Emerging Areas: The Environment

1. Emerging Areas:The Environment Robert E. O’Connor Decision, Risk and Management Sciences November 8, 2007

2. Organization • Past and current support for SBE environmental research • The Big Success in integrated SBE / natural science environmental research • Two unpleasant expirations • Lessons learned • Opportunities • The Big Gap

3. The Funding Mix • Most SBE awards for environmental projects always have come from regular competitions in the standing programs. • Many special competitions have focused primarily on the SBE sciences. • More recent special competitions have aimed to foster interdisciplinary research spanning the natural and SBE sciences.

4. Support in Standing SBE Programs • Some programs actively support environmental research because of the major theoretical emphases in their communities. • Geography; Decision, Risk, and Management Sciences; Anthropology • Other programs tend to see the environment as an "application domain." • A third group of programs provides some support for theoretically driven work in environmental settings

5. Special Competitions I: Focusing Largely on the SBE Sciences • Mid-1990s to early 2000s: Human Dimensions of Global Change (HDGC), centers and teams • 2004-: Decision Making Under Uncertainty (DMUU) centers, part of the Climate Change Research Initiative • Centers at Arizona State, Carnegie Mellon, and Columbia. • Smaller teams at RAND and Colorado, Boulder.

6. Special Competitions II: Integrating the SBE and Natural Sciences • Methods and Models for Integrated Assessment competition in the late 1990s. • Small support for SBE science involvement in work of the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites and network. • Core support for Urban LTER sites, supplemental support for other integration-building activities • The big success: CNH

7. Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems (CNH) Dynamics of Coupled Natural andHuman Systems

8. Origins of CNH • A component of the “Biocomplexity in the Environment” Priority Area, FY2001-05 • A free-standing CNH competition in FY2007with BIO, GEO, and SBE support

9. CNH Is Now a Standing, Multi-Directorate Program • An MOU signed by the ADs of BIO, GEO, and SBE provides a long-term commitment.

10. The 12 CNH Awards Resulting from the FY2007 Competition Continue the Tradition • Two awards effectively are renewals of previous CNH awards: • David Campbell,Michigan State U, "Dynamic Interactions Among People, Livestock,and Savanna Ecosystems Under Climate Change "

11. Jianguo Liu, Michigan State U, "Effects of Cross-Boundary Processes on Human-Nature Dynamics in Wolong Nature Reserve for Giant Pandas"

12. Other awards examined human-natural system interactions in urban environments: • Nicolas Brozovic, U of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign,"Coupling Hydrologic, Economic, and Social Network Models to Improve Understanding of Surface Water-Groundwater Interactions for Protection of Instream Flows"

13. Colin Polsky, Clark U, "Suburbanization, Water Use, Nitrogen Cycling, and Eutrophication in the 21st Century: Interactions, Feedbacks, and Uncertainties in a Massachusetts Coastal Zone"

14. Lawrence Baker, U of Minnesota-Twin Cities, "Integration of Human Choice into Models of Biogeochemical Cycling in Urban Ecosystems"

15. Two Unfortunate Expirations • Human and Social Dynamics Priority Area • ~ 1/3 of awards are environmentally related • Much work is interdisciplinary within the social sciences • Decision Making Under Uncertainty for Climate Change • E.g., DCDC at ASU integrates GIS, ECON, SOC, POLSCI, PSY • E.g., CRED at Columbia integrates lab and international empirical work

16. Lesson Learned:Ground Activities Firmly in Theory • The most significant advances in SBE research related to the environment have resulted with research and related activities are firmly grounded in and contributing to the enhancement of fundamental theory in and across the SBE sciences. • "Applied" or "reactive" research may serve short-term needs, but rarely contributes to sustained community engagement.

17. Experience with "Big Science" • SBE sciences traditionally have been "cottage industries" rather than "factory production." • Experience with HDGC, DMUU, and other centers has shown synergies and contributions of participating in larger-scale coordinated activities. • The most successful activities have been those whose origin has been grounded in fundamental theoretical inquiries. • Activities focused on serving the immediate needs of stakeholders, decision makers, and/or other "users" have worked only when strong theoretical emphasis has been maintained (often with external pressure from NSF).

18. Opportunities: Lead from Other Directorates • NEON Observatory • WATERS Network Observatory • LTERs

19. Opportunities: SBE Lead • Resilience Observatories • DRMS, IMHR, and USGS funded workshop • Sustainable Development • SBE funded workshop (Columbia) • DMUU for Climate Change • Extend, then re-compete? • Valuation of Ecological Services • Co-funded conference with USGS? • Warnings • DRMS, IMHR, and NOAA funded 2008 solicitation

20. The Big Gap • Multi-Disciplinary research within the social sciences • Solution: Create a new program within SBE

21. The Environmental Campaign Theme:The Environmental Campaign:To increase knowledge ofhow humancognition, structure, and action interact with the natural environment over spatial, temporal, and organizational scales.

22. Spatial scale Cognition Action Structure Temporal scale Natural Environment Organizational scale

23. For Example: Perceptions Beliefs Attitudes Values Language Culture Ethics Morals Spirituality Neural processes Memory Attention Knowledge Creativity Ingenuity Personality Emotions For Example: Government Policy Economy Law Religion Language Technology Educational systems Health care Traditions Infrastructure Housing Built environment Formal organizations Informal organizations Interest groups For Example: Behaviors Innovation Conflict Consumerism Development Observation Exploration Research Education Consumption Exploitation Conservation Reproduction Migration Decision making Cognition Action Structure

24. For Example: Perceptions Beliefs Attitudes Values Language Culture Ethics Morals Spirituality Neural processes Memory Attention Knowledge Creativity Ingenuity Personality Emotions For Example: Government Policy Economy Law Religion Technology Educational systems Language Health care Traditions Infrastructure Housing Built environment Formal organizations Informal Organizations Interest groups For Example: Behaviors Innovation Conflict Revolution Consumerism Development Observation Exploration Research Education Consumption Exploitation Conservation Reproduction Migration Evolution Decision making Cognition Action Structure Natural Environment

25. Work on the Campaign • Develop multiple approaches, methods, and tools • Identify types of data to respond to crucial questions • Understand transformations • Explore the quality of life and environmental management options • Ascertain the role of resilience, robustness, and sustainability • Learn how to address inter-generational equity

26. Topics and perspectives that seem to excite SBE scientists include: • Dynamics of human activity • Population • Resource consumption • Technological capabilities • Cognition, attitudes, perceptions, values, and beliefs • Informal arrangements, formal structures, and organizations • Interactions across scales: spatial, temporal, and organizational • Adaptation, resilience, robustness, sustainability • Uncertainty • Quality of life and environmental management options • Inter-generational equity