Research on Environmental Sustainability of Semi-Arid Coastal Areas (RESSACA)

德州农工大学金斯维尔分校（TAMUK）工程学院将利用第二阶段CREST资金进行半干旱沿海地区环境可持续性研究（RESSACA）项目。该项目的目标是通过确定和推进技术和知识生成目标，扩大合作伙伴关系的成功，并增加西班牙裔环境工程研究生人才库，成为环境工程和可持续发展研究的全国竞争力领导者。目标是：1）成为南德克萨斯州-墨西哥边境地区机构和行业环境可持续发展的主要研究资源和合作伙伴; 2）通过参与K-PhD学生和公众来整合研究和教育; 3）增加西班牙裔获得高级环境工程学位的机会和成功，以及他们作为环境工程教师的代表;和4）将研究和技术转移给公众。 研究将侧重于德克萨斯州美国-墨西哥边境半干旱沿海地区的环境可持续性，使用三个综合子项目：（1）环境建模和信息学（EMI）;（2）环境监测和评估（EMA）;和（3）环境可持续技术（STE）。德克萨斯大学布朗斯维尔分校和德克萨斯农工国际大学，西班牙裔服务机构将提供学生管道和区域级的研究合作;与桑迪亚国家实验室的国家级合作伙伴关系已经形成，以研究跨境水管理和其他主题。在RESSACA-1期间与蒙特雷技术和研究所（ITESM）（墨西哥）建立的两国研究联盟将在RESSACA-2中扩大，以监测和模拟跨界通量，这将为创造相关技术和新知识提供坚实的基础，以便以科学为基础作出决策，重点关注影响得克萨斯-墨西哥边境地区的可持续性问题。

The College of Engineering at Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK) will use this Phase II CREST funding for its Research on Environmental Sustainability of Semi-Arid Coastal Areas (RESSACA) project. The project's goal is to become a nationally competitive leader in research on environmental engineering and sustainability, by identifying and advancing technology and knowledge generation goals, expanding partnership successes, and increasing the Hispanic environmental engineering graduate pool. Objectives are to: 1) become a major research resource and partner for environmental sustainability with institutions and industry in the South Texas-Mexico border region; 2) integrate research and education by engaging K-PhD students and the public; 3) increase Hispanic access and success in advanced environmental engineering degrees and their representation as environmental engineering faculty; and 4) transfer research and technology to the public. Research will focus on environmental sustainability in the semi-arid coastal regions of the Texas US-Mexico border, using three integrated subprojects: (1) Environmental Modeling and Informatics (EMI); (2) Environmental Monitoring and Assessments (EMA); and (3) Sustainable Technologies for the Environment (STE). The Univ. of Texas at Brownsville and Texas A&M International Univ., Hispanic-Serving Institutions will provide a student pipeline and regional-level research collaborations; National-level partnerships with Sandia National Laboratories have been formed to study trans-boundary water management and other topics. Bi-national research alliances developed with Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM) (Mexico) during RESSACA-1 will be expanded in RESSACA-2 to monitor and model trans-boundary fluxes which will provide a solid foundation for creating pertinent technologies and new knowledge for science-based decision making focused on sustainability issues affecting the Texas-Mexico border region.