This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) award supports the development of an interdisciplinary graduate program in Ecosystem Services for Urbanizing Regions at Portland State University, in collaboration with Heritage University, and an array of city, state, and federal agencies, and community partners. Ecosystem services are the conditions and processes provided by natural ecosystems that sustain and fulfill human life. Rapid urbanization has contributed to widespread degradation of ecosystem services, thus creating a demand for scientists and managers who can address these issues. This program integrates scholarship from economics, environmental science, engineering, geosciences, urban studies and planning, business administration and social sciences to understand the complex roles that ecosystem services play in supporting rapidly growing urban areas of the Pacific Northwest and beyond.
Trainees will engage in a three-year study sequence, in research, and in field placements to develop an in-depth, interdisciplinary knowledge of ecosystem service issues at multiple scales. A diverse faculty team will build a curriculum and research program that integrates ecological, social, and economic concepts and that explicates the role of values in planning and management. Through new problem-based curricula, research, and community partnerships, the program will create a new generation of scientists and managers proficient in the science and cutting-edge management approaches for sustaining vital ecosystem services for urbanizing regions. Trainees' dissertations will be required to include a co-authored chapter on an interdisciplinary topic, deepening student understanding of the relationships between the natural and social sciences, and providing training for collaborative projects. Trainees also will have an opportunity to complete PSU's Graduate Certificate in Sustainability while pursuing a doctorate. National recruitment for the program will target high-caliber students, with an emphasis on under-represented groups, through a partnership with Heritage University.
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.
