Source: UNIVERSITY OF PUERTO RICO submitted to
STRENGTHENING RESEARCH CAPACITIES IN GEOSPATIAL DATA SCIENCE IN AGRICULTURAL AND NATURAL RESOURCES
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
ACTIVE
Funding Source
AFRI COMPETITIVE GRANT
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1029875
Grant No.
2023-67037-40309
Cumulative Award Amt.
$423,000.00
Proposal No.
2022-09056
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Aug 1, 2023
Project End Date
Jul 31, 2028
Grant Year
2023
Program Code
[A7401]- Research and Extension Experiences for Undergraduates
Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF PUERTO RICO
AVE PONCE DE LEON
SAN JUAN,PR 00918-1000
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
The ongoing global climate changeshave cast large uncertainties forthe future sustainability of agricultural and natural systems. Programs are needed toprovide students the opportunity to participate in cutting edge research addressing the most pressing issues that agricultural and natural systems face, including but not limited to climate variability and change. One of the challenges ofthese programs is a shortage of students with quantitative skills in modeling, GIS, and remote sensing, which is particularly critical in minority-serving institutions or medium-to-small institutions that traditionally lack of such resources.This project aims to strengthen research capacity in geospatial data science by providing Hispanic undergraduatessystematic experiential learningopportunities via new geospatial data science modules, new research course, and subsequent summer internship. Theobjectivesare: 1) to enhance geospatial data science skills of Hispanic students with hands-on research experiences; 2) to enhance critical thinking and problem-solving skills in application of geospatial data science to research addressing challenges of climate variability and change via mentoring; 3) to attract/support Hispanic students for preparation of careers in agriculture/natural resources or graduate school; and 4) to self-sustain the systematic research training and to strengthen long-term cooperative consortium among HSIs, USDA, and State governmental agencies beyond the project implementation. Theactivitiesare: 1) to develop modules of geospatial data science in agricultural and natural resources and offer in courses of GIS, Remote Sensing, and Statistics; 2) to develop and offer a new research course on applications of geospatial data science to research of agricultural and natural resources; 3) to provide summer internships at participating USDA, State governmental agency, and HSIs; 4) to provide communication, leadership development and career advising; and 5) to recruit, retain, and keep track of participating students beyond the project.Students to be recruited: 25 summer interns, 50 participating the research course, 50 more benefiting from geospatial data science modules.Intended Impacts: The project will leadto enhanced research capacities in geospatial data science, systematic experiential learning, enriched curricula, sustainable cooperation among HSIs, USDA, and State agencies, and attracting/ retaining of Hispanic students.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
100%
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
1320640107050%
1120330205020%
8070330107030%
Knowledge Area
807 - Disaster Preparedness, Mitigation, Response, and Recovery; 112 - Watershed Protection and Management; 132 - Weather and Climate;

Subject Of Investigation
0640 - Tropical forests; 0330 - Wetland and riparian systems;

Field Of Science
2050 - Hydrology; 1070 - Ecology;
Goals / Objectives
1) To enhance geospatial data science skills of Hispanic students with hands-on research experiences;2) To enhance critical thinking and problem-solving skills in application of geospatial data science to research addressing challenges of climate variability and change via mentoring;3) To attract / support Hispanic students for preparation of careers in agriculture/natural resources or graduate school; and4) To self-sustain the systematic research training and strengthen long-term cooperative consortium among HSIs, USDA, and State governmental agencies beyond the project implementation.
