3-D Ecosystem Science National Research Traineeship

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.

Program Learning Outcomes

By the end of the program, NRT trainees will be prepared to engage in leadership roles in diverse careers as the next generation of ecosystem science practitioners, who are able to: 

1. Implement and persuasively defend the methodological and theoretical contributions of 3-D Ecosystem Science to develop solutions-oriented research in marine and sustainability science.
2. Develop, manage, and lead collaborative team research with diverse community members, including working collaboratively to identify priorities, define research questions, and co-produce knowledge to address complex sustainability challenges.
3. Synthesize diverse types of knowledge, data sets, and ways of knowing to advance ocean ecosystem science.
4. Effectively communicate across disciplines and beyond through scholarly contributions, public engagement, and policy recommendations to improve stewardship of ocean systems.
5. Demonstrate critical awareness of how to ethically engage with diverse cultural perspectives across research partnerships and collaborations, as well as how culture, power, and history have shaped/reinforced structural inequalities in the fields of ecosystem science and management.