Hubbard Brook Research Foundation Inc

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: EMBEDDING PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT WITH SCIENCE AT LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH SITES

ADVANCING PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT WITH SCIENCE ACROSS THE LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH NETWORK -THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO UNDERSTAND AND SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF EVIDENCE-BASED PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT WITH SCIENCE (PES) STRATEGIES WITHIN STEM RESEARCH ORGANIZATIONS. IT SPECIFICALLY SEEKS TO UNDERSTAND HOW SCIENTISTS, INSTITUTIONAL LEADERS, AND STAFF WITHIN THE NSF?S LONG TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH (LTER) NETWORK MAKE DECISIONS ABOUT THE DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF PES ACTIVITIES. THE LTER NETWORK INCLUDES 28 VARIED SITES ACROSS NORTH AMERICA AND PROVIDES A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO STUDY PES DECISION-MAKING WITHIN SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZATIONS. THE PROJECT IS ESPECIALLY INTERESTED IN THE DEGREE TO WHICH THESE TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONS CONSIDER THE INTERESTS AND ASSETS OF LOCAL COMMUNITIES, INCLUDING UNDERREPRESENTED COMMUNITIES. THIS PROJECT WILL LEAD TO INCREASED CAPACITY FOR EFFECTIVE, EVIDENCE-BASED PES IN AN ESSENTIAL SECTOR OF THE NATION?S STEM RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE. THE PROJECT IS A COLLABORATION BETWEEN PES PRACTITIONERS WITHIN THE LTER NETWORK AND PES RESEARCHERS AT MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY AND OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY. THE PROJECT WILL ADDRESS THREE PRIMARY RESEARCH QUESTIONS: (1) HOW DO SCIENTISTS, INSTITUTIONAL LEADERS, AND STAFF VIEW AND MAKE DECISIONS ABOUT THE DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF PES? (2) TO WHAT DEGREE DO PES ACTIVITIES AND PES STRATEGIES CONSIDER THE INTERESTS AND ASSETS OF LOCAL COMMUNITIES, INCLUDING THOSE UNDERREPRESENTED IN STEM? (3) HOW, AND TO WHAT DEGREE, CAN SCIENTISTS, INSTITUTIONAL LEADERS, AND STAFF DEVELOP SHARED PES STRATEGIES AIMED AT ENHANCING RECIPROCAL EXCHANGES AND ONGOING RELATIONSHIPS WITH COMMUNITIES? THE PROJECT DESIGN INCLUDES: (A) SURVEYS AND INTERVIEWS WITH LTER SCIENTISTS, INSTITUTIONAL LEADERS, AND STAFF; (B) CASE STUDIES COUPLED WITH STRATEGIC ENGAGEMENT PLANNING TO INVESTIGATE THE COMMUNITY CONTEXTS OF PES; (C) A PES WORKING GROUP WITH LTER SCIENTISTS AND PES-RELATED STAFF TO INTEGRATE RESEARCH AND PRACTICE; (D) A PES MONITORING SYSTEM FOR TRACKING PES ACTIVITIES AT LTER SITES; AND (E) AN EXTERNAL ADVISORY BOARD OF PES EXPERTS AND REPRESENTATIVES OF OTHER STEM RESEARCH ORGANIZATIONS TO PROMOTE ACCOUNTABILITY OF THE WORK AND BROADEN ITS IMPACT BEYOND THE LTER NETWORK. THE OVERALL HYPOTHESIS IS THAT IT IS POSSIBLE TO IMPROVE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PES THROUGH A FOCUS ON HELPING SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZATIONS DEVELOP PES STRATEGIES IN COLLABORATION WITH RELEVANT COMMUNITIES. THIS RESEARCH IN SERVICE TO PRACTICE PROJECT IS A THREE YEAR ENDEAVOR AND SUPPORTED BY THE ADVANCING INFORMAL STEM LEARNING (AISL) PROGRAM, WHICH SEEKS TO ADVANCE NEW APPROACHES TO, AND EVIDENCE-BASED UNDERSTANDING OF, THE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF STEM LEARNING IN INFORMAL ENVIRONMENTS, MULTIPLE PATHWAYS FOR BROADENING ACCESS TO AND ENGAGEMENT IN STEM LEARNING EXPERIENCES, ADVANCING INNOVATIVE RESEARCH ON AND ASSESSMENT OF STEM LEARNING IN INFORMAL ENVIRONMENTS, AND DEVELOPING UNDERSTANDINGS OF DEEPER LEARNING BY PARTICIPANTS. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

DEVELOP ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY PROGRAM BASED ON HBEF

SUPPORT OF ECOSYSTEM STUDIES AT THE HUBBARD BROOK EXPERIMENTAL FOREST

PATHWAYS: FOREST SCIENCE DIALOGUES

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: THE CONFLUENCE OF MUSIC, ART AND SCIENCE AT LONG TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH SITES

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: WINTER CLIMATE CHANGE IN A NORTHERN HARDWOOD FOREST

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: CHANGING SEASONALITY AND NITROGEN REDUCTIONS IN THE NORTHERN HARDWOOD FOREST

