Project Profile
IGERT: Marine Ecosystem Sustainability in the Arctic and Subarctic (MESAS)
University of Alaska at Fairbanks
Abstract
The Marine Ecosystem Sustainability in the Arctic and Subarctic (MESAS) Program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks is an Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship program (IGERT) that will educate future leaders in ecosystem-based management and sustainable use of living marine resources. This interdisciplinary graduate program will use case… more »
The Marine Ecosystem Sustainability in the Arctic and Subarctic (MESAS) Program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks is an Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship program (IGERT) that will educate future leaders in ecosystem-based management and sustainable use of living marine resources. This interdisciplinary graduate program will use case studies, courses, and seminars to teach the fundamental principles and analytical tools of fisheries science, oceanography, ecology, economics, management, marine policy, and anthropology. Students will collaborate on research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries; they will learn to address the unique challenges of ecosystem-based management and to understand its implications for society. The program will challenge students to develop innovative approaches to pressing real-world problems. Students will gain career-developing experience through research, teaching, and internships. MESAS will actively recruit women and minorities, especially Alaska Native students, and provide graduate students with opportunities to mentor Alaska Native and rural Alaskan undergraduates. Ecosystem-based public management of marine resources, now being required under law and regulation, will have broad societal effects nationwide. Alaska is an ideal setting for training the experts needed to implement ecosystem-based management successfully in the modern world. Alaska’s living marine resources, especially its fisheries, are largely healthy but also include examples of species that have dangerously diminished or have gone extinct within recent history. Alaska’s fishery harvests range from small-scale subsistence and traditional fisheries to the largest and most technologically advanced sustainable fisheries in the world. MESAS graduates will be well-prepared to develop ecosystem-based solutions to critical research and stewardship problems arising from the sustained use of living marine resources, skills that will be critically needed in the coming years. IGERT is an NSF-wide program intended to meet the challenges of educating U.S. Ph.D. scientists and engineers with the interdisciplinary background, deep knowledge in a chosen discipline, and the technical, professional, and personal skills needed for the career demands of the future. The program is intended to catalyze a cultural change in graduate education by establishing innovative new models for graduate education and training in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries. « less
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