The future of ecological engineering: A student-led vision

Kansas State University, Manhattan KS

Investigators

Abstract

This grant will provide student travel fellowships to the 2019 American Ecological Engineering Society (AEES) annual meeting, as well as to provide facilities for a student-oriented poster session and career networking event there. This funding will supplement AEES' ongoing efforts to engage students in the society and the discipline more broadly. The AEES annual meeting is the premier venue for ecological engineers to present new work to their colleagues and garner valuable feedback on their research. It allows researchers to hear about the latest discoveries, trends, and challenges in the field and related disciplines, and make connections that enhance their research programs through interactions with colleagues from different institutions around the country and world. Feedback collected from students supported by travel fellowships will be used to better understand how the discipline is perceived by the next generation of ecological engineers. The AEES meeting will have approximately 170- 200 attendees; approximately half are expected to be undergraduate or graduate students studying fields related to ecological engineering. To increase the overall diversity at the meeting and within the discipline, student travel fellowships will be awarded to prioritize attendance by under-represented institutions and geographic regions. Through the networking session to be supported through requested funds, students will have the opportunity to interact with faculty and industry professionals working in the field of ecological engineering. Anticipated outcomes of this session include expanding student mentoring/professional networks and exposing them a variety of career pathways. 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.