kathleen miller
Kathleen Miller in her office. Climate Variability: Implications for Tuna Management
Dr. Miller organized an international multidisciplinary workshop: "The Challenge of Change: Managing for Sustainability of Oceanic Top Predator Species," that was held at the University of California - Santa Barbara in April 2007. See website at: http://www.isse.ucar.edu/cliotop/
This NSF-funded “community building” workshop focused on fostering collaboration across the social, biological and ocean-atmospheric science communities in developing a research program focused on sustainable multinational management of tuna and other highly migratory marine top predator species in the context of climate-related uncertainty. As a result of the workshop, several participants have formed interdisciplinary teams to develop proposals for research funding.
In FY08, Dr. Miller will collaborate with Gail Osherenko, U.C. Santa Barbara to edit a book incorporating papers presented at the workshop. The book will focus attention on the potential contributions of interdisciplinary research to management of these resources and to the design of effective governance arrangements. The working title is: Fast Fish, Faster Fishers and a Changing Envirionment: Challenges for the Management of Oceanic Top Predators.
Dr. Miller also published a comparative assessment of international tuna fishery management efforts in the Western and Central Pacific and Indian Oceans, focusing on the implications of climate-driven changes in tuna migratory patterns and abundance. The paper appeared in the journal Marine Policy (link to paper in PDF). Game theoretic modeling work in support of the project is ongoing. This project is funded by NSF.
Urban Water Utilities and Climate Change
Dr. Miller and Dr. Yates (RAL) are leading a collaborative project: "Incorporating climate change information in water utility planning: A collaborative, decision analytic approach." The project is designed to help urban water providers incorporate probabilistic information about climate change in their planning by creating scientifically-sound and easy-to-use decision support tools, together with a structured assessment methodology. It will link streamlined representations of physical, ecological, and water management processes within a common framework to facilitate assessments of climate change vulnerabilities and options at the watershed scale. In FY08, the project team will continue working with a set of urban water providers across the country to develop the assessment tools and apply them to a set of pilot case studies. The project will focus on evaluating risks, opportunities and adaptation options associated with the potential impacts of climate change on water resources availability and on urban water demands. Work on this project is supported by NSF and by Awwa Research Foundation.
Climate Change and Water Resources
Dr. Miller served as a Lead Author on Chapter 3 "Freshwater Resources and their Management" of the IPCC Working Group II Fourth Assessment Report. She is continuing to collaborate with the international Chapter 3 team to write a journal paper summarizing IPCC findings on the impacts of climate change on water resources around the world and related vulnerabilities and adaptation options. Work on this project is supported by NSF.
In addition, she is serving a leading role in coordinating ISSE's contributions to the new multi-institutional / multi-divisional SWANS collaborative effort. In FY08, she will work with other ISSE members and outside collaborators to define and pursue research opportunities related to the Colorado Headwaters Consortium, under the SWANS umbrella. Work on this project is supported by NSF.
Wildfire Risk Management Decisions and Uncertainty
Dr. Miller, working with Stacey Schulte, a graduate student at the University of Colorado, Boulder analyzed the results of a survey of residents in fire-prone areas of Clear Creek County Colorado that documented their understanding of current and potential future wildfire risks, and explored the determinants of their risk-mitigation investment behavior. A paper summarizing this work is in preparation for submission to the journal Society and Natural Resources. Work on this project is supported by NSF.