Four key areas for training the next-generation of global change researchers

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1 Climate Change Science Institute, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, United States
2 Department of Biological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, United States
DOI
10.7287/peerj.preprints.947v1
Published
Accepted
Subject Areas
Ecology, Ecosystem Science, Science and Medical Education, Coupled Natural and Human Systems
Keywords
Global Change, Next-Generation, Earth System, Modeling, Data, Grand Challenges, Environmental Science, Climate Change
Copyright
© 2015 Goswami et al.
Licence
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ PrePrints) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
Cite this article
Goswami S, Xu X, Hayes D. 2015. Four key areas for training the next-generation of global change researchers. PeerJ PrePrints 3:e947v1

Abstract

Human activities are changing the global environment in numerous ways, including increasing concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide, alteration of biogeochemical cycles and changing land cover types. These changes are increasing stresses on ecosystem goods and services, driving climate change and thus creating a few grand challenges for sustainability of the human society. Improving our understanding of these profound changes and grand challenges will help us in developing better predictive capabilities for the future. As these changes are expected to be long-lasting and we still do not have a complete understanding of their causes and consequences, the next generation of scientists needs to be properly trained in knowledge, methods and techniques in order to meet the research needs to tackle future challenges in global change ecology research. Here we discuss the challenges and opportunities in preparing the next-generation global change researchers according to four key aspects of training.

Author Comment

This is written as an editorial piece and therefore carries opinions from the authors.