Event Title
River Field Studies Network: Connecting People, Rivers, and Science through Immersive Education
Streaming Media
Presentation Abstract
Rivers are universal landscape features that underlie cultural identity, provide essential ecosystem services, support substantial biodiversity, and are among our most threatened ecosystem components. Over forty river basins circumscribe the Salish Sea region, integrating human land use impacts and connecting those impacts to the Salish Sea. Restoring rivers and human-river relationships rank among our most vital imperatives. The River Field Studies Network (RFSN) is a National Science Foundation funded Research Coordination Network in Undergraduate Biology Education (RCN-UBE) project that aims to transform undergraduate STEM education through immersive interdisciplinary river and watershed programs. Specifically, we are building a network of collaborators to communicate and coordinate research, training, experiences, and educational activities across disciplinary, institutional, and geographic boundaries. RFSN is enhancing educational curricula by improving individual program quality, facilitating rapid and thoughtful development of new programs, supporting interdisciplinary curricular innovation, and developing common research protocols. The network facilitates data sharing and comparisons among river basins to expand the scope of research, inform management, and enrich education. Our long term goals are to build a sustainable network, improve access for underrepresented populations, create infrastructure to support existing programs, and facilitate development of new immersive interdisciplinary river and watershed programs. Ultimately, we seek to prepare the next generation of river scientists to think systematically while moving fluidly across disciplines, technologies, and landscapes to address the broad range of challenges impacting river ecosystems in the 21st century. We invite interested people and organizations to join our network. Participation will help you develop or improve immersive interdisciplinary programs to study the unique attributes of river ecosystems in the Salish Sea region. The network will help you address challenges and share innovations with colleagues within the region and across the continent. It promises to restore relationships between future generations and rivers of the Salish Sea and beyond.
Session Title
Poster Session 4: People Working Together to Protect the Salish Sea
Conference Track
SSE14: Posters
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2022 : Online)
Document Type
Event
SSEC Identifier
SSE-posters-71
Start Date
27-4-2022 4:30 PM
End Date
27-4-2022 5:00 PM
Rights
Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author's written permission.
Type
Text
Language
English
River Field Studies Network: Connecting People, Rivers, and Science through Immersive Education
Rivers are universal landscape features that underlie cultural identity, provide essential ecosystem services, support substantial biodiversity, and are among our most threatened ecosystem components. Over forty river basins circumscribe the Salish Sea region, integrating human land use impacts and connecting those impacts to the Salish Sea. Restoring rivers and human-river relationships rank among our most vital imperatives. The River Field Studies Network (RFSN) is a National Science Foundation funded Research Coordination Network in Undergraduate Biology Education (RCN-UBE) project that aims to transform undergraduate STEM education through immersive interdisciplinary river and watershed programs. Specifically, we are building a network of collaborators to communicate and coordinate research, training, experiences, and educational activities across disciplinary, institutional, and geographic boundaries. RFSN is enhancing educational curricula by improving individual program quality, facilitating rapid and thoughtful development of new programs, supporting interdisciplinary curricular innovation, and developing common research protocols. The network facilitates data sharing and comparisons among river basins to expand the scope of research, inform management, and enrich education. Our long term goals are to build a sustainable network, improve access for underrepresented populations, create infrastructure to support existing programs, and facilitate development of new immersive interdisciplinary river and watershed programs. Ultimately, we seek to prepare the next generation of river scientists to think systematically while moving fluidly across disciplines, technologies, and landscapes to address the broad range of challenges impacting river ecosystems in the 21st century. We invite interested people and organizations to join our network. Participation will help you develop or improve immersive interdisciplinary programs to study the unique attributes of river ecosystems in the Salish Sea region. The network will help you address challenges and share innovations with colleagues within the region and across the continent. It promises to restore relationships between future generations and rivers of the Salish Sea and beyond.
