
NSF Org: |
SMA SBE Office of Multidisciplinary Activities |
Recipient: |
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Initial Amendment Date: | April 5, 2021 |
Latest Amendment Date: | May 21, 2021 |
Award Number: | 2050518 |
Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
Program Manager: |
Josie Welkom Miranda
jwmirand@nsf.gov (703)292-7376 SMA SBE Office of Multidisciplinary Activities SBE Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences |
Start Date: | June 1, 2021 |
End Date: | December 31, 2024 (Estimated) |
Total Intended Award Amount: | $343,916.00 |
Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $343,916.00 |
Funds Obligated to Date: |
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History of Investigator: |
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Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
6300 E STATE UNIVERSITY DR STE 3 LONG BEACH CA US 90815-4670 (562)985-8051 |
Sponsor Congressional District: |
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Primary Place of Performance: |
1250 Bellflower Blvd. Long Beach CA US 90815-1101 |
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): | RSCH EXPER FOR UNDERGRAD SITES |
Primary Program Source: |
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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): | 47.075 |
ABSTRACT
This project is funded from the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Sites program in the SBE Directorate. It has both scientific and societal benefits, and integrates research and education. This project brings together eight undergraduate students with faculty for an eight-week intensive research and learning experience to study the science and technology of environmental conservation. America?s biodiversity hotspots exist within a matrix of urban sprawl, reserves, and working lands. In populated areas, such as California, biodiversity cannot be supported solely through the designation of wildland and conservation areas. There is a need for a broader approach that incorporates humans, their activities, and working lands. This understanding has given rise to reconciliation ecology movements and new science that seek to integrate humanized spaces?working lands such as ranches and farms?with existing systems of wildlands and conservation areas. These approaches expand the habitat for rare plant and animal species as well as sustainably manage and provide ecosystem services to society. The objective of this REU is to train the next generation of land managers and restoration scientists in conservation science and technology to facilitate the transition of working lands to de facto working reserves. We will train a highly diverse group of students in the field on River Ridge Ranch (RRR), a working ranchland near Sequoia National Park, and in the laboratory, in the use of innovative geospatial technologies and systems and the application of the associated STEM biogeographic concepts that inform them. Students will develop their own research questions and carry out original research in teams. They will also receive training in career skills, including professional report writing and oral communication for in-person and virtual visual presentations.
The current intersection of population growth, climate change, and resource demand have created a pressing need for re-evaluating land use, especially working landscapes that have high ecological service value. This project will develop a framework for tracking metrics for a triple bottom line of ecosystem services?agricultural production, biodiversity and habitat conservation, and soil health. We will introduce and train students in the conceptual questions framed by this intersection, the choices faced by society and land managers, and the analytical and technological approaches needed to evaluate alternative solutions. We will train teams of students to track changes over time in carbon sequestration, vegetation cover, animal diversity, and other factors. We will use this team-based approach to study how plant communities respond to different disturbance regimes, such as the release of lands from intensive cattle grazing, reimplementation of fire regimes once used by Native Americans, and other forces that cause transitions between different vegetation states (e.g., grasslands to savannas to woodlands) with subsequent changes in ecosystem services. We will introduce a diverse group of students to the use of conservation drones (UAVs) to gather high species specificity data on vegetation. Data will be analyzed using state-of-the-art software systems to provide research teams and land managers with accurate data to inform management decisions that support economic and environmental sustainability.
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.
A major goal of this REU-Site project was to develop a field-based research program at a working ranch to train the next generation of land managers and conservations. We developed a training model based on intensive mentoring and faculty-student interaction in the field and in the laboratory. Students used the scientific method as they worked in teams and with graduate students and faculty mentors to develop their own research questions, write research proposals and conduct field and lab research. Students also developed skills for scientific report writing and formal presentation of research results. All undergraduate students learned to use field-based cutting-edge geospatial technologies to facilitate the gathering of data needed to track land, biodiversity and carbon sequestration metrics among others. We expanded upon the traditional uses of conservation drones (UAVs), camera traps and other technologies to involve students and faculty in developing new applications for geospatial technologies to collect data for rangeland manager decision-making. Broadly, this project provided the next generation of environmental professionals with key skills for their careers and future advanced education. It created opportunities for a diverse student population to learn how to help decide future land uses based on their potential ecological and social costs and benefits. Student team-based research projects covered a broad array of topics ranging from (i) developing drone-based methodologies for using remotely sensed imagery to calculate tree biomass and tree deaths from droughts; (ii) using camera traps to study the behavior of different scavenger species on the landscape; (iii) determining how different land uses and cover types influence soil carbon sequestration; (iv) and developing AI based algorithms to use geographic information systems (GIS) to determine the factors that result in successful oak tree recruitment, to name just a few research topics for the three-year program. In all, twenty-five undergraduate and four graduate student mentors completed the program.
Intellectually, this project focused on the current intersections of population growth, climate shifts and resource demand which have created a pressing need for re-evaluating land use, especially for working landscapes that have high ecological, social and economic values. This program operated under a framework designed for tracking metrics for a triple-bottom line of ecosystem services-agricultural production, biodiversity and habitat, and soil health-to determine the factors that lead to changes in ecosystem services on a working ranch and conservation corridor. We educated three cohorts of undergraduate and graduate students in the conceptual questions framed by these intersections, as well as the choices faced by society and trained them in the analytical and technological approaches needed to evaluate alternatives. We developed methods for tracking changes in carbon sequestration, vegetation cover, and animal presence and movement, and species diversity. We developed protocols for using monitoring devices such as UAVs, wildlife cameras, and eDNA to gather data on vegetation changes as well as animal movements related to corridor use and resource selection in response to disturbance and management practices. Finally, the project created a database system or geo-hub to store the information collected and data generated by student teams so that this knowledge can serve future cohorts of students both on campus and at the research-site to solve long term and future land management and conservation problems.
Last Modified: 04/26/2025
Modified by: Paul Laris
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