Assessing opportunities and inequities in undergraduate ecological forecasting education

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dc.contributor.authorWillson, Alyssa M.en
dc.contributor.authorGallo, Haydenen
dc.contributor.authorPeters, Jody A.en
dc.contributor.authorAbeyta, Antoinetteen
dc.contributor.authorWatts, Nievita Buenoen
dc.contributor.authorCarey, Cayelan C.en
dc.contributor.authorMoore, Tadhg N.en
dc.contributor.authorSmies, Georgiaen
dc.contributor.authorThomas, R. Quinnen
dc.contributor.authorWoelmer, Whitney M.en
dc.contributor.authorMcLachlan, Jason S.en
dc.date.accessioned2023-08-03T14:39:25Zen
dc.date.available2023-08-03T14:39:25Zen
dc.date.issued2023-05en
dc.description.abstractConducting ecological research in a way that addresses complex, real-world problems requires a diverse, interdisciplinary and quantitatively trained ecology and environmental science workforce. This begins with equitably training students in ecology, interdisciplinary science, and quantitative skills at the undergraduate level. Understanding the current undergraduate curriculum landscape in ecology and environmental sciences allows for targeted interventions to improve equitable educational opportunities. Ecological forecasting is a sub-discipline of ecology with roots in interdisciplinary and quantitative science. We use ecological forecasting to show how ecology and environmental science undergraduate curriculum could be evaluated and ultimately restructured to address the needs of the 21(st) century workforce. To characterize the current state of ecological forecasting education, we compiled existing resources for teaching and learning ecological forecasting at three curriculum levels: online resources; US university courses on ecological forecasting; and US university courses on topics related to ecological forecasting. We found persistent patterns (1) in what topics are taught to US undergraduate students at each of the curriculum levels; and (2) in the accessibility of resources, in terms of course availability at higher education institutions in the United States. We developed and implemented programs to increase the accessibility and comprehensiveness of ecological forecasting undergraduate education, including initiatives to engage specifically with Native American undergraduates and online resources for learning quantitative concepts at the undergraduate level. Such steps enhance the capacity of ecological forecasting to be more inclusive to undergraduate students from diverse backgrounds and expose more students to quantitative training.en
dc.description.notesThis work was supported by the NSF Research Coordination Network grant 1926388, and an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation grant. A.M.W. was supported by an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and an Arthur J. Schmitt Leadership Fellowship in Science and Engineering from the University of Notre Dame. C.C.C., T.N.M., R.Q.T., and W.M.W. were supported by a grant for Macrosystems EDDIE (DEB-1926050).en
dc.description.sponsorshipNSF Research Coordination Network grant [1926388]; Alfred P. Sloan Foundation grant; NSF Graduate Research Fellowship; Arthur J. Schmitt Leadership Fellowship in Science and Engineering from the University of Notre Dame; grant for Macrosystems EDDIE [DEB-1926050]en
dc.description.versionPublished versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10001en
dc.identifier.issn2045-7758en
dc.identifier.issue5en
dc.identifier.othere10001en
dc.identifier.pmid37153017en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/115978en
dc.identifier.volume13en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherWileyen
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 Internationalen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en
dc.subjectcurriculumen
dc.subjectecological forecastingen
dc.subjectinclusionen
dc.subjectSTEM educationen
dc.subjectundergraduate educationen
dc.titleAssessing opportunities and inequities in undergraduate ecological forecasting educationen
dc.title.serialEcology and Evolutionen
dc.typeArticle - Refereeden
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten

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