RCN-SEES: Engineering Research Collaboratory for Sustainable Infrastructure in a Changing Climate

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1231326 Jacobs This Research Coordination Network under NSF's Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability (SEES) initiative will create a multi-institution collaboratory to support the integration of climate science and engineering research for sustainable transportation infrastructure (Infrastructure and Climate Network ? ICNet). The nation?s physical infrastructure is at increasing and critical risk from climate-driven stressors due to both ambient and periodic extremes in precipitation, temperature, and wind. Climate nonstationarity poses challenges that have been broadly recognized by the road and bridge engineering community. However, relatively few infrastructure researchers incorporate climate change into their work due to significant knowledge and data barriers. A network of collaborators in the transportation infrastructure research and practitioner community is essential to develop and maintain the capacity needed to keep pace with rapid advancements in climate modeling, error propagation and adaptation arenas. A distinctive part of the strategy is to build a knowledge resource using processes designed by our social science ICNet members to support knowledge-sharing and prioritization among ICNet researchers and to link that knowledge to the community of user institutions. This will be accomplished by (1) fostering collaboration among the infrastructure research and practitioner community who have the expertise to conduct this research, (2) identifying key questions and hypotheses, common data needs and standards required to generate and expand new research, (3) building and populating a knowledge commons that will serve as a web-based resource for the community, (4) strengthening the linkages between researchers and practitioner communities to successfully address adaptation challenges for a sustainable infrastructure in the future, and (5) developing and exploring the efficacy of processes of knowledge access and network development to improve technology transfer. The ICNet RCN will develop the institutional networks needed to accelerate research methods in climate change transportation infrastructure impacts and adaptation. It will also advance the science of sustainable engineering under emergent environmental conditions. The ICNet will topically address a concrete societal need to discover new ways to deal with uncertainties of planning for human systems in the environment of nonstationary natural and earth systems. A goal of the project is to develop science to build bridges and roads that will last longer in the future and require less money and energy to maintain. The knowledge-linking strategies that will be explored are designed to build conduits with societal institutions in New England that are responsible for long-range infrastructure adaptation standards and policies and demonstrate an approach transferable to other regions and adaptation problems. This will help maximize the benefits of the knowledge network and will also play a role in its own sustainability. The RCN will also provide opportunities for, and already reflects in its steering committee and participants, strong leadership of women in engineering, cultural diversity, and over 80% of the graduate degree granting Civil Engineering Departments in the region and will advance education in sustainable engineering at institutions with significant underrepresented groups in the region.