Project Profile
IGERT: From Microbe to Global Climate: Research and Training in Cross-scale Biogeochemistry
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Cornell University
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Abstract
This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) award will build on advances in biogeochemistry at microbial, whole-ecosystem, and global scales, and broaden graduate student training from an exclusive focus at one scale to interdisciplinary training in the principles, measurement techniques, and quantitative approaches used at multiple scales.… more »
This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) award will build on advances in biogeochemistry at microbial, whole-ecosystem, and global scales, and broaden graduate student training from an exclusive focus at one scale to interdisciplinary training in the principles, measurement techniques, and quantitative approaches used at multiple scales.
Intellectual Merit: Human activities are rapidly changing Earth’s climate. However, model projections of future climate have large uncertainties, due in large part to lack of knowledge about biogeochemical controls and feedbacks that determine future atmospheric concentrations of key greenhouse gases. Predictions of future climate require integrated understanding of these biogeochemical processes across multiple scales in both space and time. This training will also improve communication between empiricists and modelers and to the general public.
The program starts with three core classes on the principles, observational methods, and quantitative approaches of cross-scale biogeochemistry, followed by three short, intensive modules providing training in microbial methods (Cornell), whole-ecosystem biogeochemistry (Cary Institute), and global modeling (NCAR). This training is followed by discussion groups on particular biogeochemical processes with an explicit inclusion of multiple scales. Workshops will provide training in science communication, mentoring, and other professional development skills, with multi-pronged efforts to recruit and retain women and underrepresented minorities.
Broader Impacts: The project is enriched with a global perspective through collaboration with four international institutions: the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry in Germany; the University of São Paulo, (Brazil); the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Bangor, Wales; and the University of Essex (UK). Together, these partnerships and training activities will provide the next generation of graduate students with the ability to address the biogeochemical drivers of and responses to climate change.
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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