GER-9552836 Rex NSF support is requested to develop a graduate training program in Conservation of Biodiversity as part of our recently established doctoral program in Environmental Biology. The proposed program has a required core curriculum in advanced ecology, conservation biology, statistics and public policy. An innovative feature of the program is that it focuses on integrating genetic and ecological approaches and interactions across population, community and landscape levels. Furthermore, the program stresses the importance of variation in temporal and spatial scales in approaches to solving environmental problems. Students will acquire first-hand practical experience by doing two semester- long rotations in faculty laboratories that conduct research on levels of organization outside their dissertation topic. These laboratory internships will be augmented by trips to study sites where students will learn about sampling techniques and the challenges of field biology. The program encompasses extensive training in other important skills including the use of modern population genetic techniques, and of geographic information systems, to quantify and analyze spatial relationships in ecosystems. Students will have the opportunity to learn a variety of analytical methods including population modeling and ecosystem simulation. Team-taught case-study seminars, focusing on such topics as the recent collapse of the New England fisheries, will give students an historical perspective on environmental management. Together, these components will provide students with (1) a conceptual framework to understand the mechanisms responsible for the evolution and maintenance of biodiversity, (2) field experience in both terrestrial and marine ecosystems at temperate and tropical latitudes, (3) a mastery of practical skills for filed sampling, statistical analysis, genetic determination of population structure, and spatial mapping and (4) an apprecia tion of the different roles played by scientists, managers, politicians and the public in the development and implementation of environmental policy. The proposal outlines the research activities of nineteen participating faculty in the following areas of Environmental Biology: Spatiotemporal patterns in biodiversity; Population dynamics, metapopulations and community structure; Biogeochemical cycles and community structure; Measuring genetic variation; Breeding systems and fertility; Germplasm resources in wild, captive and domesticated species; and Systematic. Faculty members involved in the training program have extensive funding for research from a variety of external sources. Their research transcends traditional boundaries of several subdisciplines within conservation biology, integrates findings emerging from various levels of biological organization and deals with a range of spatial scales from local to global. The collaborative organization of the traineeship program encourages students to work with professors in the Biology, Environmental Science and Geography departments, as well as with scientists at the New England Aquarium and the Franklin Park Zoo. We have an unusual opportunity to translate this broad expertise into a coherent training program. The University of Massachusetts Boston is an urban university with a diverse student body and a strong commitment to recruiting underrepresented minorities and to academic excellence. The Biology Department has extensive experience fostering the development of minority and women undergraduate scientists through our McNair Achievement program in the Science and our summer Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) in Ecology and Conservation Biology. These programs, along with our contacts at the New England Board of Higher Education and several science minority programs at other universities, will greatly facilitate our recruiting efforts. At least two of the five traineesh ips requested in this proposal will be awarded to underrepresented minorities. The University has devoted major resources to the development of graduate level environmental programs. The Boston campus Administration has agreed to provide additional funds for special seminar series, workshops, and visiting appointments. These activities will complement the traineeship program, and make the education benefits available to the community and the public at large.
