United States Leadership in International Geographical Science

虽然许多国家和少数区域地理学家组织从事跨国家和多国研究，但国际地理学联合会（IGU）是唯一试图在全球范围内协调，推进和完善地理学理论，方法和实践的机构。IGU不断发展的委员会，工作组和特别委员会为世界各国的地理科学家提供了机会，将他们的基本研究思想和假设，他们的技术和他们的研究成果与来自不同意识形态，语言，社会和政治领域的学者所采用或实现的研究成果进行比较，以使参与此类交流的各方互惠互利。在与其他专家合作方面，国际地理学联合会为世界地理科学家提供了利用国际科学理事会和国际社会科学理事会等全球跨学科组织赞助的机会和项目的便利条件。该项目的目的是加强国际地理科学的基础设施，使研究人员能够更有效地履行IGU主席的职责，比没有该奖项提供的财政援助更全面。项目支助将使调查员能够基本上全时从事IGU的业务、规划和项目工作，目标是突出该组织的重点，精简其行政管理，并将其大部分精力用于解决突出的多国多学科问题。与许多学术组织一样，IGU过去表现出同时开展太多项目的倾向，而不是深入关注少数项目。研究人员认为，如果能够说服IGU为分配这样一个志愿者组织所能聚集的有限资金和人力建立更严格的优先事项，国际地理科学将获得更大的智力回报。他打算以IGU主席的身份领导IGU朝着这一方向发展，坚持所有IGU计划和项目都应根据1）相对于国际科学界其他专业的比较优势进行评估和选择，以及2）关于每个通过的计划或项目所带来的机会成本。更强大的国际地理学联合会将是国际地理科学基础设施的一个重大进步。随着人类对自然地球系统的利用和滥用所产生的困境变得越来越紧迫，地理科学家有资格就耦合的人类-自然系统的运作产生的见解变得越来越尖锐，特别是在大陆和全球范围内，这是IGU的主要权限。地理科学在美国将得到加强和丰富的调查员的作用，增加国内科学家的熟悉与对比的观点，经验和案例研究产生的海外科学家。调查员对该组织的领导还将为美国科学家提供更多机会，担任国际地质学联合会各委员会和工作队的主席或指导委员会成员，因为国际地质学联合会主席在提名此类职位的人选方面发挥关键作用。因此，该项目将大大有助于保持和扩大美国在国际地理科学和相关专业的领导地位。

Whereas many national and a few regional organizations of geographers engage in cross- and multi-national research, the International Geographical Union (IGU) is the only body that attempts to coordinate, advance, and refine geographical theory, methods, and practice on a global scale. The IGU's evolving complement of commissions, task forces, and special committees provides geographical scientists in every country of the world with opportunities to compare their basic research ideas and assumptions, their techniques, and their research results with those employed or realized by scholars from different ideological, linguistic, social, and political realms, to the mutual benefit of all parties who engage in such exchanges. In the realm of collaboration with other specialists, the IGU offers the world's geographical scientists ready access to the opportunities and projects sponsored by such global interdisciplinary organizations as the International Council for Science (ICSU) and the International Social Science Council (ISSC), among others. The purpose of this project is to augment the infrastructure of international geographical science by enabling the investigator to fulfill the responsibilities of President of the IGU more effectively and more completely than would be feasible in the absence of the financial assistance this award provides. Project support will permit the investigator to work essentially full time on IGU operations, planning, and projects with the goal of sharpening the organization's focus, streamlining its administration, and putting most of its effort into addressing salient multinational multidisciplinary problems. In common with many academic organizations, the IGU has in the past exhibited a tendency to pursue too many projects simultaneously, as opposed to focusing on a small number in depth. The investigator believes that greater intellectual returns will accrue to international geographical science if the IGU can be convinced to establish more stringent priorities for the allocation of the limited funds and human energy such a volunteer organization can muster. He intends to lead the IGU in that direction by insisting, in his capacity as IGU President, that all IGU programs and projects be assessed and selected on the basis of 1) comparative advantage with respect to other specialties in the international science community, and 2) with respect to the opportunity costs each adopted program or project entails.A streamlined, more robust International Geographical Union will be a major infrastructural advance in the international geographical sciences. As the dilemmas arising from human use and abuse of natural earth systems become ever more pressing, the insights geographical scientists are superbly qualified to produce regarding the operations of coupled human-natural systems become increasingly trenchant, especially at the continental and global scales that are the IGU's primary purview. Geographical science in the United States will be enhanced and enriched by the investigator's role in augmenting the familiarity of domestic scientists with the contrasting viewpoints, experience, and case studies produced by overseas scientists. The investigator's leadership of the organization will also provide increased opportunities for United States scientists to serve as chairpersons or steering committee members of IGU commissions and task forces, as the IGU president plays a key role in the nomination of individuals for such positions. This project will thus contribute substantially to maintaining and enlarging United States leadership in the international geographical sciences and related specialties.