Global Centers Track 2: Blue Climate Solutions

在世界许多地区，以红树林和海草草牧场为栖息地的沿海生态系统在减缓气候变化和支持人类生计方面发挥着至关重要的作用，但它们已被人类影响和全球气候变化所削弱。一线社区和决策者需要更好的数据和更好的预测能力来扭转这些栖息地的丧失。这个全球中心设计奖支持蓝碳解决方案未来中心的规划。该奖项支持由罗德岛大学（University of Rhode Island）领导的活动，该活动旨在组建一个团队，预测未来的森林砍伐趋势；量化这些栖息地碳储量的变化；并通过授权土著人民和地方社区进行研究，实验性地检验政策和管理办法的有效性。该中心被设想为跨学科研究的孵化器，将地球观测与公民科学、当地和土著知识结合起来。该团队还包括东卡罗莱纳大学和其他美国机构以及印度尼西亚的合作伙伴，他们将开发新的人工智能技术，用于模拟栖息地丧失，预测政策相关空间尺度上蓝碳储量和生态系统协同效益的变化，并与利益相关者共同测试解决方案的因果影响。通过让印度尼西亚的土著人民、当地社区和青年作为公民科学家参与进来，将增加代表性不足的群体的参与。美国和印度尼西亚的研究生和学者将接受团队科学和跨学科研究方面的培训。该中心将支持决策者制定基于证据的保护和恢复政策，以减缓气候变化，同时维持易受气候影响的沿海社区和生态系统。该团队将在三个研究主题上塑造和加强团队准备：(1)了解红树林和海草损失和收益的多尺度驱动因素，并对“风险”地区及其驱动因素进行预测；(2)量化红树林和海草生境对减缓和适应气候变化的生态系统服务和共同效益的多尺度和变化；(3)设计和测试保护和恢复红树林和海草的创新政策和干预措施的影响。在每个主题中，团队将应用两个使能核心：(i)利用大数据、人工智能和数据科学，以及（ii）通过公民科学与土著人民和当地社区共同生产知识。该中心将利用知识融合研讨会（Knowledge Convergence Workshop）、一个利用机器学习预测栖息地丧失区域的概念验证项目、一个在线系列研讨会和一个团队科学证书项目，在规划阶段推进这些目标。该中心将支持决策者使用基于证据的保护和恢复策略来减缓气候变化，同时维持易受气候影响的沿海社区和生态系统。该奖项由全球中心项目资助，该项目是一个创新项目，支持以使用为灵感的研究，解决与气候变化和/或清洁能源相关的全球挑战。Track 2设计奖支持美国的研究人员将国际团队聚集在一起，开发研究问题和合作伙伴关系，进行景观分析，综合数据，和/或建立多方利益相关者网络，以推进他们未来更大规模的使用灵感研究。  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。

Coastal ecosystems inhabited by mangroves and seagrass meadows play an essential role in slowing climate change and supporting human livelihood in many parts of the world, but they have been diminished by human impacts and global climate change. Frontline communities and decision makers need better data and improved predictive ability to reverse the losses of these habitats. This Global Centers Design award supports planning for a future center for Blue Carbon Solutions. The award supports activities led by the University of Rhode Island to create a team to predict future deforestation trends; quantify changes in carbon storage of these habitats; and experimentally test effectiveness of policies and management options by empowering research by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities. The center is envisioned as an incubator for transdisciplinary research, coupling earth observations with citizen science and local and Indigenous knowledge. The team, which also includes East Carolina University and other US institutions as well as partners in Indonesia, will develop new AI techniques in modeling habitat loss, projecting changes in blue carbon stocks and ecosystem co-benefits at policy-relevant spatial scales, and co-testing causal impact of solutions with stakeholders. Participation by underrepresented groups will be increased by involving Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities and youths in Indonesia as citizen scientists. Graduate students and scholars in the U.S. and Indonesia will be trained in Team Science and transdisciplinary research. The center will support decision makers in developing evidence-based conservation and restoration policies to mitigate climate change while sustaining climate-vulnerable coastal communities and ecosystems. The team will shape and strengthen team readiness across three Research Themes: (1) understanding multi-scale drivers of mangrove and seagrass losses and gains, and generating predictions of “at-risk” areas and their drivers; (2) quantify multi-scale and changes in ecosystem services and co-benefits of mangrove and seagrass habitats for climate mitigation and adaptation; and (3) design and test the im-pact of innovative policies and interventions to conserve and restore mangroves and seagrasses. Across each theme the team will apply two Enabling Cores: (i) harness big data, AI, and data science, and (ii) co-produce knowledge with Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities through citizen science. The center will use a Knowledge Convergence Workshop, a proof-of-concept project using machine learning to predict areas of habitat loss, an online seminar series, and a Team Science certificate pro-gram to advance these goals in the planning stage. The center will support decision-makers’ use of evidence-based conservation and restoration strategies to mitigate climate change while sustaining climate-vulnerable coastal communities and ecosystems. This award is funded by the Global Centers program, an innovative program that supports use-inspired research addressing global challenges related to climate change and/or clean energy. Track 2 design awards support U.S.-based researchers to bring together international teams to develop research questions and partnerships, conduct landscape analyses, synthesize data, and/or build multi-stakeholder networks to advance their use-inspired research at larger scale in the future.  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.