RaMP: Woods to Water (W2W) for Training the Next Generation of Ecologists and Natural Resource Managers

Sustaining biological diversity and ecosystem services requires that future generations learn to understand and maintain connectivity between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Maintaining ecological connectivity promotes ecosystem resilience in a changing climate, which is particularly important in the Southeastern United States (SEUS) —one of the most ecologically and biologically diverse regions of the US.

Experience-based learning can help early career scientists understand critical linkages between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. However, opportunities for experience-based learning in the SEUS are frequently limited by a lack of access to public lands and insufficient field and classroom training opportunities. The lack of hands-on educational experiences disproportionately impacts students from groups that are historically underrepresented in ecology and natural resources, and reduces the overall diversity of the workforce.

The Woods to Water (W2W) program provides a mission-driven, hands-on approach that focuses young people's attention on global climate change to help develop a generation that can find solutions. By providing training in standardized methods and data science, W2W will add 30 field-trained ecologists to the workforce, increasing diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in ecology.

To achieve this goal, W2W will provide training opportunities with an immersive cohort- and field-based program in terrestrial and aquatic settings. W2W leverages training with NSF’s National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) and the Jones Center at Ichauway (JCI; a non-profit research station) to train postbaccalaureates in key field techniques that link water, carbon, and nutrient fluxes among ecosystems —a key signature of ecological connectivity.

W2W RaMP mentees will receive training in two SEUS NEON Domains: the Ozarks complex, with three pairs of terrestrial and aquatic NEON field sites, including the northwesternmost range of the threatened longleaf pine ecosystem; and the Southeast, with two sites in JCI’s expansive longleaf pine ecosystem. W2W participants will gain immersive experience through training modules and hands-on experience with both NEON and JCI.

Participants will interact with scientists, technicians, and researchers working in and around these sites. The program will dovetail classroom, field, laboratory, and independent research approaches to provide comprehensive ecological field experiences, and participants will gain knowledge, skills, and self-confidence in field research. W2W cohorts will have opportunities to present and publish their research and obtain professional credentials as certified ecologists.

For participants, this program will facilitate transition into the ecological workforce. For the discipline of ecology, the program will diversify the ecological sciences, and support the need to expand our understanding of environmental systems in the face of a changing climate.

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.