US-Ethiopia Workshop: Enhancing Collaborations in Sustainable Water Resources Development and Management, Addis Ababa, December 2009

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Professor Mekonnen Gebremichael of the University of Connecticut will conduct a workshop on U.S.-Ethiopia: Enhancing Collaborations in Sustainable Water Resources Development and Management to be held at Akaki campus of Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia over 4 days, 15-18 July 2009. The Ethiopian organizers are Dr. Yonas Gebrewubet, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, and Dr. Tena Alamirew, Department of Agricultural Engineering, Haramaya University, Harar. The sub-themes of the workshop are: (1) Climate Change, Climate Variability, Impacts in the Water Sector, (2) Water Resources Monitoring and Assessment, (3) Water, Climate and Health, (4) Water Demand, Economics and Policy, (5) Watershed Management, and (6) Hydrologic Extremes and Early Warning Systems. The workshop will bring together 124 scientists and collaborators (20 from the U.S., 90 from Ethiopia, and 14 from other countries) involved in the different disciplines of the water sector covering the six sub-themes of the workshop. The participants will represent 52 institutions: 12 universities and research centers from the U.S., 32 organizations from Ethiopia, and 8 institutions from other countries. Authors will be strongly encouraged to submit papers from the workshop to a Special Issue of a Journal. All the workshop presentations will be posted on the workshop?s website so that any researcher can obtain information that emerges from the workshop. A network of researchers involved in Sustainable Water resources Development and Management in East Africa will be formed to initiate joint research programs through several funding mechanisms (e.g., NSF-PIRE) and to facilitate exchange visits. Intellectual Merit ? The study of water resources and related issues (climate and health) in Ethiopia is expected to create numerous opportunities to (1) improve our understanding of the weather and climate of East Africa, and its influence on the extreme events regionally and globally, (2) provide the underpinning science that relates the weather variability to issues of water resources, health and food security for East African nations, and (3) evaluate the accuracy of global model and remote sensing estimates of hydrometeorological and land surface products. By bringing together international scientists involved in the different disciplines of water resources, the workshop will provide pathways to establish multidisciplinary collaborations to advance the state of knowledge of SWRDM. The U.S. researchers will have an opportunity to gain first-hand knowledge of the current research direction, expertise and resources in Ethiopia. Discussions with Ethiopian and international researchers will lead to new areas of multidisciplinary cooperation and academic exchange. Broader Impact - The workshop will provide an opportunity to establish international and multidisciplinary collaborations that will address (1) a major development problem in developing countries, and (2) key science questions that can lead to a more accurate prediction of extreme weather events in the U.S. and waterborne disease outbreaks. It will create pathways to enhance the contribution of U.S. scientists in the creation and dissemination of new knowledge, and to educate U.S. students in international issues so that they can operate effectively in domestic and international settings. The selected group of U.S. participants is well balanced among established scientists, highly accomplished junior faculty and researchers, outstanding postdoctoral researchers and students. Of the 16 U.S. Participants supported by NSF, 10 are junior U.S. scientists within 6 years of the Ph.D. (including the PI), 11 are from underrepresented groups (including the PI), 1 is a female, and 2 are graduate students.