Emerging Areas: The Environment

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Emerging AreasThe Environment

• Robert E. OConnor
• Decision, Risk and Management Sciences
• November 8, 2007

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Organization

• Past and current support for SBE environmental
  research
• The Big Success in integrated SBE / natural
  science environmental research
• Two unpleasant expirations
• Lessons learned
• Opportunities
• The Big Gap

3
The Funding Mix

• Most SBE awards for environmental projects always
  have come from regular competitions in the
  standing programs.
• Many special competitions have focused primarily
  on the SBE sciences.
• More recent special competitions have aimed to
  foster interdisciplinary research spanning the
  natural and SBE sciences.

4
Support in Standing SBE Programs

• Some programs actively support environmental
  research because of the major theoretical
  emphases in their communities.
• Geography Decision, Risk, and Management
  Sciences Anthropology
• Other programs tend to see the environment as an
  "application domain."
• A third group of programs provides some support
  for theoretically driven work in environmental
  settings

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Special Competitions I Focusing Largely on the
SBE Sciences

• Mid-1990s to early 2000s Human Dimensions of
  Global Change (HDGC), centers and teams
• 2004- Decision Making Under Uncertainty (DMUU)
  centers, part of the Climate Change Research
  Initiative
• Centers at Arizona State, Carnegie Mellon, and
  Columbia.
• Smaller teams at RAND and Colorado, Boulder.

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Special Competitions II Integrating the SBE and
Natural Sciences

• Methods and Models for Integrated Assessment
  competition in the late 1990s.
• Small support for SBE science involvement in work
  of the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites
  and network.
• Core support for Urban LTER sites, supplemental
  support for other integration-building activities
• The big success CNH

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Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems
(CNH)

• Dynamics of
• Coupled
• Natural and Human Systems

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Origins of CNH

• A component of the Biocomplexity in the
  Environment Priority Area, FY2001-05
• A free-standing CNH competition in FY2007with
  BIO, GEO, and SBE support

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CNH Is Now a Standing, Multi-Directorate Program

• An MOU signed by the ADs of BIO, GEO, and SBE
  provides a long-term commitment.

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The 12 CNH Awards Resulting from the FY2007
Competition Continue the Tradition

• Two awards effectively are renewals of previous
  CNH awards
• David Campbell,Michigan State U, "Dynamic
  Interactions Among People, Livestock,and
  Savanna Ecosystems Under Climate Change "

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• Jianguo Liu, Michigan State U, "Effects of
  Cross-Boundary Processes on Human-Nature
  Dynamics in Wolong Nature Reserve for Giant
  Pandas"

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• Other awards examined human-natural system
  interactions in urban environments
• Nicolas Brozovic, U of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign,
  "Coupling Hydrologic, Economic, and Social
  Network Models to Improve Understanding of
  Surface Water-Groundwater Interactions for
  Protection of Instream Flows"

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• Colin Polsky, Clark U, "Suburbanization, Water
  Use, Nitrogen Cycling, and Eutrophication in the
  21st Century Interactions, Feedbacks, and
  Uncertainties in a Massachusetts Coastal Zone"

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• Lawrence Baker, U of Minnesota-Twin Cities,
  "Integration of Human Choice into Models of
  Biogeochemical Cycling in Urban Ecosystems"

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Two Unfortunate Expirations

• Human and Social Dynamics Priority Area
• 1/3 of awards are environmentally related
• Much work is interdisciplinary within the social
  sciences
• Decision Making Under Uncertainty for Climate
  Change
• E.g., DCDC at ASU integrates GIS, ECON, SOC,
  POLSCI, PSY
• E.g., CRED at Columbia integrates lab and
  international empirical work

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Lesson LearnedGround Activities Firmly in Theory

• The most significant advances in SBE research
  related to the environment have resulted with
  research and related activities are firmly
  grounded in and contributing to the enhancement
  of fundamental theory in and across the SBE
  sciences.
• "Applied" or "reactive" research may serve
  short-term needs, but rarely contributes to
  sustained community engagement.

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Experience with "Big Science"

• SBE sciences traditionally have been "cottage
  industries" rather than "factory production."
• Experience with HDGC, DMUU, and other centers has
  shown synergies and contributions of
  participating in larger-scale coordinated
  activities.
• The most successful activities have been those
  whose origin has been grounded in fundamental
  theoretical inquiries.
• Activities focused on serving the immediate needs
  of stakeholders, decision makers, and/or other
  "users" have worked only when strong theoretical
  emphasis has been maintained (often with external
  pressure from NSF).

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Opportunities Lead from Other Directorates

• NEON Observatory
• WATERS Network Observatory
• LTERs

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Opportunities SBE Lead

• Resilience Observatories
• DRMS, IMHR, and USGS funded workshop
• Sustainable Development
• SBE funded workshop (Columbia)
• DMUU for Climate Change
• Extend, then re-compete?
• Valuation of Ecological Services
• Co-funded conference with USGS?
• Warnings
• DRMS, IMHR, and NOAA funded 2008 solicitation

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The Big Gap

• Multi-Disciplinary research within the social
  sciences
• Solution Create a new program within SBE

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The Environmental Campaign Theme The
Environmental CampaignTo increase knowledge
ofhow humancognition, structure, and action
interact with the natural environment over
spatial, temporal, and organizational scales.
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Spatial scale
Cognition
Action
Structure
Temporal scale
Natural Environment
Organizational scale
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For Example Perceptions Beliefs Attitudes Values
Language Culture Ethics Morals Spirituality Neural
processes Memory Attention Knowledge Creativity I
ngenuity Personality Emotions
For Example Government Policy Economy Law Religio
n Language Technology Educational systems Health
care Traditions Infrastructure Housing Built
environment Formal organizations Informal
organizations Interest groups
For Example Behaviors Innovation Conflict Consume
rism Development Observation Exploration Research
Education Consumption Exploitation Conservation Re
production Migration Decision making
Cognition
Action
Structure
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For Example Perceptions Beliefs Attitudes Values
Language Culture Ethics Morals Spirituality Neura
l processes Memory Attention Knowledge Creativity
Ingenuity Personality Emotions
For Example Government Policy Economy Law Religio
n Technology Educational systems Language Health
care Traditions Infrastructure Housing Built
environment Formal organizations Informal
Organizations Interest groups
Cognition
For Example Behaviors Innovation
Conflict Revolution Consumerism Development Obser
vation Exploration Research Education Consumption
Exploitation Conservation Reproduction Migration E
volution Decision making
Action
Structure
Natural Environment
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Work on the Campaign

• Develop multiple approaches, methods, and tools
• Identify types of data to respond to crucial
  questions
• Understand transformations
• Explore the quality of life and environmental
  management options
• Ascertain the role of resilience, robustness, and
  sustainability
• Learn how to address inter-generational equity

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• Topics and perspectives that seem to excite SBE
  scientists include
• Dynamics of human activity
• Population
• Resource consumption
• Technological capabilities
• Cognition, attitudes, perceptions, values, and
  beliefs
• Informal arrangements, formal structures, and
  organizations
• Interactions across scales spatial, temporal,
  and organizational
• Adaptation, resilience, robustness,
  sustainability
• Uncertainty
• Quality of life and environmental management
  options
• Inter-generational equity