations.
IGERT is an NSF-wide program intended to meet the challenges of educating U.S. Ph.D. scientists and engineers with the interdisciplinary background, deep knowledge in a chosen discipline, and the technical, professional, and personal skills needed for the career demands of the future. The program is intended to establish new models for graduate education and training in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries, and to engage students in understanding the processes by which research is translated to innovations for societal benefit. « less
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