International research internships. Trainees can conduct their research at a U.S. or international field site. Research partners are selected based on the topic, socio-cultural context of their work, location in a ridge to reef location, and existing relationships with our faculty. Each international location includes both a university partner and a governmental agency or nongovernmental organization to ensure the experience is integrated with community stakeholders. The partners will provide mentoring and facilitate the trainee acclimatization, and provide trainees with a more transformative and community-based experience that takes place outside of a laboratory.

STRONG COASTS Challenge Grants will support interdisciplinary research on FEWS with an international partner. Interdisciplinary teams of students in the “FEWS Global” course will work with their advisors and the STRONG COASTS management team to identify the best location and partnership for their research and professional interests and personal situation (e.g., some students may not be able to travel away from USF or UVI for extended periods due to personal reasons). Trainees will also contribute to proposals for external funding to support this work beyond the STRONG COASTS funded year. We expect international research experiences to be at least 1-3 semesters in length but will encourage longer than one-year experiences for doctoral students.

Students emphasizing the STRONG COASTS program not supported directly by the NRT may select to integrate their graduate degree with international training and research at a field site. As one example, USF’s current International Development Engineering program has worked with MS and PhD students in civil, environmental, and mechanical engineering. Anthropology has similar ability to place their graduate students at international field locations, especially in the Caribbean. These programs can accommodate masters and doctoral students.

Interdisciplinary dissertation topics, committee and components. All trainees will be co- advised by faculty from ≥ two disciplines of this NRT (i.e., Anthropology, Engineering, Marine Sciences) with whom they will work to select a PhD committee to determine their course of study and research. All UVI students will have a USF faculty member assigned to their graduate committee and USF students will be encouraged to engage UVI faculty as committee members. The process of developing a dissertation topic will also be done through an interdisciplinary approach with input from the committee, other trainees, and the international partner(s). We expect that publications will be co-authored and submitted to journals that most advance the trainee’s career goals. One chapter of the doctoral dissertation or master’s thesis must address the systems thinking framework developed as a result of their research scenario for FEWS research. The FEWS challenge grants will support teams of trainees and associates who wish to collaborate on interdisciplinary international projects. Trainees must share their findings with field site communities and contacts.

Professional development and communication of research and training experiences. Through required coursework, trainees will learn to communicate their research and educational experiences at various scales (e.g., local, regional, national, and global), to different types of audiences in the U.S. and internationally (e.g., academic, professional associations, community groups, K-12 classrooms), and through a range of formats (e.g., dissertation, conference proceedings, peer reviewed journal publications, community newsletters, multimedia). Trainees will participate in professional development activities including workshops, seminars for networking, conference attendance, and responsible conduct of research. In conjunction with their graduate advisors and other mentors, students will develop an Individual Development Plan (IDP).

The professional development component of the NRT is woven through the program’s courses and activities to provide trainees with tools for effective communication with the public and with other professionals. By the end of the program each trainee is required to have an online LinkedIn profile that links to the various deliverables created during the program, including their blog posts, videos, presentations, and publications. Budget is included to support student travel to conferences for presentation of their research with professional audiences. Also, both USF and UVI host research symposia at which the trainees will be expected to participate.

The UVI’s Master of Science in Marine & Environmental Science (MMES) program bridges academia with natural resource management sectors both within and outside of the USVI. The facilitates effective communication between students and scientists, managers, and policy-makers in governmental agencies (territorial and national), and the general public. A capstone project focuses on a local natural resource management issue, which the students research, develop a focused report for local managers, and describe their research and findings to the public via Youtube videos and science cafés.

Cohort building exercises. A half-day workshop with STRONG COASTS faculty will introduce the program and establish cohort activity responsibilities like schedules, and deliverables. Cohort activities include weekly group meetings facilitated by faculty, with increasing responsibility for content being covered by trainees. Guest speakers at these meetings will include students from the larger trainee and affiliated student pool that will lead discussion on issues of systems thinking and global knowledge transfer. Trainees will lead meetings and plan activities that engage students in discussions to raise critical thinking on interdisciplinary research and training associated with STRONG COASTS. Activities also will include site visits to local facilities related to the water, energy, and food themes of this proposal and tours of local communities where faculty participants have ongoing research.