1. IGERT Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship Center for Environmental Policy & Center for Wetlands University of Florida ~Gainesville, FL 32611 ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT Water Wetlands and Watersheds

2. amw3igert.ufl.edu Adaptive Management Water Wetlands & Watersheds Overarching Focus Integration of Education and Training Integration of Social Natural and Engineering Sciences Challenges and Opportunities

3. Program Overview Our IGERT program in Adaptive Management links four colleges, eighteen academic departments, and three research centers at the University of Florida with international wetlands research centers in Africa, Mexico, South America, Australia, and south Florida. It focuses on the theme of wise use of water, wetlands, and watersheds. At the heart of the research theme, and a key educational feature of our program, is the innovative practice of Adaptive Management. Adaptive Management is a systematic process for continually improving management policies and practices by learning from the outcomes of operational programs. AMw3igert.ufl.edu

4. Key Educational Features The education component of our IGERT stresses basic science in each student's discipline, coupled with training in systems, law, policy, ethics, and communication. The graduate students in our program research and explore Adaptive Management and the science, engineering, and policy frameworks that drive it. Furthermore they experience Adaptive Management first hand, as they navigate the learning environment, self-evaluate direction and outcomes, and possibly change their own research focus during their graduate studies. AMw3igert.ufl.edu

5. Program Goals Our program stresses integration of engineering, biophysical, and social sciences and addresses important issues related to wise use of water and wetlands through cutting edge, field-based teaching and research. Our students will achieve depth in their chosen major, receive a foundation in systems science, and acquire a working knowledge in the biophysical sciences (for social science majors) and the social sciences (for biophysical sciences or engineering majors). AMw3igert.ufl.edu

6. Participating Academic Units (UF) Agricultural & Biological Engineering Anthropology Environmental Engineering Sciences Environmental Law Geography Geological Sciences Philosophy Political Science Religion School of Natural Resources & Environment Sociology Soil and Water Science Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Zoology AMw3igert.ufl.edu

7. International Partners We are working with four international research partners in strategic wetland/watershed systems: the Okavango Delta in Botswana, the Pantanal in Brazil, the Yucatan in Mexico, and Kakadu in Australia, as well as in the Florida Everglades. AMw3igert.ufl.edu

8. Research Initiatives Research in three fundamental areas have been identified as follows: 1.Comparative studies of watersheds and wetlands to advance our understanding and prediction of the fluxes of biotic and abiotic components leading to better understanding and scientifically driven policy and resource management alternatives. 2. Measuring, modeling, and tracking interaction of socioeconomic, political, legal, cultural and ecological variables that affect the sustainability of watersheds and wetlands, 3. Developing novel engineering methods, natural resource management techniques, and policy frameworks for protecting water resources, managing their use, and evaluating and rehabilitating damaged or degraded watersheds and wetlands. AMw3igert.ufl.edu

9. Core Curriculum… AMw3igert.ufl.edu

10. Faculty Involvement…

11. Integration of Education and Training

12. AMw3igert.ufl.edu Integration of Education and Training  Coursework - stress team building/work  Teaching - team taught undergraduate honors class  Group projects - require multi-discipline/ multi-authored research  Group field work - summer field course

13. Integration of social and natural science

14. AMw3igert.ufl.edu Integration of social and natural science  Emphasis on Systems Education - holistic thinking  Tacit requirement - co-chairs on dissertation committee  Integrated paper/chapter - with member of opposite discipline

15. AMw3igert.ufl.edu IGERT Challenges & Opportunities  Funding flexibility - “topping off”  Interdisciplinary research - Multi-author/integrative research not easy to imagine  Team Teaching - Credit in home departments  Student Teaching - outside discipline/team approach  Student mentoring - undergraduate

16. Integrating SUSTAINABILITY

18. Sustainability must be Grounded in Interdisciplinarity… Should be based on Integrative knowledge that includes the following: Concepts of systems, types of systems, and general properties of systems Concepts of integration, unification, and unity of knowledge Concepts of unity, and types of unity Concepts of wholes, types of wholes, and general properties of wholes Concepts to link together or structure other concepts into a larger whole Concepts to encompass or grasp complexity Concepts that interrelate balanced (social) action and policy formulation Modes of analysis in the light of the above concepts Integrating SUSTAINABILITY

19. AMw3igert.ufl.edu Thank you… Questions?

21. Traineeships Funding Cycle 30 total AMw3igert.ufl.edu