FSML: SERC Visiting Scientist Cottages

Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) provides field, lab and convening facilities at its 1,000 ha property on the shores of Chesapeake Bay in support of research on the interactions among ecosystems of the coastal landscape in response to climate and human impacts. With this award, SERC will build on-site short-term housing for visiting scientists relieving presently inadequate and deteriorating housing facilities that lack ADA accommodations. This investment is part of a much broader master plan for growing accommodation at SERC; it will ensure continued access for critical on-going research and will enable expanded opportunities for outreach. SERC is unique in its combined estuarine and terrestrial research that provides important long-term and large-scale data and unique experiments on land-sea interactions and responses to environmental change. It hosts numerous major research projects including participation in the National Ecological Observatory Network; long-term research on the effects of elevated CO2, stream discharge and water quality, estuarine fish & invertebrate community dynamics, tree demography; and experimental research on tree species diversity and ecosystem function. Access to these resources provide rich and diverse opportunities for visiting scientists to conduct both new research within the context of extensive background data and synthesis of multifactorial interactions. Access to SERC resources also provide unique opportunities for undergraduate intern training and graduate dissertations. Approximately 60 active extramural research projects leverage an array of long-term datasets, and the datasets are highly valued by our academic and governmental sponsors and collaborators. SERC Facilities support a 50-year history of both providing access to visiting scientists and informing environmental policy makers on emerging environmental issues. Short-term housing enables visiting researchers and educators to use SERC’s unique resources and site most efficiently and cost-effectively. SERC’s site is also hosts numerous tours for Congressional staff members and politicians from nearby Washington, DC, and the Maryland capital Annapolis. U.S. State Department often features SERC in tours of international visitors working on environmental resource management. SERC Facilities are also an important resource for SERC’s diverse array of collaborative research and training programs for academic partners. The Facility is a central feature of SERC’s professional training that annually supports 55 interns, 10 grad students, 25 postdocs and 570 visiting scientists for short and long periods. Approximately 130 of these visiting scientists actively conduct research on the site for multiple days at a time, and over 400 attend meetings, workshops and training annually. For more information on SERC, see https://serc.si.edu/. 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.