IRES Track III - International Research Engagement for Graduate Level Professional Development: Limnology and Oceanography Research Exchange (LOREX)

Sea level rise, ocean acidification, sea ice melting, hurricanes and tsunamis, declining fisheries, eroding coastlines, human derived pollution of aquatic systems, offshore wind energy and oil and gas activities, these are just a few of the current threats facing aquatic systems and the populations that depend on them. These problems are increasingly global in nature and transcend political boundaries. The only effective way to solve these global challenges is for scientists to engage in international collaborations to find solutions; however, doing this is not a trivial task. How can we find and contact collaborators from foreign countries? Where do we obtain the resources to support international projects? How can communication with foreign scientist be productive despite language and culture barriers? Few graduate academic programs provide guidance or training in conducting international research. The Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) has developed the Limnology and Oceanography Research Exchange (LOREX) program to address this deficiency. Over the next 3 years ASLO will offer an international research engagement program for graduate level professional development in limnology and oceanography. This program will provide all graduate student society members training in designing and coordinating international collaborative research through seminars, workshops and web-based materials. In addition, thirty student members will be selected each year to apply this knowledge and carry out research projects that they design in collaboration with scientists from one of several collaborating limnologic and marine institutes overseas (Australia, Sweden, Israel and Canada) which represent different aquatic systems and related challenges. Through this experience ASLO will train future scientists to become productive and engaged global scientists.

The Limnology and Oceanography Research Exchange (LOREX) is a formal training and professional development program in international research collaboration in the aquatic sciences offered by the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO). The goal of this program is to catalyze the development of globally engaged U.S. aquatic scientists by providing a multi-stage, high-quality training and research program for graduate students. The program supports students in initiating and carrying out international research from the stage of formulating creative ideas and research proposals with the international community, networking and communicating with peers at home and abroad, through the execution of original collaborative research projects at four international institutes with diverse expertise in both marine and freshwater sciences. Professional development will be facilitated through workshops highlighting communication and collaboration training, webinars addressing various challenges and opportunities in international collaboration as well as non-academic industries; dedicated sessions at ASLO conferences featuring student and international collaborator research; and additional online resources. Each year, up to thirty students will be selected to participate in the research exchange experience at one of four international locations (Australia, Sweden, Israel and Canada). This experience will prepare future scientists to conduct collaborative work, serve to expand networks, and improve science through collaborations.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.