October 23, 1995 Contact: Robert Irion (408/459-2495)
$562,500 GRANT LAUNCHES STUDENT TRAINING IN MONTEREY BAY REGIONAL STUDIES AT UC SANTA CRUZ
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SANTA CRUZ, CA--Studies of the host of environmental issues facing the Monterey Bay area, from the health of the bay's fisheries to the restoration of unique habitats at Fort Ord, have received a substantial boost: a $562,500 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to train graduate students at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
The funds will be offered to students through the Monterey Bay Regional Studies (MBRS) program, created last year at UC Santa Cruz. MBRS unites natural scientists and social scientists at UCSC and other institutions in the region to study coastal and ecological issues that are too broad for any one discipline.
Over the five-year duration of the NSF grant, twelve graduate students will receive funding to cover tuition and expenses for about half (2.5 years) of the time required to earn their doctoral degrees. The students will pursue the usual requirements for a Ph.D. in fields such as biology, environmental studies, or marine sciences. In addition, each student will work with MBRS researchers outside of their specialties in order to learn how to view research challenges through a different lens.
"Environmental systems are no longer pristine," says Laurel Fox, professor of biology at UCSC and director of MBRS. "Human impacts have become an integral part of the biological world. But these interactions are rarely considered in research projects or in the training of students. MBRS provides a way for faculty and students to break out of their traditional disciplinary roles."
Chancellor Karl S. Pister of UCSC will augment the NSF grant with additional funds to support the MBRS program. The Division of Graduate Studies also will contribute funds to pay for visiting speakers, help students attend meetings, and recruit new graduate students into the program.
Fox and her colleagues at MBRS--most notably grant codirector Margaret FitzSimmons, an associate professor of environmental studies--won the grant in an NSF-wide competition. Reviewers of the proposal noted the research strengths of the UCSC faculty involved with MBRS, as well as the "innovative" collaborations that students would experience.
"This is an exciting attempt to combine training in naturalsciences and social sciences by focusing on environmental problems and issues that arise in the nearby region," one reviewer commented. Another concluded: "The impact of this program both locally and as a national model should be considerable."
Students supported through the grant will take special classes and seminars that emphasize interdisciplinary research tools. Each student will complete an apprenticeship under the supervision of a researcher in a different field. For instance, a student studying soil nutrients might work with a sociologist who examines the lives of migrant farm workers; a Ph.D. candidate in the biology of nearshore fishes could explore thehistory of Monterey Bay fisheries with an economist.
Several off-campus agencies have agreed to support students in such apprenticeships. They include the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Reserve, the National Biological Survey, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments.
"The kinds of new researchers needed today must have deep expertise with a discipline, but must also be able to appreciate and make use of other approaches as needed," says Fox. "Training such researchers is the goal of this program."
About twenty faculty members at UCSC are active participants in MBRS. In addition to the new graduate training initiative, the program features regular seminars where the group discusses regional issues, an annual course for interested graduate students and advanced undergraduates, and public symposia to draw together researchers from the region's many scientific institutions. The next symposium is likely to occur in the spring of 1996 at Fort Ord.
In addition, MBRS researchers are seeking funding for three "demonstration projects" to test and refine the interdisciplinary approach to studying natural systems and their human influences. Current plans for the demonstration projects include the following:
-- A study of protected rock fisheries along the coast from Monterey through Big Sur to examine the ecological, economical, and political effects of fishing bans in the region.
-- An examination of maritime chaparral habitats at Fort Ord, including the basic biology of the chaparral's plants and animals, the use of fire as a way to manage the land, and how the ocean's influence on the ecosystem changes with distance from the coast.
-- Analysis of past and present relationships between agriculture and the environment at Elkhorn Slough, in collaboration with several well-established studies of the region.
Editor's note: For further comment about the Monterey Bay Regional
Studies program at UCSC, contact Laurel Fox at (408) 459-2533 or
This release is also available on UC NewsWire, the University of
California's electronic news service. To access by modem, dial (209)
244-6971.
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