GER-9554527 Islam An interdisciplinary research traineeship program is proposed to educate a new generation of hydrologists. The proposed traineeship program includes substantial institutional matching and develops a balanced instructional and research environment to emphasize the interdisciplinary nature of contemporary hydrologic education. Principal goals of this program are: * To design an interdisciplinary PhD program that creates a self-sustaining infrastructure in hydrology education, and continues beyond the duration of the GRT award. * To create an individualized student curriculum that provides a formal training in interdisciplinary areas of relevance to the hydrologic sciences; * To guide students through a significant exploratory research experience in the hydrologic sciences, emphasizing independent and group study on emerging hydrologic issues; * To provide opportunities for supervised teaching experiences that encompass skill development, student contact, classroom evaluations and interdisciplinary hydrology curriculum development. Our proposed traineeship program is distinguished by several structural and academic innovations. Notable among these are: the use of GRT funds to support an initial 20 month residency period to allow broad academic training and exploratory research; participation in an integrated teaching experience; the formation of an interdisciplinary hydrologic sciences program committee structure that encourages and fosters interactions among diverse groups of students and faculty; development of an interdisciplinary hydrology curriculum with a common set of degree requirements; proactive strategies to attract and retain underrepresented students including formal linkages with two undergraduate feeder institutions; and use of cost-of-education allowances and University matching to support mini-sabbatical leaves to national labs, a hydrologic distinguished lecture series, and participation at national professional conferences. The impact of this trainee ship will extend far beyond preparing a new generation of hydrologists over the next five years. Existing academic linkages will be strengthened and new ones will be formed by the creation of a self-sustaining graduate program that mirrors the interdisciplinary nature of contemporary hydrologic issues.
