Exploring Interfaces through Graduate Education and Research (EIGER) is an IGERT program that focuses on new teaching, learning, and research concepts in natural interface science applied to environmental science and engineering. These natural interfaces exist on all surfaces within the Earth, the hydrosphere, the atmosphere, and living organisms. This science is highly interdisciplinary, so EIGER also explores the complex human interfaces among the people that make up technical, interdisciplinary groups, exploring better ways to build functional research teams to carry out the complex research agendas of today and the future. The intellectual merit and goal of the program is to train the first group of environmental, geological, soils, and biological scientists and engineers who will be truly interdisciplinary in the field of natural interface science, and who also will be knowledgeable in technical team dynamics. Further, EIGER includes 11 remote laboratory locations on five continents, and EIGER fellows, in teams of two, will spend research time at two of these sites in a unique program called "paired internships." EIGER's broader impact stems from the fact that it will break the mold of conventional graduate student training by directly teaching scientific interdisciplinarity from a science and engineering perspective, and technical teamwork from a human psychology perspective. Along with a full complement of professional development programs, EIGER will educate the "whole student" in a complex field vital to the leading environmental issues of the day. It is envisioned that this educational model will help drive an institutional transformation at Virginia Tech, and beyond. 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.