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: DO SHIFTS IN PLANT CARBON ALLOCATION FACILITATE PLANT NUTRIENT UPTAKE & PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY IN THE FACE OF OLIGOTROPHICATION IN NORTHERN HARDWOOD FORESTS? -CARBON (C), NITROGEN (N) AND PHOSPHORUS (P) ARE THREE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENTS NECESSARY FOR PLANT GROWTH. TEMPERATE FORESTS AROUND THE WORLD, PARTICULARLY IN NORTH AMERICA AND EUROPE, HAVE EXPERIENCED DECLINES IN N AVAILABILITY RELATIVE TO PLANT DEMAND SINCE THE END OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. IN FORESTS OF THE NORTHEASTERN U.S., DOCUMENTED MECHANISMS BEHIND THESE DECLINES INCLUDE CHANGES IN SNOWMELT TIMING, SOIL MOISTURE, RESORPTION BACK INTO THE PLANT FROM LEAVES, AND ALTERED CHEMISTRY OF LITTERFALL (I.E., LEAVES THAT FALL FROM TREES). P AVAILABILITY RELATIVE TO PLANT DEMAND MAY BE DECREASING EVEN MORE THAN N, ESPECIALLY IF N LIMITATION IS DRIVEN BY INCREASES IN PLANT NUTRIENT CONSUMPTION. THIS PROJECT WILL EXAMINE THE INTERACTIONS AND FEEDBACKS AFFECTING PLANT N AND P AVAILABILITY, AND C PARTITIONING IN DIFFERENT PLANT COMPONENTS, TO DETERMINE THEIR IMPACTS ON LONG-TERM FOREST HEALTH AND PRODUCTIVITY. THE PROJECT WILL ALSO ADVANCE TRAINING OF THE NEXT GENERATION OF SCIENTISTS IN INTEGRATIVE BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE, INCLUDING THE APPLICATION OF MOLECULAR AND BIOINFORMATIC APPROACHES TO FOREST BIOGEOCHEMISTRY, AS WELL AS COMPUTATIONAL MODELING AND MECHANISTIC UNDERSTANDING OF FOREST PROCESSES UNDERPINNING THE U.S. BIOECONOMY. IT WILL ALSO RESULT IN THE CREATION OF DIGITAL AND PRINTED FACT SHEETS AND BULLETINS FOR PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS AND BROAD PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION TO A RANGE OF AUDIENCES INCLUDING LOCAL COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND K-12 STUDENTS AND TEACHERS. THE RESEARCH WILL TEST THE OVERARCHING HYPOTHESIS THAT LONG-TERM REDUCTIONS IN N AND P AVAILABILITY IN SOILS RELATIVE TO PLANT DEMAND LEAD TO INCREASED TRANSFER OF C FROM ABOVEGROUND TO BELOWGROUND PLANT TISSUE. THIS, IN TURN, ENHANCES NUTRIENT ACQUISITION FROM SOILS AND PARTIALLY OFFSETS THIS DECLINE IN N AND P. IN THE SHORT-TERM, ACQUISITION OF NUTRIENTS FROM SOIL POOLS IS PROJECTED TO ALLEVIATE LIMITATION OF P TO A GREATER DEGREE THAN N, SINCE MICROBIAL AND ENZYMATIC PROCESSES MOBILIZE P MORE EFFECTIVELY THAN N FROM SOIL POOLS. IT IS EXPECTED THAT IN THE LONG-TERM, INCREASES IN PLANT GROWTH WILL EXCEED THE CAPACITY OF SOIL POOLS TO SUPPLY N AND P, LEADING TO SUSTAINED NUTRIENT LIMITATION AND REDUCED FOREST PRODUCTIVITY. THESE HYPOTHESES WILL BE TESTED USING A COMBINATION OF LONG-TERM DATASETS, TARGETED FIELD MEASUREMENTS, AND PROCESS-BASED MODELING FOR NORTHERN TEMPERATE FORESTS AT HUBBARD BROOK EXPERIMENTAL FOREST IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. THE WORK INCLUDES USE OF (1) EXISTING DATA FROM FOUR LONG-TERM MONITORING SITES TO QUANTIFY CHANGES IN PLANT ABOVE- AND BELOWGROUND C ALLOCATION OVER TIME AND IN RELATION TO SHIFTS IN SOIL N AND P AND THEIR UPTAKE BY PLANTS; (2) TARGETED MEASUREMENTS AT FOURTEEN PREVIOUSLY ESTABLISHED FIELD SITES ALONG AN ELEVATION GRADIENT, INCLUDING STABLE ISOTOPIC TRACER AND ISOTOPE PROBING OF MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES; AND (3) SIMULATION MODELING USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) TO REPRESENT THE BELOWGROUND C ALLOCATION AND NUTRIENT UPTAKE PROCESSES DRIVING AND UNDERLYING N AND P ACQUISITION AND OLIGOTROPHICATION. THE PROJECT WILL ALSO INCLUDE RESEARCH TRAINING AT THE POSTDOCTORAL, GRADUATE STUDENT AND UNDERGRADUATE LEVELS, AS WELL AS PUBLIC OUTREACH. THESE ACTIVITIES WILL INVOLVE MULTIPLE ENGAGEMENT MEETINGS AMONG PROJECT LEADERS, STUDENTS, AND MEMBERS OF THE NEW HAMPSHIRE FOREST ECONOMY ALLIANCE, A COALITION OF LEADERS COMMITTED TO REVITALIZING THE STATE?S FOREST-BASED ECONOMY. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.