REU Site: RUI: Linking Applied Knowledge in Environmental Sustainability (LAKES)

Abstract

This project is funded from the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Sites program in the SBE Directorate. As such, it has both scientific and societal benefits, and it integrates research and education. This project brings together a dynamic and creative group of faculty from the University of Wisconsin-Stout for an 8-week interdisciplinary REU site to train first generation and minority students underrepresented in the scientific community. Students and faculty will engage in an apprentice-style training model with the overall theme of studying phosphorus pollution in a highly eutrophic Wisconsin watershed. The REU site will study social networks among farmers, inclusive decision-making, responsive policy implementation, economic impacts, sediment geochronology, remediation strategies, and land-use impacts on phosphorus run-off. Data will be integrated into a comprehensive strategy for economically sustainable phosphorus use. Students and faculty will participate in professional development programming, interdisciplinary data sharing, and original research activities designed to empower and prepare students for science careers, particularly those underrepresented in the scientific community.

This work offers significant intellectual contributions by improving student learning and development in response to research experiences, creating innovative approaches to interdisciplinary research, and understanding the complex processes contributing to phosphorus pollution while developing sustainable solutions. These efforts dovetail well with a project at UW-Stout in watershed research jointly funded by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and US Army Corps of Engineers. The proposed project will result in lasting impacts for students, faculty, and local community alike. The efforts at synthesizing different research projects centered on the same substantive problems will improve effectiveness in collaborative problem solving. The results will be broadly disseminated via student presentations, peer-reviewed literature, local media outlets, and policy stakeholders. By sharing the results with land users in the watershed, other citizens, and government workers, the new knowledge will impact public policy, the local economy, and regional water quality. This project overall will have a significant impact on developing a more competitive work force in the social and natural sciences in the US, increasing participation of underrepresented minority groups and women in the sciences, expanding public scientific literacy, advancing water quality remediation efforts, and improving undergraduate education in the social and natural sciences.