Award Abstract # 2005421
International Group Travel: Engaging students in science international decision making: Madrid, Spain - December 2019

NSF Org: RISE
Integrative and Collaborative Education and Research (ICER)
Recipient: COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY
Initial Amendment Date: December 12, 2019
Latest Amendment Date: December 12, 2019
Award Number: 2005421
Award Instrument: Standard Grant
Program Manager: Brandon Jones
mbjones@nsf.gov
 (703)292-4713
RISE
 Integrative and Collaborative Education and Research (ICER)
GEO
 Directorate for Geosciences
Start Date: December 15, 2019
End Date: May 31, 2022 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount: $30,916.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date: $30,916.00
Funds Obligated to Date: FY 2020 = $30,916.00
History of Investigator:
  • Gillian Bowser (Principal Investigator)
    gillian.bowser@colostate.edu
Recipient Sponsored Research Office: Colorado State University
601 S HOWES ST
FORT COLLINS
CO  US  80521-2807
(970)491-6355
Sponsor Congressional District: 02
Primary Place of Performance: Colorado State University
2002 Campus Delivery
Fort Collins
CO  US  80523-2002
Primary Place of Performance
Congressional District:
02
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): LT9CXX8L19G1
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s): Integrat & Collab Ed & Rsearch
Primary Program Source: 01002021DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s):
Program Element Code(s): 769900
Award Agency Code: 4900
Fund Agency Code: 4900
Assistance Listing Number(s): 47.050

ABSTRACT

Part 1
Addressing global environmental issues involves working at the intersection of science and decision making. Graduate students and early career researchers who engage in environmental research, however, have few meaningful opportunities within academia to gain the knowledge and training on how their research can be employed for social innovation and collective impacts. PIs propose an innovative and immersive experience for students on communicating science for decision making through student-led presentations and outreach at an international United Nations meeting on international environmental issues. By coupling training and authentic, real world engagement, students will learn how to navigate environmental issues in decision making, gain intercultural and diplomacy skills and build professional networks. Communicating science to decision makers is a critical part of preparing graduate students and early career researchers. Using a team-based approach to build research presentations for decision makers can provide graduate students professional development opportunities.

Part 2
Team-based projects can bring together students from different institutional backgrounds as well as from different disciplines. Students from three different institutions have worked together on presentations to international negotiators at the COP25 on science topics related to their own research and tied to the sustainable development goals (SDGs) of the UN. These topics include carbon markets, atmospheric sciences, emerging technology, gender issues, biodiversity loss, green careers, and many others. Presenting data on complex environmental issues that combines disciplines such as geosciences, atmospheric sciences and environmental sciences will provide students with unique international and interdisciplinary experience. In addition, presenting research in an international context provides students with cross cultural experiences as students move into professional careers. Each student team conducted primary and secondary data gathering on topics related to the sustainable development goals (SDGs) so students experienced aligning research questions with policy target outcomes.

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.

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.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP) is the largest environmental negotiation platform in the world. Attended by delegates and diplomats from over 200 countries and civil society, the annual COP is a unique opportunity for students in the sciences to both witness and participate in environmental negotiations.  Each year at the COP, delegates participate in side events and discussions on climate and sustainability sciences in a multicultural setting and these events are attended by leading policy and decision makers from around the world. The International Travel Grant awarded to Colorado State University, Michigan Tech University and Vanderbilt University brought students together at COP25 in Madrid Spain, where they held panel discussions on research topics associated with the sustainable development goals. In addition, students presented at press conferences, observed high level negotiations, and met leading climate scientists from around the world.  The opoprtunity for students to expand their professional networks and see the role of science in policy and decision making is unparalleled with any other convention on the global stage.

The impact of this initial travel grant was profound. Several institutions of higher education gathered together while in Madrid to expand the model of multi-institution partnerships into a five-year network focused on providing both the science of climate change and the intercultural perspectives of global policy making.  Ten institutions developed and submitted a succesful Research Coordination Network in Undergraduate Biology Education (RCN-UBE) to bring students to future COPs as delegates and participants in international negotiations. Such experiences change students perceptions of environmental policy, international communication and negotiation, and deepens their understanding of multiple ways of knowing sciences and multi-cultural perspectives on climate action and solutions. The broader impacts of the inital travel grant includes providing students from diverse backgrounda view of   international professional opportunities including USAID and International NGOs as career paths in the sciences.  Several students have gone on to explore careers in international and sustainability sciences with a much better understanding of the role of culture and different ways of knowing sciences and social equity as part of the international environmental frameworks.

 


Last Modified: 09/26/2022
Modified by: Gillian Bowser

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