IGERT Program

As a first year Ph.D. student in the National Science Foundation- Integrated Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (NSF-IGERT) program at the University of Idaho (UI), my objective is to engage in collaborative and interdisciplinary approaches to analyze water resource issues in Idaho and the greater Columbia River Basin. I was attracted to this doctoral program because of an interest in becoming involved in efforts to conduct more effective research that can be transferred in a meaningful way to policy and management decisions in water resources. Beginning the program required a big leap across the country from our previous home in Boone, North Carolina. The new opportunity provides an outstanding environment for studying water resources. 

The rhetoric that formed the IGERT is becoming increasingly common within natural resource management as traditional single disciplinary methods to natural resource management often yield ineffective results. In analyzing the complex, multi-faceted nature of modern water resource issues it is difficult to argue against efforts to pursue collaborative and interdisciplinary approaches. The large gaps in communication between science, policy, management and the public can create significant inefficiencies and obstacles. Natural resource management is often left to experts in natural sciences and characterized by disciplinary separation (Cockerill et al. 2007). Within the past few decades a need for interdisciplinary research and expertise about the interactions between human systems and natural systems has led to a slow paradigm shift (Mirchi et al. 2010). The complex or ‘wicked’ problems that water resource managers face often cannot be effectively addressed through a single disciplinary approach (Wang et al. 2011).

There is an increasing demand to transform rhetoric related to collaboration and interdisciplinary approaches into action (Mirchi et al. 2010). As the water resource community moves towards a consensus---that collaborating and engaging in interdisciplinary projects is a necessary process for addressing complexity in modern water resource management--- the focus for academic work is shifting to discovering effective strategies for fostering cooperative, multifaceted work environments for tackling water resource issues. The doctoral program offered through the water resource IGERT at U of Idaho offers an opportunity to explore methods for conducting research in water resources that help to remedy past inefficiencies.

Like many others, I am interested in exploring the potential of market-based conservation approaches and strengthened private-public partnerships. In my doctoral research I hope to apply developing technologies, new data collection techniques and watershed models to explore my research interest. These more formal academic research interests align well with my personal interest in land conservation. I will use this blog as an opportunity to document my academic and personal interests in land conservation. 

Over the course of Summer 2015, the Water Resource IGERT provided me with an opportunity to experiment with new conservation strategies. New students are immediately provided a summer long internship with an agency not directly related to the university. Engaging in such research is intended to allow students to begin developing an informal network of motivated and passionate water resources people while gaining an understanding of water resources in the Columbia River Basin. These internships can be mutually beneficial for students and the agencies where they work. Students are provided with an opportunity to develop an understanding of water resource issues and management outside of an academic research environment while helping to serve the mission of their agency. My internship was completed with the Idaho Department of Water Resources (IDWR). I spent the summary learning about the water transactions program in the Upper Salmon River Basin in Central Idaho. A summary of these experiences will be provided shortly. 

References: 

Cockerill, K., V.C. Tidwell, H.D. Passell, and L.A. Malczynski. 2007. “Commentary: Cooperative Modeling Lessons for Environmental Management.” Environmental Practice 9 (01): 28–41.

Mirchi, Ali, David Watkins Jr, and Kaveh Madani. 2010. “Modeling for Watershed Planning, Management, and Decision Making.” Watersheds: Management, Restoration and Environmental Impact (Vaughn JC Ed). Nova Science Publishers, Hauppauge, NY, USA. http://www.kysq.org/docs/Mirchi_Watershed.pdf.

Wang, Rusong, Feng Li, Dan Hu, and B. Larry Li. 2011. “Understanding Eco-Complexity: Social-Economic-Natural Complex Ecosystem Approach.” Ecological Complexity 8 (1): 15–29.