Project Methods
1. Student Recruitment, Selection, and Retention - The plan ensures broad coverage, fair selection, and high retention, resulting in at least 50 trained in the geospatialdata sciencemodules and the research class and 25 in summer experiential learning from the host and the small HSIs. We extend the research engagement and the mentor / student interaction into semesters and interact both onsite and online. Specifically, the plan includes1) Pre-intern recruitment information-session online and onsite; 2) Selection for trainings in geospatial data science skills and science during springs; 3) Selection for summer intern fellows; and 4) After-intern retention, feedback, and track.2. Nature of Student Activities - Tropical forests have the largest plant C pool and highest net primary productivity (Pan et al. 2013), playing essential roles in sequestrating C globally and modulating changes in climate. At the coast, mangroves sequester large amounts of C with exceedingly high water use efficiency and low decomposition (Hutchison et al. 2014). Yet, the sustainability of C sequestration is greatly challenged by warming (Cavaleri et al. 2015), sea level rise (SLR) (Krauss et al. 2014; Lovelock et al. 2015), and climate variability including severe droughts (Doughty et al. 2015; Duke et al. 2017) and frequent hurricanes (Uriarte et al. 2019; Yu and Gao 2020).The overarching scientific question for the research training is "how alternating hurricane and severe drought under warming and SLR interact to affect functions, structures, and services of tropical forests, and how they respond, adapt, and feedback to the press, pulse disturbances and their interactions?" Under this question, PD/mentors select 10 research projects linked to USDA managed lands of El Yunque and Luquillo Forest and downstream wetlands, providing students with unique exposure to different career paths and facilitating the El Yunque management plan that engages surrounding communities and agencies, e.g. DNER and Northeast Ecological Corridor.According to the overarching scientific question and corresponding research projects, the project proposes a systematic, coherent, experiential learning approach to strengthen research capacity in geospatial data science to address challenge of climate variability and change.Systematic Research Training Approach Via Hands-on exceptional quantitative skills in Geospatial Data Science and Machine Learning, Interactive research course, Experiential learning internship, and Cooperation - The integrated approach includes:1) Geospatial data science modules -curricula enrichment; 2) Research Course -curricula development, targeting geospatial data science applications in the proposed 10 research projects; 3) Summer Internship -experiential learning at multi agencies to pursue the selected research projects; and 4) Communication, leadership development and career advising.3. Mentoring Plan - Mentors are multidisciplinary, across Federal, State government agencies, high education, and diverse. Mentoring activities are streamlined via integrated hands-on experience of cutting-edge geospatial data science skills, project-oriented training on science and geospatial-data-science application, intern experiential learning on critical thinking and problem solving, and seminars on leadership, communication, and career planning. Case studies designed for the research projects will apply real research data into the geospatial analyses.4. Evaluation - Strategies: An external evaluation will document the project's objectives and serve as a foundation for assessing the project's impact in meeting the identified research needs within the scope of USDA priorities. A Process-Outcome Evaluation Methodology using formative and summative assessment tools will be followed to: 1) Identify key processes related to the accomplishment of each proposal objective, and 2) Measure the extent to which each of the objectives has been accomplished.

Progress 08/01/23 to 07/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:Hispanic students from Public and Private universities in Puerto Rico, e.g. University of Puerto Rico and Inter-American University of Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico has recently undergone both natural and economic pressures, and it is pertinent to focus on fundamental research in agricultural and natural ecosystems under ongoing changes in climate.One of the challenges is a shortage of students with quantitative skills in modeling, GIS, and remote sensing (RS), which is particularly critical in minority-serving institutions or medium-to-small institutions traditionally lacking of such resources. Five underrepresented students conducted summer internships with the USDA Forest Service and the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources during this period. