Support for the SSRC Committee for Research on Global Environmental Change

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Increased concern about global environmental change in recent years has highlighted the need for social scientific research on the human dimensions of global environmental change in addition to analyses by natural and physical scientists. A number of organizations have addressed issues related to research needs and opportunities with respect to this topic; foremost among those groups has been the Social Science Research Council (SSRC). Since its establishment in 1989, the SSRC's Committee for Research on Global Environmental Change has organized interdisciplinary consortiums to conduct research on critical problems, sponsored workshops and conferences to bring together scientists, developed plans for dissertation, fellowship, and summer study programs, and coordinated U.S. research activities with those of other organizations, including the International Social Science Council (ISSC), the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), and the Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN). This award will continue core support for the SSRC Committee for Research on Global Environmental Change for two additional years. The committee expects to continue establishment of interdisciplinary research consortiums. Among the research topics under current consideration are comparative examinations of landed property rights and the adoption of technological innovations. The committee also will continue to develop plans for and to implement innovative new forms of support for education, including doctoral dissertation and post-doctoral fellowship programs. These and other specific efforts of the committee will be supported with funds raised from other sources. Through its ongoing work, the SSRC Committee for Research on Global Environmental Change will continue to identify important research problems related to the human dimensions of global environmental change that require analyses by social scientists. It will help bring together scientists from many different disciplines to address important conceptual and methodological issues, and it will help organize interdisciplinary collaboratives to conduct research. Through workshops, conferences, and other forums, the committee will continue to attract attention to these important issues, and through new educational programs, it will enable more social scientists to develop necessary research skills and expertise.