IRES Track III: Collaborative Research: Coupling Participatory and Hydrological Research for Adapting to Extreme Hydrometeorological Events in Agricultural Communities, El Salvador

在这个项目中，来自美国大学的研究生在研究一个具有现实世界影响的科学问题时，获得了国际研究经验。气候变化导致社区适应提高复原力，并促进更适合新条件的做法。在旱季越来越长的地区，较短的雨季会经历更严重的风暴。农村和农业社区特别容易受到新的季节性条件的影响，他们用于适应的资源有限。中美洲干旱走廊(横跨萨尔瓦多、危地马拉、洪都拉斯和尼加拉瓜的部分地区)是农业的重要区域，需要适应战略。该项目的地理位置非常理想，因为它有几十年的气候变化历史。美国西部地区也变得更加干旱，经历了更多的极端降雨事件。有效的适应和复原力战略结合了技术和社会变革。这项研究中的合作模式包括水文学和分水岭研究、民族志和参与性研究、农业和社区推广方面的专家。来自密歇根理工大学、水文科学促进大学联盟(CUAHSI)和路德会世界救济组织(LWR)的研究人员和专业人员正在填补实现项目目标所需的专业知识。路德世界救济组织是一家总部位于美国的国际救援组织，正在启动一项加强社区减灾能力的多年项目。项目团队和学生参与者正在将水文气象数据纳入预报工具，为农村农业社区提供数据驱动的建议，使他们对缺水和洪水更具弹性。学生在国际背景下学习新的合作研究方法，以提高他们在社会和文化多样化的环境中工作的能力，以解决气候变化和具有挑战性的景观中土地使用管理的复杂问题。学生在萨尔瓦多干旱走廊的农业社区与社会和水文科学、研究和教育方面的导师/专家合作。项目参与者与当地农民和农业利益攸关方合作，获得适应气候变化的经验。跨学科科学家和发展专业人员共同参与经历缺水和极端降雨事件的社区的参与性研究。学生收集水文气象和社区数据，用于计算工具，以了解和预测受土地利用变化影响的陡坡、半干旱地区的水文系统。随着参与性、以社区为基础的研究的增加，对水文学的了解增加，使决策者更好地了解更适当的农业和水资源管理做法，以应对观察到的区域气候变化。研究小组衡量了这些策略对作物产量、水使用和与降水有关的灾害的影响的有效性。这项研究旨在让农民和其他当地利益相关者了解影响天气和气候高度多变地区作物产量的水文因素。这项研究将影响作物选择、种植实践和灌溉的决策。每年都会有十名不同学科背景但互补的美国研究生组成新的不同队列，共同研究与这些危害相关的问题。这些学生参加了为期8周的国际教育和研究体验，与水文建模、参与性研究、农业以及水文和气象监测方面的专家合作。为学生参与者提供的专业发展活动进一步扩大了这项工作的更广泛的影响。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

In this project, graduate students from US universities obtain international research experience while working on a scientific problem with real-world implications. Changes in climate cause communities to adapt to enhance resiliency and foster practices that are more appropriate for new conditions. In regions where dry seasons are increasingly longer, shorter rainy seasons experience more severe storms. Rural and agricultural communities are especially vulnerable to new seasonal conditions and their resources for adaptation are limited. The Dry Corridor of Central America (spanning parts of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua) is an important region for agriculture and needs adaptation strategies. The project location is ideal because of its many-decades history of changing climate. Regions of the western United States are also becoming more arid and experience more extreme rainfall events. Effective adaptation and resiliency strategies incorporate combinations of technological and societal changes. The collaborative model in this study consists of experts in hydrology and watershed studies, ethnography and participatory research, agriculture, and community outreach. Researchers and professionals from Michigan Technological University, the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. (CUAHSI), and Lutheran World Relief (LWR), a US-based international relief organization that is starting a multiyear project to strengthen communities for disaster mitigation?are filling the needed expertise to achieve the project objectives. The project team and student participants are incorporating hydrometeorological data into forecasting tools to provide data-driven recommendations for rural agricultural communities so they are more resilient to water scarcity and flooding. Students learn new collaborative research methods in an international context to enhance their capabilities for working in socially and culturally diverse settings to address complex problems in land-use management in a changing climate and challenging landscapes. Students work with mentors/experts in social and hydrological sciences research and education in agricultural communities in the Dry Corridor of El Salvador. The project participants work with local farmers and agricultural stakeholders to gain experience in adapting to climate change. The interdisciplinary scientists and development professionals work together in participatory research in communities experiencing water scarcity and extreme rainfall events. Students collect hydrometeorological and community data to use in computational tools to understand and forecast the hydrological system in steep-sloped, semi-arid area subject to changing land-use. The increased hydrological understanding along with participatory, community-based research better informs decision-makers about more appropriate agricultural and water management practices in response to observed changes in the regional climate. The research team measures the effectiveness of these strategies on crop yields, water usage, and impacts of precipitation-related hazards. The research aims to inform farmers and other local stakeholders about hydrological factors that influence crop yields in areas with highly variable weather and climate. The research will influence decisions regarding crop selection, planting practices, and irrigation. Each year a new diverse cohort of ten US graduate students with different, but complementary, disciplinary backgrounds work together on issues related to these hazards. The students participate in an 8-week international educational and research experience, working with experts in hydrological modeling, participatory research, agriculture, and hydrological and meteorological monitoring. Professional development activities for the student participants further the broader impacts of this work.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.