R2R SUMMER INSTITUTE
Each year R2R will host a themed Summer Institute that will provide a unique venue for training, research, integration, and interdisciplinary interaction while disseminating R2R advances in research and graduate education. The Summer Institute learning modules will cover skills in data science relevant for management questions.
Summer Institute Goals
- Developing and supporting trainees’ identities as researchers
- Increasing disciplinary domain knowledge
- Developing skills to engage in research
- Developing knowledge acquisition strategies
- Increasing ability to identify knowledge gaps in the field
- Promoting greater ability to interact and collaborate with multiple disciplines around issues trainees will face as researchers/practitioners/professionals
- Guiding decisions about careers
RIDGE TO REEF – CLIMATE AND LIFE 2018
UCI announced the initiation of a 2018 Summer Institute R2R-CAL: Ridge to Reef – Climate and Life, supported by NSF (LIFE) and a National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) grant, that engaged with graduate students and young researchers in interdisciplinary research related to understanding and modeling climate – human – ecosystem interactions with a view towards impacting management and decision-making at local to global scales.
Emphasis
The emphasis of R2R-CAL was placed on integrating theory, analysis of large data sets, and modeling across space and time scales, as well as translational research and interaction with stakeholders who critically need information to manage and preserve the environment.
Curriculum
The curriculum of the institute was based on quantitative, cross-disciplinary approaches to the study of climate and earth processes and how these affect and are affected by humans. Over the course of ten days, students attended lectures, participated in hands-on experience with tools and methods for the analysis of coupled systems, including analysis of regional climate model projections, data mining and detection of trends, analysis of extreme events, remote sensing techniques for environmental monitoring, and issues associated with environmental change in agricultural, urban and coastal environments. They also participated in field work and took advantage of educational opportunities in science communication, and policy and management under the NSF-funded interdisciplinary national training program (NRT) Ridge 2 Reef(R2R). Social events supplemented the experience and allowed for unstructured time for students to learn from each other and form lifelong professional relationships.