Teaming for Interdisciplinary Research Pre-Seed Program

Achieving a globally sustainable society requires scientists trained in convergence research who can compel and promote public dialog on important issues while building sound policy to guide societal actions. A diverse group of faculty from geography, marine sciences, engineering, public health, policy, journalism, anthropology and the graduate school have coalesced with an idea to train students in transdisciplinary earth system science, yet provide additional expertise in environmental law, public policy, and science communication. As such, we will create a curriculum that offers a broad geosciences education, along with expertise in these leveraged areas, to generate a new model of Earth System Scientists prepared to develop solutions and to advance and disseminate them to the public and policymakers.

We intend to leverage this internal seed funding opportunity to:

• Develop a web-based and social media presence for the forthcoming activities in support of a broader response to an NSF NRT. This will help establish a community of practice as we advance the NRT idea and proposal.
• Host a half-day workshop at the University of Georgia to develop less mature aspects of the NRT partnerships. The science units routinely work together, but additional team-building is required with colleagues in communication, journalism, engineering, and policy aspects of the proposal.
• Engage with our minority-serving institution partners. This support might include travel, workshop support, and related resources.

Team Lead

J. Marshall Shepherd
Department of Geography
marshgeo@uga.edu

Team Members

Samantha Joye
Department of Marine Sciences

Thomas Mote
Department of Geography

Andrew Grundstein
Department of Geography

Christof Meile
Department of Marine Sciences

Meredith Welch-Devine
Department of Anthropology

Glenn Nowak
Center for Health & Risk Communication

Erin Lipp
Environmental Health Sciences

Brian Bledsoe
School of Environmental, Civil, Agricultural and Mechanical Engineering