This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) award supports graduate training in global change, marine ecosystems, and society. The project will combine the extensive climate research at Scripps Institution of Oceanography with the economic, legal, business, policy and historical perspectives of other University of California San Diego departments, the management-based research of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Southwest Fisheries Science Center, and the non-profit Environmental Law Institute. By linking the physical science of global change to the analysis of economic behavior and social consequences, this project will empower students to develop strategies for decision-making and communication to address global challenges. Major research themes are: global change effects of greenhouse gas drivers from the scientific, economic, legal and political perspectives; ecosystem impacts of changes in temperature, sea level, runoff, and ocean acidification; societal impacts of population dislocations, human health, sustainability of fisheries, transnational legal issues and impacts on tourism; and impact on public perception, communications strategies and public policy. These themes will be united by interdisciplinary "process studies" in which research teams bring expertise to problems at the interface between climate science and the societal extent of global change. Process studies are focused in geographic areas where research collaborations exist and where major themes coalesce. The educational model includes an intensive interdisciplinary summer course; a new course to guide students to form interdisciplinary teams as part of their thesis research; coaching in negotiation, ethics, and management responsibilities; internships where students apply their knowledge in non-academic settings; and a career seminar that exposes students to alternative professions. This approach to graduate education facilitates integration of global change research that is focused on biological, social, economic, and political issues, marine resource management and conservation. The program is further dedicated to the expansion of diversity and increasing opportunities for post-graduate employment in an ever more complex society. 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.
