RCN-UBE: San Francisco Bay Research Coordination Network for Student Opportunities in Avian Research to enhance STEM education and assess human impacts on avian biodiversity

Stanford University, Stanford CA

Investigators

Abstract

This project will serve the national interest by bringing together a group of faculty, students, and volunteers to implement an experiential learning and research program focused on the study of birds and their habitats, assessing and monitoring the health of bird populations in the South San Francisco Bay (an important portion of a north-south “highway in the sky” for birds that annually migrate between the northern and southern hemispheres). The program will introduce undergraduate students, especially those from underserved communities, to STEM activities in both the field and laboratory, thus promoting students’ appreciation of birds and their significance for ecological and human wellbeing, while also enhancing their career opportunities. The program will advance biological science education through opportunities for hands-on field research and follow-up lab activities for students who do not presently have access to such experiential learning in outdoor settings. This program will also advance fundamental knowledge, by revealing how humans are influencing natural ecological systems, and how society can respond to that challenge. Exposure of students to career paths in environmental sciences will diversify their job prospects and teach them to be effective stewards of the national and global resources upon which nations ultimately depend. The dramatic decline of biodiversity, globally, and of bird populations in the country in particular, underscores the significance of this project. The funding for this grant will allow the new Research Coordination Network to implement educational and research activities for The San Francisco Bay Research Coordination Network for Student Opportunities in Avian Research (SOAR). The network is composed of investigators from four universities (Stanford, San Jose State, Santa Clara, and UC Santa Cruz), a community college district (West Valley/Mission Community College District), and three non-governmental organizations (San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory, California Academy of Sciences/iNaturalist, and eBird – the latter based out of the Cornell Ornithology Lab). The program will include production of new outdoor learning modules for students and new courses aimed at attracting under-represented groups to STEM careers; cross-institutional sharing of educational resources; publications in research and education venues; new, consolidated, ornithological datasets; as well as internships and other career-advancement opportunities for participating students. The central philosophy of the program is to engage students in the process of science “learning by doing”, while enjoying and capitalizing the opportunity of studying science in direct contact with nature – two critical agendas for the wellbeing of society in the nation and globally. This project is being jointly funded by the Directorate for Biological Sciences, Division of Biological Infrastructure, and the Directorate for Education and Human Resources, Division of Undergraduate Education as part of their efforts to address the challenges posed in Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action (http://visionandchange/finalreport/ 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.