As part of an NSF Consortium for Research on the Human Dimensions of Global Change, this award provides support for the Methods for Integrated Regional Assessment Project (MIRA). This project, developed by the interdisciplinary Human Dimensions Program of Penn State's Earth System Science Center (ESSC) in collaboration with researchers from the University of Arizona, focuses on the development of innovative methods for assessing the regional consequences of global change. MIRA will develop methods for linking global processes of climate and economic change to impacts, individual perceptions and behavior, and institutional and economic responses at the local or regional scale. These methods include climate downscaling, multilevel and regional modeling, vulnerability assessment, and surveys of individual and firm perceptions, valuation, and response to environmental change and policy. In addition, NSF support will provide a modest level of long-term institutional capability for the Human Dimensions Program within Penn State's Earth Systems Science Center.
