Collaborative Research: IRES Track 1: Empowering students to bridge the gap between hydrologic science and community resilience: A case study in post-glacial Perú

水资源管理和水安全的解决方案不仅需要从根本上健全的科学，还需要一个由训练有素的科学家组成的多元化联盟，这些科学家认识到并了解当地社区的需求和知识。通过我们的IRES奖，我们将培训来自洪堡州立大学（HSU）和纽瓦克罗格斯大学（Rutgers University, Newark）西班牙裔服务机构的三组美国学生，每组10人，进行应用、跨学科和基于社区的水资源开发。每个队列将参加一个为期一年的项目，由三个部分组成：(1)春季预备课程，通过视频会议将HSU和RUN的学生与秘鲁同行联系起来；(2)以Perú库斯科地区的两个社区为中心，由一个由美国和秘鲁学者组成的跨学科团队领导的为期五周的水文地球物理野外活动；(3)一个秋季学期的独立研究。这一经验将使一群不同的学生成为跨学科和具有社区意识的科学家，并培训当地社区的成员收集水文数据，以便指导水管理的最佳做法，并增加当地的水安全和复原力。puna生物群落是位于安第斯山脉中部植物生长高度极限的季节性干草和灌木生态系统，为许多小型农业社区和大城市（如库斯科）提供了主要的水源。然而，尽管它对水资源很重要，但人们对普纳高原的水文知之甚少，特别是在储存能力和季节性径流动态方面。因此，依赖puna水源的社区可能容易受到供水变化和不知情的水管理决策的影响。我们将指导学生进行水文、地质和地球物理调查，以量化两个小（约2.2平方公里）“末端成员”puna集水区的水资源和流动路径。在一个集水区，泥炭形成的湿地（当地称为bofedales）缓慢排水，维持着常年的溪流，支持着社区农业。在另一个集水区，由于没有bofedales，水流是短暂的，然而社区通过一条140米长的隧道收集断裂水流用于农业和市政用水。我们的研究结果将量化有和没有森林影响的普纳景观中的水资源，为水资源未来变化的模型预测提供信息，并指导以社区为基础的土地和水管理最佳实践。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Solutions to water resources management and water security require not only fundamentally sound science, but also a diverse coalition of trained scientists that recognizes and is aware of the needs and knowledge of local communities. Through our IRES award, we will train three cohorts of ten U.S. students from the Hispanic Serving Institutions of Humboldt State University (HSU) and Rutgers University, Newark (RUN) in applied, interdisciplinary and community-based water development. Each cohort will participate in a yearlong program consisting of three components: (1) a spring preparatory course which will link students from HSU and RUN via videoconferencing to their Peruvian peers; (2) a five-week hydrogeophysical field campaign centered in two communities in the Cusco region of Perú and led by an interdisciplinary team of U.S. and Peruvian scholars; and (3) a fall semester of independent research. The experience will empower a diverse cohort of students to be interdisciplinary and community-minded scientists as well as train members of the local communities to collect hydrologic data in order to guide best practices in water management and increase local water security and resiliency. The puna biome, a seasonally dry grass and shrub ecosystem at the altitudinal limits of plant growth in the central Andes, provides the primary source of water to many small agrarian communities and large cities, such as Cusco. Despite its importance for water resources, however, the hydrology of the puna is poorly understood, especially with regard to storage capacity and seasonal runoff dynamics. Communities relying on puna derived water sources are thus potentially vulnerable to changes in water supply and uninformed water management decisions. We will guide students in a hydrologic, geologic and geophysical investigation to quantify water resources and flow pathways in two small (~ 2.2 km2) ‘end-member’ puna catchments. In one catchment, slow drainage from peat forming wetlands, known locally as bofedales, sustains perennial streamflow which supports community agriculture. In the other catchment, devoid of bofedales, stream flow is ephemeral, however the community harvests fracture flow for agricultural and municipal water use via a 140 m long tunnel. Our results will quantify water resources in puna landscapes with and without the influence of bofedales, inform model predictions of future changes in water resources, and guide community-based best practices in land and water management.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.