IRES Track I: Mapping and Quantifying the Natural Disaster Resilience of Displaced People with the University of Rwanda Center for Geographic Information Systems and Remote Sensing

这个国际学生研究经验（IRES）的重点是绘制和量化卢旺达流离失所者的自然灾害恢复能力。在为期三年的时间里，来自罗切斯特理工学院（RIT）的14名美国研究生和来自门罗社区学院地理空间信息科学与技术项目（MCC）的3名本科生将在卢旺达大学地理信息系统和遥感中心（CGIS）参加为期10周的夏季研究体验。重要的活动包括学生访问并从CGIS学习卢旺达特有的流离失所人口自然灾害复原力问题，东非背景下的学生研究培训活动，以及访问专注于流离失所者的灾害管理组织，如卢旺达灾害管理和难民事务部（MIDIMAR）仅在卢旺达可用。该项目将与东非组织建立独特的联系，这些组织将在三年内培训，教育和专业发展17名STEM学生研究科学家，重点是抗灾能力，流离失所和GIS。该项目将扩大代表性不足的群体的参与，因为我们将充分利用RIT现有的代表性不足的招聘网络，如RIT的大量聋人和重听人口，妇女和少数民族。MCC学生将为本科生的国际研究经验以及社区学院的国际研究能力发展创造一个独特的机会。卢旺达的流离失所者也将受益于他们作为实地研究助理的参与以及为他们的处境提供外联和宣传的研究。由IRES学生创建的知识产品，如社区规模的复原力地图流离失所复原力指数将为社会带来重要的好处，可以使全球关注流离失所和灾害复原力研究和GIS。该项目在加强研究和教育基础设施方面特别强大，因为IRES学生将成为卢旺达和东非研究网络的一部分，只有在卢旺达现场才能获得。CGIS和MIDIMAR首次与NSF研究联系在一起。国际可持续能源研究所的学生将与卢旺达中学和灾害利益攸关方团体举办灾害和抗灾能力地理信息系统制图讲习班，以扩大项目推广范围。如果成功，研究结果将可推广到卢旺达流离失所人口自然灾害复原力之外的其他国际重点研究（例如，叙利亚和罗兴亚难民危机），特别是美国国家利益的抗灾能力和流离失所问题，如飓风哈维和玛丽亚，为更广泛的美国创造潜力-国内和国际对流离失所人口自然灾害复原力的研究，可以为未来的学生提供知识，动机和灵感，追求国际关注的科学事业，以解决美国国家和全球的挑战。主要的学生研究项目的目标是与地理信息系统（GIS）的社区级规模实地测绘和遥感与流离失所人口自然灾害复原力有关的复原力指标。IRES学生收集的数据将用于流离失所者的自然灾害复原力的空间建模、索引和量化。研究小组将创造关于理解流离失所与自然灾害复原力之间关系的变革性知识。流离失所人口自然灾害复原力的空间指标目前不存在任何尺度-更不用说社区一级的尺度了，而社区一级的尺度只能通过国外研究地点进行调查。学生的研究工作将作出宝贵的智力贡献，以了解（a）流离失所和抗灾能力之间的空间关系，（B）如何发展流离失所抗灾能力的空间指标可以通知流离失所规划，以及（c）如何恢复力是发展和表现在流离失所和灾害的情况下，通知灾害管理决策和减少风险。卢旺达是一个独特的研究地点，可以对流离失所人口的自然灾害复原力进行绘图和量化，因为难民人口和面临自然灾害风险的境内流离失所的卢旺达公民。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为是值得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的支持。

This International Research Experience for Students (IRES) is focused on mapping and quantifying the natural disaster resilience of displaced people in Rwanda. Over a three year period, fourteen U.S. graduate students from the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and three undergraduate students from the Monroe Community College Geospatial Information Science and Technology program (MCC) will participate in a ten-week summer research experience at the University of Rwanda Center for Geographic Information Systems and Remote Sensing (CGIS). Significant activities include student access to and learning from CGIS on displaced population natural disaster resilience issues unique to Rwanda, East African context student research training activities, and access to disaster management organizations focused on displaced people such as the Rwandan Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs (MIDIMAR) only available in Rwanda. The project will create unique linkages to East African organizations that will train, educate and professionally develop 17 STEM student research scientists over three years focused on disaster resilience, displacement and GIS. The project will broaden participation of underrepresented groups as we will fully leverage RIT's existing underrepresented recruitments networks such as RIT's large Deaf-and-Hard of Hearing population, women, and minorities. The MCC student will create a unique opportunity for undergraduate international research experience as well as community college international research capacity development. Displaced people in Rwanda will also benefit through their participation as field research assistants as well as the research providing outreach and advocacy for their situations. Intellectual products created by IRES students, such as community-scale resilience maps displacement resilience indexes will provide important benefits to society that can bring global attention to displacement and disaster resilience research and GIS. The project is particularly strong in enhancing infrastructure for research and education as IRES students will become part of Rwandan and East African research networks only available by being on-site in Rwanda. CGIS and MIDIMAR for the first time become linked to NSF research. Workshops on disasters and resilience GIS mapping will be conducted by IRES students with Rwandan secondary schools and disaster stakeholder groups for broader project outreach. If successful, findings will be generalizable for additional internationally-focused research beyond displaced population natural disaster resilience in Rwanda (for example, the Syrian and Rohingya refugee crises) and particularly US-national interest disaster resilience and displacement issues like seen in hurricanes Harvey and Maria, creating the potential for broader US-national and international research on displaced population natural disaster resilience that can provide future students with the knowledge, motivation and inspiration to pursue internationally-focused science careers to solve US-national and global challenges.The primary student research project goal is community-level scale field mapping with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and remote sensing of resilience indicators relevant to displaced population natural disaster resilience. Data collected by IRES students will be used as an input for spatially modeling, indexing and quantifying the natural disaster resilience of displaced people. The research team will create transformative knowledge on understanding the relationship between displacement and natural disaster resilience. Spatial indexes of displaced population natural disaster resilience currently do not exist at any scale - let alone at the community-level scale that will only be possible to investigate through the foreign research site. Student research efforts will make valuable intellectual contributions to understanding (a) the spatial relationships between displacement and disaster resilience, (b) how developing displacement disaster resilience spatial metrics can inform displacement planning, and (c) how resilience is developed and manifested in displacement and disaster contexts to inform disaster management decision making and risk-reduction. Rwanda is a unique location for research on mapping and quantifying displaced population natural disaster resilience due to both refugee populations and internally displaced Rwandan citizens who face natural disaster risks. Access to these diverse and unique groups is only possible by being in Rwanda.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.