Over half (56%) of the global population currently lives in urban areas, with that proportion expected to increase to 68% by 2050. In the United States, an even larger share of the population lives in cities (83%), which is also expected to grow to 89% by 2050. Growth in urban populations, combined with the multisystem and multiscale effects of climate change, is anticipated to significantly stress urban areas through pressures on resources such as food, energy, housing, and water. Interdisciplinary groups of researchers are needed to advance our understanding of urban science, provide solutions to the many complex and interacting problems, as well as to develop and maintain sustainable cities of the future. Undergraduate students in earth and environmental disciplines are well positioned to contribute to this emerging field and develop innovative solutions.
The Research Experiences and Mentorship in Urban Systems (REMUS) program is an innovative undergraduate summer research experience designed to build interdisciplinary capacity in urban science. Hosted at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, the program immerses students in the study of urban systems within a rapidly growing metropolitan region in the southeastern United States. REMUS engages diverse student cohorts in mentor‑guided research projects that examine urban environments from multiple disciplinary perspectives. Faculty mentors represent urban ecology, environmental engineering, earth and atmospheric sciences, Geographic Information Science, and environmental justice, and are drawn from several departments and colleges. Through REMUS, the program: 1) enables students to better comprehend interdisciplinary interactions in a dynamic social-ecological-technological system; 2) immerses students in complex, real-world sustainability and environmental justice issues; 3) allows students to gain proficiency in data collection, management, and analysis; and 4) facilitates a peer mentoring and networking community within and across participant cohorts. This presentation will provide an overview of the REMUS program, including how it is uniquely positioned as an NSF REU site, the disciplinary make-up of the cohorts and faculty mentors, recent research projects, as well as the range of professional development activities including incorporation of python coding workshops.