Collaborative Research Belmont Forum: People, poll

San Francisco State University, San Francisco CA

Investigators

Abstract

This award provides support to U.S. researchers participating in a project competitively selected by a six-country initiative on global change research through the Belmont Forum. The Belmont Forum is a group of the world?s major and emerging funders of global environmental change research. It aims to accelerate delivery of the international environmental research most urgently needed to remove critical barriers to sustainability by aligning and mobilizing international resources. Each partner organization provides funding for researchers from their country to alleviate the need for funds to cross international borders. This approach facilitates effective leveraging of national resources to support excellent research on topics of global relevance best tackled through a multinational approach, recognizing that global challenges need global solutions. Working together in a Collaborative Research Action, the six partner organizations have provided support for research projects that utilize a strong inter- and trans-disciplinary approach to examine climate, environmental, and related societal change in mountain regions. This award provides support for the U.S. researchers to cooperate in a consortium of partners from at least three of the participating countries and that brings together natural scientists, social scientists and research users (e.g., policy makers, regulators, NGOs, communities and industry). This project will determine the effects of pollution, pathogens and human impacts on mountain ecosystems at the interface of aquatic and terrestrial habitats. The research will be conducted in four mountain ranges (Pyrenees, France; Dhofar Mountains, Oman; Sierra Nevada, USA; and Great Hinggan Mountains, China), and will take place along similar elevations. The use historical and newly collected data, to develop indicators of change, and develop and define essential biodiversity variables relevant for the mountain regions that can be used in models as well as by the general public, stakeholders and policymakers.