| NSF Org: |
DGE Division Of Graduate Education |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | July 21, 2017 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | August 19, 2021 |
| Award Number: | 1735320 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Liz Webber
ewebber@nsf.gov (703)292-4316 DGE Division Of Graduate Education EDU Directorate for STEM Education |
| Start Date: | September 1, 2017 |
| End Date: | August 31, 2024 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $2,500,000.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $2,537,426.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2019 = $5,884.00 FY 2021 = $31,542.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
4202 E FOWLER AVE TAMPA FL US 33620-5800 (813)974-2897 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
FL US 33612-9446 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): |
IGERT FULL PROPOSALS, Cultural Anthropology, NSF Research Traineeship (NRT), Project & Program Evaluation, Alliances-Minority Participat. |
| Primary Program Source: |
01001920DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 0100XXXXDB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 04001718DB NSF Education & Human Resource 04002122DB NSF Education & Human Resource |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.076 |
ABSTRACT
With 40% of the world's population residing within 100 kilometers of a coast, these environments are critical to local and global economies. In China, the world's largest exporter, more than half of the country's population lives along its industrialized coastlines. Population densities in the United States are highest in coastal counties, representing 39% of the U.S. population. In such densely populated areas, human activity related to the generation and use of food, energy and water has been linked to impacts such as nitrogen pollution that degrades the quality of coastal waters. This degradation affects reef ecosystems, fisheries, and people's economic livelihoods and health. Replenishment requires innovative systems thinking and better consideration of the way food, energy, and water systems are integrated in terrestrial and coastal environments. Systems thinking considers the whole system including engineered infrastructure, the environment, and sociocultural aspects, rather than an assembly of isolated parts. Integrating sociocultural dynamics and meaningful engagement of community stakeholders is fundamental to this approach. This National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) award to the University of South Florida (USF) and the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) will develop a community-engaged training and research program in systems thinking. Graduate Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) students will design innovative, holistic solutions (e.g., technological, organizational) to better manage complex and interconnected food, energy, and water systems in coastal locations. The project will train 109 graduate students, including 23 funded PhD-level trainees from engineering and applied anthropology at USF and 6 MS-level trainees from marine and environmental sciences from the Historically Black University partner, UVI in four locations: Tampa, Florida, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Barbados and Belize. This award will prepare students to create innovative systems to address complex problems and will serve as a model for training a STEM-focused workforce.
The research supporting this training program focuses on the leverage points (technological, policy, and organizational) in designing food-energy-water systems in a specific geographic context to improve the sustainability of the overall system across different scales. This NRT will advance graduate training through: 1) a transformative research training framework guiding students to conceptualize the interactions between food-energy-water systems and define their research questions from a systems perspective; 2) a context based interdisciplinary training approach including newly developed co-taught courses, multi-discipline field-based training and research experiences that take place in the U.S. and internationally, and strong partnerships with local practitioners and community-grounded organizations; and 3) learning outcomes of our program in terms of interdisciplinary, 21st century, and local and global competency skills of graduate students and impactful research in the management of resources for food, energy, and water security.
The NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) Program is designed to encourage the development and implementation of bold, new potentially transformative models for STEM graduate education training. The Traineeship Track is dedicated to effective training of STEM graduate students in high priority interdisciplinary research areas, through comprehensive traineeship models that are innovative, evidence-based, and aligned with changing workforce and research needs.
This project is co-funded by the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program. The LSAMP program supports comprehensive, evidence-based, and sustained approaches to broadening participation of students from racial and ethnic groups historically underrepresented in STEM.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
Collaborative transdisciplinary research is promoted among scientific teams focusing on food, energy, and water systems (FEWS) and coastal resilience. Sharing and integrating knowledge, training, and expertise among an array of disciplines produces discourse that aids researchers and practitioners in problem solving and innovating solutions that contribute to more resilient communities.The Collaborative Research: NRT-INFEWS: Systems Training for Research ON Geography-based Coastal Food Energy Water Systems (STRONG-CFEWS) was branded as the Strong Coasts NRT. Collaborators included the University of South Florida (USF) and the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI). The goal of the Strong Coasts NRT was to develop a transformative community-engaged training and research program for STEM graduate students. Through their research and post-graduate activities, Strong Coasts trainees developed and continue to develop innovative solutions to sustainably manage complex and interconnected coastal social, economic, and environmental systems.
Specifically, the Strong Coasts NRT aimed to promote graduate student competencies in: (1) defining research problems using transdisciplinary and systems thinking approaches, (2) carrying out community-engaged research within a multidisciplinary cohort, and (3) other interdisciplinary, 21st century, and global skills. At the University of South Florida (USF), the program included 24 PhD student trainees majoring in environmental engineering (14), anthropology (9) and marine science (1). Of these, 21 trainees were provided direct financial support, 79% were female, and 42% were underrepresented minorities. As of December 2024, 11 trainees had graduated, 12 were still pursuing a PhD at USF, and 1 trainee had left the PhD program. At UVI, there were 6 masters student trainees majoring in marine science; 100% were female.
Trainees completed several courses that were developed by faculty at USF and UVI to help meet the objectives of the NRT. Course curricula were related to systems thinking, FEWS, complex systems modeling, and leadership. Additionally, a short-course on community engagement and ridge-to-reef relationships located in Placencia, Belize, provided a practical opportunity for advancing competencies. Throughout trainees’ graduate programs, Strong Coasts fostered spaces to learn with each other and others about the importance of broadening participation in STEM fields. This included hosting events and sharing research (e.g., through blogging and presentations) that addressed these issues.
NRT-affiliated faculty also supported trainees in forming multidisciplinary teams and conducting community-engaged research in diverse locations from Florida and the Caribbean to Ghana, Morocco, Israel, and Kyrgyzstan. In an exemplary case, two USF trainees (one environmental engineering and one anthropology student) co-conducted a community-engaged, socio-ecological study on coral restoration in the Florida Reef Tract. Another trainee conducted a participatory modeling study in Uganda to advance knowledge on sustaining rural sanitation outcomes. Trainee research and education training in Belize on the co-creation of solutions to FEWS challenges with coastal communities contributed to a Large-Scale Coastlines and People project funded by the NSF in 2022 focused on how coral reefs and mangrove forests can be managed, maintained, and rewilded to ensure multiple co-benefits reach a wide range of stakeholders.
The primary disciplines of Strong Coasts trainees were environmental engineering, anthropology, and marine and environmental sciences. However, the NRT’s commitment to working closely with local governments and non-governmental organizations had an impact on other disciplines that contribute to FEWS challenges and solutions. Strong Coasts’ local, regional, and international partners were exposed to transdisciplinary networks and collaborative exercises, along with trainees, faculty mentors, and advisory board members, during various meetings and events. This allowed informal training of many stakeholders, in and outside of the NRT, on ways to improve thinking and working outside of silos. Attendees often recognized that they had not been previously exposed to such emerging roles within transdisciplinary teams, something that seems to be increasingly required of researchers and practitioners.
Last Modified: 12/20/2024
Modified by: Maya A Trotz
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