REU SITE: Assessment and sustainable management of ecosystem services at the nexus of food, energy, and water systems

University Of Arkansas, Fayetteville AR

Investigators

Abstract

This REU Site award to the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville, AR, will support the training of 12 students for 10 weeks during the summers of 2024 - 2026. It is anticipated that a total of 36 students, primarily identifying as American Indian and other under-represented groups, will be trained in the program; many of these students will come from schools with limited research opportunities. Participants in this program will engage in a diverse set of activities, including structured lectures, computer programming workshops utilizing R, laboratory and field research, seminars, and events featuring professionals in sustainability fields. Additionally, cultural enrichment activities will be integrated into the program, emphasizing the scientific process, the ethics of sustainability, and the cultural connections of ecology and sustainability with tribal traditions. Special attention will be given to sustainability in food, water, and energy systems. Students will learn how research is conducted, complete an independent research project with the aid of their mentor(s), and present the results of their work at scientific conferences. Assessment of this program will be done through an online tool. Students should apply to the REU site using NSF ETAP (Education and Training Application: https://etap.nsf.gov). The objective of this REU program is to provide an integrated research experience focusing on sustainable management of ecosystem services at the nexus of food, energy, and water, primarily for American Indian undergraduates and those from other under-represented groups in STEM. The goal is for students and an interdisciplinary group of faculty mentors from three colleges to explore sustainable management of provisioning services across landscapes and cultural traditions. Research projects focus on effects of food and energy life cycles on water quantity and quality, integrated with tribal management of ecosystem services. Classroom activities include computer programming workshops, scientific communication, and cultural enrichment activities that emphasize the ethics and the cultural connections of ecology with tribal traditions. Undergraduate students who are interested in doing research about environmental systems or sustainability are encouraged to apply. More information about the program is available by visiting http://ecoreu.uark.edu, or by contacting the PI (Dr. Kusum Naithani at kusum@uark.edu) or the co-PI (Dr. Erica Westerman at ewesterm@uark.edu). This project is jointly funded by the Division of Biological Infrastructure in the Directorate of Biological Sciences, and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). 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.