Title: CRN-2050
1CRN-2050 Paleotempestology of the Caribbean
region A multi-proxy, multi-site study of the
spatial and temporal variability of Caribbean
hurricane activity Kam-biu Liu
2Project Overview
- PI Kam-biu Liu
- 12 co-PIs from 4 nations (U.S., Canada, Mexico,
Costa Rica) - Objective to study the spatial and temporal
variability of Caribbean hurricane across
multiple timescales and at multiple sites - Methodology by employing the principles and
methods of paleotempestology
PI Kam-biu Liu (LSU) Co-PIs Nina Lam
(LSU) Sam Bentley (Memorial) Jeff Donnelly
(Woods Hole) Tom Webb III (Brown) Claudia Mora
(Tennessee) Amy Frappier (Boston Col.) Anne Cohen
(Woods Hole) Matthew Peros (Ottawa) Joe Desloges
(Toronto) Jorge Sanchez (Mexico) Jorge Amador
(Costa Rica) Eric Alfaro (Costa Rica)
3Paleotempestology is a new field of science that
studies past hurricane activities by means of
geological and archival techniques.
Our CRN2050 project spearheads the expanding
frontiers of Paleotempestology. Multi-proxy
Reconstruction of Prehistoric Hurricane
Activities
4Goals Objectives
- Produces the first comprehensive
paleotempestological record from the entire
Caribbean region based on multiple proxies - Contributes to the expanding frontiers of
paleotempestology by developing new proxies - Provides insight into climate mechanisms
controlling Caribbean hurricane activityvital
for long-term forecasting - Integrates paleotempestological data with
socio-economic data into web-based GIS tool
research results available to stakeholders and
vital for risk management vulnerability
reduction - Publishes edited book on Caribbean hurricane
activity as a tangible research product - Communicates results and findings to stakeholders
policy-makers.
5CRN2050 A multi-investigator (13),
multi-institutional (10), multi-national (4)
project
- Opportunities for collaborative research are
obvious - Team consists of paleoclimatologists,
paleoecologists, meteorologists, coastal
geologists, isotope geochemists, social
scientists, GI scientists. - But administrative challenges are many,
including - Different institutional/legal concerns during
(sub)contract negotiation phase - e.g., intellectual property rights dispute
resolution third-party arbitration - Different accounting procedures and financial
constraints - e.g., fixed-price contract vs. cost reimbursable
cash advance? Currency problem - Different institutional cultures (efficiency)
barriers - e.g., delayed signing of Costa Rica subaward
- Project has been delayed
6- Challenges opportunities of multi-national
fieldwork - We are vigorously developing new networks of
local contacts collaborators in different
countries as part of capacity building (e.g.,
NGOs).
Nicaragua
Belize
Dominican Rep
- Our Cuba crisis has been resolved (a main
reason for project delay). - Cuba fieldwork will start this year.
7Despite these challenges, obstacles, delays,
significant progress has been made
- Fieldwork already conducted in
- Yucatan caves (Frappier), Quintana Roo, Mexico
(Donnelly), Dominican Republic (Liu) - Fieldwork being planned for
- Nicaragua (Liu), Jamaica (Liu), Cuba (Peros),
Belize (Bentley) - Lab work already in progress
- Tree-ring isotopic analysis (Mora), Yucatan
speleothems (Frappier), Coral XRF analysis
(Cohen) - GIS being developed website already started at
LSU - Socio-economic data collection (Lam)
- First co-PIs meeting to be held at Boston AAG
meeting (4/2008)
8New collaboration with other CRNs
- With CRN-2061 (Caribbean coastal scenarios)
- Recent joint fieldwork in Dominican Republic
(Yuna River basin) - With CRN-2048 (Modeling E. Pacific hurricane
dynamics) - Collaboration planning meeting in Crete (last
year) and Baja Sur (next month) between Liu and
de Raga
Yuna watershed basin (CRN2050, CRN2061)
9Caribbean Societies are Highly Vulnerable to
Catastrophic Destruction by Hurricane Strikes
- Therefore, our project
- has a societal dimension
- is policy-relevant
- integrates natural social sciences
Hurricane Mitch
10Plans to communicate to policy-makers and
stakeholders
- Mass media (via news release)
- Popular science magazines (American Scientist,
The Sedimentary Record) - Website (www.lsu.edu/rsgis/crn) newsletters
- Local contacts collaborators
- Conference participation (e.g., UNFCCC meeting on
climate change, vulnerability, and adaptation for
SIDS)