Project News

Carbon Cycle Science: Reconciling Supply and Demand--Understanding and enhancing the linkages between decision making and carbon cycle research

On September 16-17, 2004, the Carbon Cycle Science project will host a workshop entitled "Carbon Cycle Science: Reconciling Supply and Demand" to bring together actors representing both supply and demand sectors of carbon cycle research, research administrators, and policy analysts to discuss and debate findings and develop a recommendation for a research agenda and institutional structure that would enhance and enable the ability of the North American Carbon Program to effectively reconcile supply and demand for carbon cycle information. 

For more information, contact elizabeth.mcnie@colorado.edu.

Cities and Rivers: Interdisciplinary and International Perspectives

The New Directions Initiative was awarded a $48,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for a workshop in St Petersburg, Russia in June of 2004 for 30 participants (12 American and 18 Russian), on the theme of “Cities and Rivers: Interdisciplinary and International Perspectives.” This workshop will build upon the work of the New Directions Initiative in order to develop a testable model for interdisciplinary collaborations on issues at the intersection of science and society.  The workshop is part of The Neva Project, a collaborative attempt to look at four sites on the Neva River in St. Petersburg, Russia, from both the ecological and cultural perspectives simultaneously.

Decision Making Under Uncertainty

The National Science Foundation selected the Center’s Science Policy Assessment and Research on Climate (SPARC) proposal for a site visit in March. The 5-year, $7 million proposal was submitted under the NSF’s Decision Making Under Uncertainty program.  A final decision on the proposal is anticipated within the next few months and will be reported in a future issue of Ogmius.

Future Trends in Environmental Philosophy

The first annual meeting intended to bring together the environmental philosophy community will occur from June 1-4 at the Highlands Center, on the border of Rocky Mountain National Park 40 minutes from Boulder, Colorado. The meeting, sponsored by CU’s Policy Center, will bring together the International Association for Environmental Philosophy and the International Society for Environmental Ethics. In addition to contributed papers, the program will include leading figures in the field.

Western Water Assessment

The WWA recently completed its 2004 funding process.  The following is a list of funded proposals broken down by research theme:

• Research Theme 1: "Assessments" - (mission statement clause: "identify and characterize regional vulnerabilities to climate variability and change”)

1. Assessment of the elevational characteristics of hydroclimatic variability in the Colorado Rockies in the Last 50 Years.
2. SPRAT:  Regional Vulnerability Assessment and Outreach
3. Municipal Response to 2002 Drought Follow-up Study
4. Flushing Flows and Community Metabolism in the South Platte
5. User assessment of large water providers on the Colorado Front Range
6. Water Quality and the Drought of 2002: Regulatory aftershocks from an extreme climate event
7. The 2002 Drought: A Retrospective
8. Overview of WWA Activity since Project Inception
9. Regional Economic Costs of Drought
10. Usefulness of Climate Forecasts to Water Managers
11. Potential of Agricultural Water Transfers to Meet Front Range Water Demand during the next 30 Years

• Research Theme 2: "Information, Products and Processes" -  (mission statement clause: "develop information, products and processes to assist water-resource decision-makers throughout the Intermountain West")

1. Advancing Seasonal Snowpack and Streamflow Monitoring and Prediction
2. Improving operational streamflow forecasts in the Colorado River Basin
3. Climate Services Clearinghouse
4. Climate Service Products for Drought Monitoring and Water Resource Management
5. Climate Service Activities for Colorado and adjacent regions
6. Dendro-Hydroclimatic Reconstructions for Decision Support in the Upper Colorado River Basin

• Research Theme 3:  "Evaluation of Assessments and Information, Products and Processes"- to make sure that WWA work meets the needs of water resource decision-makers, other RISA programs, and NOAA.

1. Implementation Analyses of Experimental Climate Products and Services in the Intermountain West.

The WWA is also in the process of revising and updating its website.

Hydro-Climate Research and Decision Making: Improving Operational Streamflow Forecasts in the Colorado River Basin

The National Weather Service recently awarded Center Research Scientist Martyn Clark a three-year grant,  to develop and evaluate methods to assimilate station-based measurements of snow water equivalent into the NWS River Forecast System, and to develop and evaluate methods to produce forecast inputs on time scales of days through seasons.  The research will be conducted in collaboration with the Colorado Basin River Forecast Center.

Prometheus—New Science Policy Weblog

The Center is happy to announce the creation of Prometheus: The Science Policy Weblog.  Prometheus hosts science policy news and commentary, and provides a place for public comment and discussion. We hope the site provides a useful service to the science policy community, and we encourage readers to visit and contribute to the site.