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Engaging a Broader and More Diverse CommunityDiversity extends beyond "vital statistics" to include diversity of disciplines, ideas, scientific background and approaches to problem solving. With a rich diversity in disciplines and a broad outreach component that spans all three programs, SERE provides scientific information to stakeholders, policy makers and the public. Through international programs, convocations of physical and social scientists, and a wide range of disciplinary skills, SERE demonstrates its commitment to engaging a broader community in the atmospheric sciences. This priority area will continue to be a focus in the coming year.
Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (HIGHLIGHT) Climate Affairs Regional Centers
Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI)
This three-year project of scientific and educational collaboration was created within SERE to foster new interactions between NCAR and the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) member country researchers and postdoctoral students. The IAI consists of 19 countries "dedicated to pursuing the principles of scientific excellence, international cooperation, and the open exchange of scientific information to increase the understanding of global change phenomena and their socio-economic implications" (from the IAI Mission Statement). The project with NCAR includes targeted postdoctoral appointments as part of the annual Advanced Study Program solicitation, collaboration on scientific colloquia and workshops, and targeted scientific and technical visits from Latin American researchers. In FY2006, the first Joint IAI/ASP Colloquium was convened in Boulder. Entitled "Policy Planning and Decision Making Involving Climate Change and Variability," this two-week-long Colloquium brought together 21 participants from Latin and South America and the Caribbean for lectures, tours, and training sessions on topics concerning Water, Agriculture, Health, and Hazards. Over twenty speakers from academia, research institutions and public- and private-sector organizations presented talks on both theory and applications of climate science, policy and decision making, and the interface among these topics. In FY2007, two postdoctoral fellows from South America will begin two-year appointments. The fellow from Ecuador will collaborate and work with ISSE scientists, and the fellow from Brazil will be working with ACD. The SERE Lab and ISSE scientists are working on the development of a technical course to be held in South America on geographic information systems (GIS) technology that would be organized by SERE staff and held in an IAI member country. Funding for these activities has been provided by the NSF through a special grant which continues through FY2007.
Climate Affairs Regional Centers
The Climate Affairs Regional Centers activity in China has gained several new focuses during FY2006. Based on the Climate Affairs notion, these centers consider climate change from scientific, impacts, policy, economic and ethics and equity viewpoints. Previously, CCB's Qian Ye had negotiated with the Chinese Government to establish a Climate Affairs Center in Xinjiang Province in western China (ICDA, see description below). During FY2006, the Chinese Government formalized the creation of the Lanzhou Center for Creeping Environmental Problems in Lanzhou, China, and will inaugurate another center in Heilongjiang Province. The Xinjiang International Center for Desert Affairs (ICDA) focuses on arid and semiarid lands both in western China and in Greater Central Asia. This Center was initially established in 2002, with support from the Xinjiang Provincial Government, and the direct involvement of CCB staff and Wei Gao (Colorado State U). Later, the Chinese Ministry of Education, the Chinese Association of Science and Technology, and the China Natural Sciences Foundation contributed funds to this endeavor. The Center was reorganized in FY2006, and has attracted more than 100 scientists, engineers, and policy makers from around the world to give lectures at the Center. Several international research projects have been initiated. Numerous scientific papers have been or are in process of being published in international and Chinese journals. CCB continues to provide support to the Center and receives periodic updates. The newly created Lanzhou Center for Creeping Environmental Problems acts as a communication platform and research center for scientists, educators, practitioners, and policy makers to share their knowledge, experience, and lessons about slow-onset (creeping) environmental problems in China as well as around the globe. The Center has recently established a research foundation to attract scientists from around China to study these problems. Qian Ye is directly responsible for the Lanzhou Center's creation and continues to provide direction through CCB and the Chinese Meterological Administration. A new Center is to be launched in FY2007, the Heilongjiang Center for Marginal Land Affairs, which is designed to focus on the interactions among ecosystems, society, and future development in northeastern Asia (northwest China and Manchuria). The Center is supported by the Heilongjiang Provincial Government and will bring together educators and scientists from Russia, Canada, the United States, South Korea, Belgium, and others to be identified. Ye and Glantz will attend the opening ceremonies in October 2006. All of these programs receive additional funding through the National Science Foundation's support of NCAR.
CCB developed an El Niño Affairs program as an offshoot of Climate Affairs that attempts to enhance institutional, community, and individual capacities in Latin American populations to better understand and respond to extreme weather events related to El Niño and La Niña. Its goal is to educate the educators and trainers at universities and foster "climate, water and weather" activities from high school to pre-PhD levels. "El Niño knowledge" is a valuable source of information to the public, government, and business people in Latin America, which is at the "Ground Zero" of ENSO impacts. A Graduate Research Visitor to CCB during summer 2006, Ivan Ramirez, proposed that he would research the existing information and help to consolidate the Spanish information into a comprehensive compilation. During FY2006, CCB Director Michael Glantz brought together a research team to compile and write a website in Spanish for South American researchers about the concept of the "Affairs" template. The team assembled Spanish and Portuguese-language materials (peer-reviewed articles, grey literature, books, governmental and non-governmental organization reports, and images) and compiled a selective and comprehensive, annotated bibliography related to important El Niño topics that encompass science, ecology, economics, health, history, law, and ethics. They translated and reviewed documents and El Niño graphics from English to Spanish. The team consisted of Ramirez (Columbia U), Lino Naranjo-Diaz (Meteorological Service of Galicia, Spain), and Elsa Galarza (U del Pacífica, Lima, Peru). The team wrote and coordinated the website. Funds were provided for the visitors from the SERE Lab. The team also created a proposal for the development of a Plan of Action for an El Niño Affairs program for Latin American universities and training centers, as well as the creation of the website. (The main page of the website is reproduced here in PDF.) Several Latin American universities have already contacted CCB about the possibility of contributing to and linking to the website. During FY2007, the website, which includes an extensive listing of links to El Niño information in Spanish and Portuguese, will be continually updated and expanded by Naranjo and Ramirez, who will coordinate biweekly updates. The proposal that was prepared will be distributed in hopes of securing funds for FY2008. The project was supported by the National Science Foundation through its funding of the SERE Lab. |
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