Our National Research Traineeship Program
Leveraging the Gulf of Maine as an extraordinary living laboratory, our National Research Traineeship (NRT), Ecosystem science in the face of rapid ocean change: a convergence approach, aims to empower the next generation of scientists, managers, policymakers and changemakers in a new, convergent approach to marine and coastal ecosystem science.
Graduate students who participate in this training program will develop new ways of understanding and creating data, knowledge, and tools that can be leveraged to enable ecosystem-based approaches. We aim to (a) broaden participation in marine science by underrepresented groups; (b) train a workforce that recognizes the full array of knowledge and tools available for ecosystem-based management and climate resilience; (c) contribute science and tools that local, state, tribal and federal resource managers can use to enable ecosystem-based responses to rapid ocean change; (d) develop integrative data streams and tools that blend traditional and local ecological knowledge, existing fisheries and environmental science approaches, and new and emergent data streams; and (e) build capacity among scientists, environmental professionals and other coastal community members to engage in solutions-oriented science and stewardship.
Meet Our Team
We are a transdisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Maine who are collaborating with other scientists and practitioners from government and non-profit institutions to offer a novel training program that foregrounds collaboration, ontological and epistemological diversity, and stakeholder empowerment.
Christine Beitl, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology
Environmental governance, anthropology, human ecology
Kristina Cammen, Associate Professor, School of Marine Sciences
Ecological genomics, marine mammal science
Sudarshan Chawathe, Associate Professor, School of Computing and Information Sci.
Computer science, data integration, data science, scientific data management
Chaofan Chen, Assistant Professor, School of Computing and Informational Sci.
Artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science
Tora Johnson, Sunrise County Economic Council
Geospatial analysis, environmental social science
Heather Leslie, Professor, School of Marine Sciences
Ecology, conservation science, coupled social-ecological systems science
Darren Ranco, Professor, Native American Studies
Native American Studies, Indigenous research methods
Joshua Stoll, Associate Professor, School of Marine Sciences
Environmental social science, fisheries and ocean governance, food systems
Tony Sutton, Assistant Professor, Native American Studies
Wabanaki food systems, sustainability science, environmental communication
Funding
Our National Research Traineeship is made possible by the generous support of the National Science Foundation (# 2244117). If you are interested in contributing to the long-term sustainability of our program, please contact Joshua Stoll (joshua.stoll@maine.edu).