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获得社会和水文科学方面的国际研究经验，同时研究具有现实意义的科学问题。气候变化促使社区进行适应，以提高复原力，并促进更适合新条件的做法。在旱季越来越长的地区，雨季越短，暴风雨就越严重。农村和农业社区特别容易受到新的季节性条件的影响，它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）是一个重要的农业区域，需要制定适应战略。该项目的位置是理想的，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，并经历更多的极端降雨事件。有效的适应和复原力战略将技术和社会变革结合起来。在这项研究中的合作模式包括水文和流域研究，民族志和参与性研究，农业和社区外展的专家。来自密歇根理工大学、水文科学促进大学联盟的研究人员和专业人员。（CUAHSI）和路德世界救济（LWR），一个总部设在美国的国际救济组织，正在开始一个多年项目，以加强社区减灾，提供必要的专业知识，以实现项目目标。项目团队和学生参与者正在将水文气象数据纳入预测工具，为农村农业社区提供数据驱动的建议，使他们更能抵御水资源短缺和洪水。学生学习在国际背景下新的合作研究方法，以提高他们在社会和文化多样性的环境中工作的能力，以解决在气候变化和具有挑战性的景观土地利用管理的复杂问题。学生与导师/专家在社会和水文科学研究和教育在农业社区在萨尔瓦多干旱走廊的工作。项目参与者与当地农民和农业利益攸关方合作，以获得适应气候变化的经验。跨学科的科学家和发展专业人士共同努力，在经历缺水和极端降雨事件的社区进行参与性研究。学生收集水文气象和社区数据，用于计算工具，以了解和预测在陡坡，半干旱地区的水文系统受到土地利用的变化。对水文的了解沿着增加，再加上参与性的、以社区为基础的研究，使决策者更好地了解更适当的农业和水管理做法，以应对观察到的区域气候变化。研究小组测量了这些策略对作物产量、用水量和与降水有关的灾害的影响的有效性。该研究旨在向农民和其他当地利益相关者提供有关影响天气和气候多变地区作物产量的水文因素的信息。这项研究将影响有关作物选择、种植方法和灌溉的决定。每年都会有一个新的由10名不同但互补的学科背景的美国研究生组成的多元化队列，共同研究与这些危险有关的问题。学生参加为期8周的国际教育和研究经验，与水文建模，参与式研究，农业，水文和气象监测专家合作。该奖项反映了NSF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。

In this project, graduate students from US universities obtain international research experience in social and hydrological sciences 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 long, the 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, provide needed expertise to achieve 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.