Globalization is fundamentally changing the way humans interact with natural resources. Many people no longer rely on local resources but, rather, on a set of distant resources linked through a global economic network. Unfortunately, this integration of local resource systems across several temporal and spatial scales has the potential to amplify local resource degradation problems to the global scale. Sound management of the increasingly complex global resource system requires achieving a good fit both between local intuitions and local ecological contexts and local institutions and the global context in which they are embedded. This project will combine empirical case studies of local social-ecological systems from around the globe with the development and analysis of stylized dynamic mathematical models to begin to derive general principles concerning how to best achieve such a fit. Specifically, the project will address two overarching questions: 1) what local contextual social and ecological variables are most important in determining the success or failure of local resource management institutions and 2) how does the performance of local institutions change in response to changes in larger-scale processes associated with globalization.
The project's integrated research and teaching program directed at addressing these issues will contribute to both improved resource management and enhanced mathematical literacy. Evidence continues to mount that policies based on extremely simplified, theoretical models frequently fail. Using data to judiciously add complexity to basic theoretical models, this project will systematically explore the effects of local cultural, social, economic, and ecological context on the performance of institutions and management policies and identify to which external factors local institutions are most sensitive. This understanding will improve our capacity to diagnose resource management problems, build better solutions, prevent the loss of existing institutional diversity, and maintain the integrity of the global resource system upon which we all rely. At the same time, by immersing students in research at the boundaries between natural, social, and mathematical sciences, the project will help address our nation's challenges with low mathematical literacy. Low mathematical literacy is due, in part, to the lack of interesting context in which to apply mathematical techniques for students outside physics, chemistry, and engineering. This project will provide such context through specially-designed courses and graduate research in which students will learn mathematics by using it to address problems in the social and life sciences that really matter to them. Finally, the internet-based e-library of case studies, models, and visualization tools developed in this project will provide a valuable resource for learning mathematics through its application to problems in the social and life sciences.
The world is presently experiencing a period of dramatic social and economic change. We are also experiencing rapid change in earth systems that support human societies. The goal of this project has been to develop tools and ideas to help understand how we may cope with this change. Specifically, the project has focused on two areas in particular: 1) developing the data capacity to study many small-scale agricultural, fishery, and forestry systems that feed half of the worlds population and 2) developing mathematical tools to understand how these systems will function in the face of social, economic, and biophysical change in the future. Consistent with these focus areas, the project has produced three key outcomes: 1) A systematic database containing qualitative descriptions of agricultural, fishery, and forestry systems from around the world, 2) A database of models that can be used to systematically study the general features of these systems, especially their capacity to cope with change, and 3) tools for model visualization. The databases and tools are openly available to researchers, students, and the public and are located at http://seslibrary.asu.edu. The information contained in the database facilities collaborative research among a community of scholars on the central issues facing small-holder agriculturalists, fishers, and forest users that face new market pressures and changing weather patterns. This collaborative research aims to produce new knowledge regarding how to effectively govern these systems in the face of change so that they may continue to produce essential products including food, fibre, and protein for billions of people. As a CAREER award, the project focused on developing infrastructure for an integrated teaching and research program. Project outputs involving the database as described above and associated curriculum and teaching materials will make significant contributions to the interdisciplinary teaching program at ASU, especially regarding mathematics. Given the complexity of modern human economic and social systems and the complexity of the challenges they face, mathematical competency will become increasingly important in the future. The cyberinfrastructure and knowledge base created by this project will contribute considerably to developing mathematical competency by providing a platform for students to learn advanced mathematical techniques in the context of important problems situated at the intersection of natural and social sciences. Thus, the project outputs generate broader impacts in terms of helping improve global food security in the face of global change and provide additional opportunities for students to develop much needed mathematical competencies.
