The development of Macrosystems Biology and NEON science requires tools and approaches that are fundamental to answering research questions where scaling across vertical, spatial, and temporal scales is essential. Stable isotopes, as nature’s natural recorders, are quantitative tools now widely adopted in virtually all aspects of ecology and the environmental sciences. In the emerging NEON science program, stable isotope analyses of aquatic, hydrologic, and terrestrial materials and continuous measurements of atmospheric trace gases are essential long-term measurements collected across all sites. While advances in stable isotope theory as applied to ecological systems and improvements in analytical instrumentation have greatly facilitated applications of stable isotope studies, the rate limiting steps continue to be the education and training of the next generation of scientists, including theoretical considerations, understanding the relevance and limits of stable isotope analyses to ecological projects, practical engagement in stable isotope measurements in a state-of-the art facility, developing networks, and data curation.
Results/Conclusions
For 25 years, our solution to the training challenge has been “IsoCamp”, which brings together a multi-disciplinary training team of engaging faculty and laboratory managers from universities across the USA. Of the 800+ graduate student attendees, approximately 65% are female and 30% are from underrepresented groups. Students are immersed in lectures, laboratory training, field-based mini-projects, student presentations, and discussions on career opportunities, data management, and the importance of developing collaborations. IsoCamp’s diverse faculty represent disciplines across stable isotope ecology. Embracing student feedback and exploring ways in which IsoCamp products can be distributed beyond the participants are keys to success. Along the way, we discovered that beyond the formal instruction and hands-on experiences, students really benefit from the cohort development experiences. Research-in-residence allows students to conduct additional thesis research in an instructor’s lab. Friendships and collaborations that develop are often evidenced as jointly-authored studies that appear long after the IsoCamp experience is completed. Each year’s graduate student cohort represents many disciplines and an equally broad gender, ethnic, and national/international geographical diversity. Team building, networking with peers and instructors, and unfettered opportunities to get feedback on thesis ideas from faculty are key features we foster to help forge interactions that last long after IsoCamp. Social media, such as FaceBook and Twitter, help to keep the peer-to-peer connections alive and well.