This award provides support for a U.S.-India workshop focused on developing research and education collaborations between U.S. researchers at Portland State University (PSU) and at several other U.S. universities and the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) in Bangaluru, India. US PI Vivek Shandas and Indian collaborator Harini Nagendra will convene a five-day workshop on Coupled Human-Natural Systems and the Challenge of Rapid Urbanization to the Resiliency of Water Systems. India, which is home to some of the most rapidly urbanizing cities in the world, offers an exceptional opportunity to study the coupling of human and natural systems. The multi-disciplinary group of researchers expects that the workshop will contribute to theoretical and methodological understanding of urban ecosystems by engaging Indian scientists and educators in discussing topics of high mutual interest. Three working groups will focus on key questions having to do with Urban Morphology and Spatial Analysis, Urbanization and Water Quality, and Curriculum Development.
Concrete outcomes include: 1)development of research proposals on the resiliency of water systems in rapidly urbanizing cities for parallel submission to US and Indian funding agencies, 2)development of pilot curricular modules to internationalize urban ecology courses in higher education, and 3)establishment of a global community of committed researchers and educators in the field of urban ecology. Additionally, the workshop will promote cross-cultural and educational experiences for all participants. The US-side includes women, early-career faculty, and graduate students. This activity is supported by the Office of International Science and Engineering and the Geography and Regional Sciences Program.
