The Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) is a consortium of nearly sixty universities, colleges and research institutions worldwide, including 41 in the U.S. The consortium works to advance research and education in tropical systems and applies scientific insights to enhance policy in the tropics. Since 2003, in partnership with South African National Parks and the South African non-profit Nsasani Trust, OTS has been operating research-based education programs for U.S. and South African undergraduate students in Kruger National Park (KNP), South Africa. At 19,485 km2, the KNP has a long history of world-class research on savanna ecology and on adaptive management of ecosystems. The OTS programs include semester and summer courses as well as summer research experiences. In 2014, OTS received funding from the National Science Foundation and the Government of South Africa to construct the Skukuza Science Center (SSC), a research and education facility, including a lecture hall, laboratory and library, providing critical research infrastructure for international collaboration between U.S. and South African researchers and students. The SSC was completed in 2017. The current project provides essential researcher housing in close proximity to the SSC. It expands opportunities for cooperation and scientific exchange among U.S. and South African scientists, as well as opportunities for undergraduate students from underrepresented communities to engage in scientific research on the dynamics of coupled human-natural savanna ecosystems.
Kruger National Park (KNP) in South Africa has a long history of world-class research on savanna ecology and on adaptive management of ecosystems within protected areas. Since 2003, the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS), a consortium of nearly 60 universities and research institutions worldwide, has operated a research-based education program for U.S. and South African undergraduate students that includes semester and summer courses and summer research experiences. In 2011 OTS, the South African National Parks (SANParks) and a local non-profit, the Nsasani Trust, jointly established the Skukuza Science Leadership Initiative (SSLI), to support research by U.S. and South African scientists, field-based education and to provide numerous environmental education programs for the surrounding local communities. OTS and SSLI occupy a three-acre campus in Skukuza, the KNP's administrative center. Funding from the National Science Foundation and the Government of South Africa enabled construction of the Skukuza Science Center on the SSLI campus, consisting of a dry and wet laboratory, library and lecture hall. The current project enables OTS to construct of researcher accommodations on the SSLI campus, in close proximity to the NSF-funded SSC. Four accommodation units, each roughly 55 m2 in area, will be built from rammed earth and recycled concrete to minimize environmental impact. The design of the buildings is flexible, housing eight researchers for short stays (sharing accommodation) or four researchers for long-stay periods. This will significantly alleviate the shortage of accommodations for researchers in the KNP and will increase researcher productivity. The SSLI campus is surrounded by an electric fence to keep out dangerous animals, so researchers can safely walk from the accommodations to the SSC 24 hours a day. It expands opportunities for cooperation and scientific exchange among U.S. and South African scientists, as well as opportunities for undergraduate students from underrepresented communities to engage in scientific research on the dynamics of coupled human-natural savanna ecosystems.
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.
