Global Centers Track 2: Blue Climate Solutions

University Of Rhode Island, Kingston RI

Investigators

Abstract

Coastal ecosystems inhabited by mangroves and seagrass meadows play an essential role in slowing climate change and supporting human livelihood in many parts of the world, but they have been diminished by human impacts and global climate change. Frontline communities and decision makers need better data and improved predictive ability to reverse the losses of these habitats. This Global Centers Design award supports planning for a future center for Blue Carbon Solutions. The award supports activities led by the University of Rhode Island to create a team to predict future deforestation trends; quantify changes in carbon storage of these habitats; and experimentally test effectiveness of policies and management options by empowering research by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities. The center is envisioned as an incubator for transdisciplinary research, coupling earth observations with citizen science and local and Indigenous knowledge. The team, which also includes East Carolina University and other US institutions as well as partners in Indonesia, will develop new AI techniques in modeling habitat loss, projecting changes in blue carbon stocks and ecosystem co-benefits at policy-relevant spatial scales, and co-testing causal impact of solutions with stakeholders. Participation by underrepresented groups will be increased by involving Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities and youths in Indonesia as citizen scientists. Graduate students and scholars in the U.S. and Indonesia will be trained in Team Science and transdisciplinary research. The center will support decision makers in developing evidence-based conservation and restoration policies to mitigate climate change while sustaining climate-vulnerable coastal communities and ecosystems. The team will shape and strengthen team readiness across three Research Themes: (1) understanding multi-scale drivers of mangrove and seagrass losses and gains, and generating predictions of “at-risk” areas and their drivers; (2) quantify multi-scale and changes in ecosystem services and co-benefits of mangrove and seagrass habitats for climate mitigation and adaptation; and (3) design and test the im-pact of innovative policies and interventions to conserve and restore mangroves and seagrasses. Across each theme the team will apply two Enabling Cores: (i) harness big data, AI, and data science, and (ii) co-produce knowledge with Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities through citizen science. The center will use a Knowledge Convergence Workshop, a proof-of-concept project using machine learning to predict areas of habitat loss, an online seminar series, and a Team Science certificate pro-gram to advance these goals in the planning stage. The center will support decision-makers’ use of evidence-based conservation and restoration strategies to mitigate climate change while sustaining climate-vulnerable coastal communities and ecosystems. This award is funded by the Global Centers program, an innovative program that supports use-inspired research addressing global challenges related to climate change and/or clean energy. Track 2 design awards support U.S.-based researchers to bring together international teams to develop research questions and partnerships, conduct landscape analyses, synthesize data, and/or build multi-stakeholder networks to advance their use-inspired research at larger scale in the future.   This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.