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project provided formal classroom lecturing, hands-on experience and practice on geospatial data science, field trips to USDA Forest Service Field Station and Commonwealth DNER natural reserves to obtain first-hand research experience, and mentoring of 5 summer interns on research addressing challenges of climate variability and change on agricultural and natural ecosystems. The summer student research projects are: 1) Flood Risk Susceptibility Mapping of Coastal Communities in Northeast Puerto Rico; 2) A GIS-Based approach to flood risk assessment for a small Coastal Municipality in Northeastern Puerto Rico; 3) Historical reconstruction of hydrological flows, land cover in Punta Tuna Natural Reserve, Maunabo, Puerto Rico; 4) Enabling data-driven land management decisions: Partnering with a local government agency to establish soil quality targets during coastal wetland restoration in northeastern Puerto Rico; and 5) Assessing Wetlands Changes after Major Hurricanes in Punta Tuna Nature Reserve. The project also provided professional development opportunities to attend the national scientific conferencefor disseminating research products and increasing knowledge in the professional field, and to attend the seminar on USDA internships, recruitment, and job application. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We disseminated the training and research information through our networking contacts among medium-to-small institutions, private and public universities, federal government agencies, local department agencies, and NGOs; Outreach activities using flyers, socia media, on-site and online information session had been undertaken accordingly; We also reached out the local communities during the field trip and disseminate the research products through conference presentations. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Expanding the student group to receive quantitative training in geospatial data science. The training in geospatial data science received great interest in students, and many seniors request to be considered for semester training even though they might not be eligible for summer internship due to graduation. We will address this need in the new round. Expanding and improving upon the previous student research projects to take the research to the next level. Building upon the initial groundwork established by the student research in the first year, continued exploration will deepen our understanding of the topic, leading to more thorough and impactful results that will benefit local communities. Further community-reaching-out activities will be conducted accordingly.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? To meet the demands in improving quantitative skills in geospatial data science and their applications in research of agricultural and natural ecosystems for undergraduate students in minority-serving institutions, during the first year we accomplished: Enhanced geospatial data science skills of 10 Hispanic students by formal lecturing and hands-on tutoring and practices; Enhanced critical thinking and problem solving skills of 5 Hispanic students in application of geospatial data science to research addressing challenges of climate variability and change via hands-on mentoring during summer internships; The student research targeted the tropical forests and the coastal wetlands in northeast and southeast of Puerto Rico in the context of hydrological issues due to development, flooding risk, and major hurricanes. Enhanced support and attraction of Hispanic students for preparation of careers in agricultural and natural resources via providing a seminar on USDA internships, recruitment, and job application, providing support to attend a national scientific conference, and collaborating on the Forest Service Puerto Rico Career Workshop.Afterwards one female Hispanic graduate student received the Pathway USDA Forest Service Intern offer as a Geographic Information Specialist Resource Assistant. Enhanced systematic research training via formal classroom lecturing, hands-on practice, field work, and experiential learning of one-to-one mentoring; and Strengthened long-term cooperative consortium among Doctoral HSIs with high research activity, medium-to-small HSIs, USDA Forest Service, and Commonwealth Department of Natural and Environmental Resources via the cross-institutional student recruitment to create diverse and collaborative training groups and the collaborated research mentoring across the entities.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2024 Citation: Ambar P. Lopez Gonzalez, Lucia Zuvela, Alyna P. Calca�o Bermudez, Junoel Rosario Santana, Deyaneira Ortiz Iglesias, Tatiana Barreto, Christine S. OConnell, Ricardo J. Colon Rivera, Tana E. Wood, 2024. AGU annual meeting, Enabling data-driven land management decisions: Partnering with a local government agency to establish soil quality targets during coastal wetland restoration in northeastern Puerto Rico.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2024 Citation: J. Rosario-Santana, A.P. Calcano-Bermudez, A.P. Lopez-Gonzalez, R.J. Colon-Rivera, M. Yu, T.E. Wood, 2024 AGU annual meeting, Flood Risk Susceptibility Mapping of Coastal Communities in Northeast Puerto Rico.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2024 Citation: Alyna P. Calca�o-Berm�dez, Tana E. Wood, Mei Yu, Alondra Norat-P�rez, Ricardo Col�n-Rivera, �mbar P. L�pez-Gonz�lez, Junoel Rosario-Santana, 2024 AGU annual meeting, A GIS-Based approach to flood risk assessment for a small Coastal Municipality in Northeastern Puerto Rico.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2024 Citation: Adriana I. Rivera Landrau, Alondra del Mar Norat, Elsie Rivera Ocasio, Mei YU, 2024. AGU annual meeting, Assessing Wetlands Changes after Major Hurricanes in Punta Tuna Nature Reserve.