This Pan-American Advanced Studies Institutes (PASI) award, jointly supported by the NSF and the Department of Energy (DOE), will take place May 23-June 1, 2010, in San Diego, California. Organized by Dr. Asfaw Beyene and Dr. Walter Oechel of San Diego State University, the PASI will foster international and interdisciplinary cooperation to address energy, water and environmental challenges as a symbiotic regional agenda. The Institute will host fifteen lecturers and thirty post-doctoral and advanced graduate student participants from multiple disciplines, including energy, water, and ecosystem studies; computer science with a particular emphasis on data integration and visualization; and others. It will cover four overarching research themes: (i) energy efficiency and renewable energy, (ii) water shortage and its consequences, (iii) climate and climate feedbacks; and (iv) informatics as related to energy, water, and global change studies.
Expected outcomes of this PASI will include: 1) a solid research link between sustainability and strategic measures towards addressing shortages; 2) a forum for discussion intended to stimulate collaboration among a diverse population of researchers; and 3) education of emerging scientists about anticipated solutions for addressing global change through tutorials and demonstrations. Products from the PASI will include a comprehensive website with complete reports of the proceedings, a list of potential collaborators and their research interests, and assessment questionnaires to evaluate the impact of the activity.
