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The University of Rhode Island’s Coastal Institute IGERT Project (CIIP) has developed an integrated, multi-disciplinary graduate curriculum to enrich the education of students who show potential for leadership in solving environmental problems in coastal ecosystems. The fundamental goal and intellectual merit of this IGERT is to integrate the traditionally… more »

The University of Rhode Island’s Coastal Institute IGERT Project (CIIP) has developed an integrated, multi-disciplinary graduate curriculum to enrich the education of students who show potential for leadership in solving environmental problems in coastal ecosystems. The fundamental goal and intellectual merit of this IGERT is to integrate the traditionally disparate disciplines in the natural and social sciences to form a coherent, multidisciplinary framework for coastal research. This framework will sharpen the focus of basic research in the sciences by identifying the critical questions and information needs of resource managers. Similarly, research in the social sciences will be advanced by bringing scientific literacy to the assessment of economic and social dimensions of coastal environmental problems.

Working closely with each other and with non-academic partner institutions, trainees from the natural sciences (ecology, biology, fisheries, natural resources science) and the social sciences (economics, governance, planning, coastal policy) will acquire competence in developing, implementing, and monitoring programs and policies that promote the vitality of coastal regions. To accomplish this trainees must be able to anticipate and negotiate points of conflict among environmental, social, and economic perspectives on issues of coastal science and management. The CIIP uses tools and disciplines in the humanities such as communication sciences, ethics, social equity, aesthetics and leadership to provide graduate students with skills and perspectives that are fundamental to bridging science and public policy in practice.

The broader impact of the integrated research and training in the CIIP will be production of practical solutions to environmental problems that are relevant to much of coastal America. 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 catalyze a cultural change in graduate education by establishing innovative new models for graduate education and training in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries. « less