International: Developing an Adriatic Summer Institute for Marine Environmental Complexity

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This one-year project will facilitate international collaboration across boundaries of social and natural sciences by developing a balanced mechanism for research and education that can serve as the basis for an Adriatic Summer Institute on Marine Environmental Complexity. William M. Graham of the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, Alabama, will lead the effort in cooperation with his counterparts, Alenka Malej of the Slovenia National Institute of Biology, Prian, and Adam Benovic of the Croatian Institute for Oceanography and Fisheries, Dubrovnik.The partners will bring together a team of senior and junior U.S., Slovenian and Croatian marine scientists, social scientists, and modeling experts with complementary expertise to: 1) define an effective approach for integrating research and education through regional study of complex marine ecological systems in the northern and southern Adriatic, 2) integrate multinational planning and bring focus to a range of issues related to institute management, participant activities, and associated logistics and 3) identify and secure necessary resources including access to facilities, research sites, and data sets that reflect diverse Adriatic systems. Results are expected to lead to a refined operational framework for a field-based summer institute with a strong educational component. Success should enhance our ability to identify, quantify, and model Adriatic biocomplexity in terms of coupled human and natural systems, with implications for analysis and application to other global sites.This interdisciplinary effort fulfills the program objective of advancing scientific knowledge by enabling experts in the United States and South Central Europe to combine complementary talents and share research and education resources in areas of strong mutual interest and competence. The intended summer institute should have broader impact by introducing U.S. junior researchers to the international community through visits to Slovenian and Croatian marine institutions, mentoring, and direct involvement in transboundary field work and modeling of coupled human and natural systems.