IGERT: Coasts and Communities - Natural and Human Systems in Urbanizing Environments

University Of Massachusetts Boston, Dorchester MA

Investigators

Abstract

This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) award prepares Ph.D. students at the University of Massachusetts Boston with the skills to understand the interactions between natural and human systems and to develop appropriate policy solutions for urban and urbanizing environments. By emphasizing interdisciplinary collaboration and communication, this program aims to enable trainees to apply their innovative and sustainable solutions across geographical, political, and economic contexts. Intellectual Merit: This program aims to increase understanding of the ways in which human activities impact coastal systems as well as the ways in which changes in coastal ecosystems affect human systems. Trainees will conduct research both in the Boston Harbor watersheds and in the Horn of Africa, in order to assess and address the environmental risks that emerge when natural and human systems interact. The program will engage four Ph.D. programs at the University of Massachusetts Boston ? environmental science, environmental biology, global governance and human security, and organizations and social change ? in the study of these two world regions. Broader Impacts: This traineeship will promote environmental stewardship and innovation on a global scale by supporting comparative research in the Horn of Africa and in Boston. Trainees will learn from a diverse range of disciplines and perspectives as they become effective problem solvers of complex global environmental issues. Additionally, as a minority-serving institution, the University of Massachusetts Boston will attract underrepresented students to this program. 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.