HR: 0800h
AN: ED31A-1200    [Abstracts]
TI: The Nyanza Project: Interdisciplinary Research Training In Tropical Lakes
AU: * Cohen, A S
EM: acohen@geo.arizona.edu
AF: Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 United States
AU: Lezzar, K E
EM: klezzar@geo.arizona.edu
AF: Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 United States
AU: Michel, E
EM: ellm@nhm.ac.uk
AF: Department of Zoology, The Natural History Museum Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD United Kingdom
AU: O'Reilly, C M
EM: oreilly@bard.edu
AF: Biology Program, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504-5000 United States
AU: Russell, J M
EM: russ0154@umn.edu
AF: Department of Geological Science, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912 United States
AU: Nkotagu, H
EM: hudson@udsm.ac.tz
AF: Department of Geology, University of Dar es Salaam P.O. Box 35052, Dar es Salaam, DSM Tanzania, United Republic of
AU: Kimirei, I
EM: kiakimirei@yahoo.com
AF: Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute, P.O. Box 90, Kigoma, KIG Tanzania, United Republic of
AB: The Nyanza Project is a research training program for American and African students, run annually at Lake Tanganyika (LT), Tanzania. The Project`s objective is to provide undergraduates, graduate students and secondary school teachers with the skills to plan and conduct interdisciplinary research on various aspects of tropical lake studiees. At a time of rapid global change there is a pressing need for young scientists trained to investigate environmental processes in an interdisciplinary framework. Training students to understand long-term changes in water availability, water quality and the relationship of aquatic ecosystems to rapid climate change represents a critical element of this societal need. Waterbodies in the tropics are particularly useful proving grounds for training future researchers on the impacts of global change on natural waters, as they are very sensitive to environmental and climatic change. Moreover, they are likely to provide instructive bellwethers of changes to come in U.S. inland waters. Each year 17-22 undergraduates, 3-4 graduate students and one secondary school teacher are selected for the program from the US and Africa. To date (1998-2005), 89 undergraduate students, 24 graduate students, and 8 secondary school teachers from the US have participated through the Project`s NSF support and 58 African students (from Tanzania, Burundi, Zambia, Congo, Kenya, and Burkina Faso) have been funded to participate in the Nyanza Project through supporting grants from our non-NSF funding sources. The 7-week program comprises an initial two week intensive short course on all aspects of the LT system and project preparation period, followed by 5 weeks of directed research, written report preparation, and scientific meeting-styled presentations. Focal topics for Nyanza Project research include: 1) investigating East African paleoclimates using sediment cores and reflection seismic profiling, 2) mapping & interpreting the geologic structure and depositional processes on the lake`s floor and watersheds 3) studying the extremely diverse and largely endemic fish and invertebrate fauna found in the littoral zone of LT to understand species interactions, environmental controls on species distribution, and factors regulating species diversification, 4) understanding the linkages between short-term climate variability, internal circulation in the lake, nutrient availability, and productivity in the open water (pelagic) portion of LT, and 5) investigating the impacts of deforestation and soil erosion in the LT basin on lake and stream ecosystems. Given that the Nyanza Project primarily serves undergraduates it has been extremely productive in terms of research output, with 27 articles published/in press in peer reviewed journals/edited volumes, 73 presentations given at national or international scientific meetings (59% by student first authors) and 16 theses based on Nyanza work. Extended abstracts for all 100 student projects from 1998-2004 are available at our website. Alumni surveys indicate that the Nyanza Project has significantly changed past student`s approach to science and/or career directions.
UR: http://www.geo.arizona.edu/nyanza
DE: 0410 Biodiversity
DE: 0458 Limnology (1845, 4239, 4942)
DE: 0473 Paleoclimatology and paleoceanography (3344, 4900)
DE: 0810 Post-secondary education
DE: 1803 Anthropogenic effects (4802, 4902)
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005