NSF Awards Mortenson Center In International Climate Change Research Competition
The Mortenson Center in Global Engineering & Resilience at the University of Colorado Boulder proudly announces its selection as one of the recipients of the National Science Foundation 2023 International Joint Initiative for Research on Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation competition. This esteemed recognition, coordinated with Canada's New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF) and in partnership with the University of British Columbia and the Oslo School of Architecture and Design, highlights the Mortenson Center's commitment to addressing pressing global challenges through innovative and collaborative research efforts.
The awards aim to leverage world-class expertise to tackle global challenges and support unique, innovative and transformational ideas that will forge a path toward a more sustainable planet for generations to come.
The Mortenson Center in Global Engineering & Resilience is dedicated to advancing research and innovation in climate change adaptation and mitigation. Led by Principal Investigators Karl Linden and Evan Thomas and Co-Principal Investigator Denis Muthike, the Mortenson Center brings expertise to the table with their interdisciplinary project to reduce the risk of water insecurity of indigenous communities living in five climate-vulnerable locations namely Turkana in Kenya, Nile region in South Sudan, Varanger in Norway, First Nations communities in western Canada, and Native communities in rural Alaska.
The "Community Water Systems: Climate Vulnerabilities and Resilience Opportunities"project funded under this new initiative will combine cutting-edge climate scenario modeling with stakeholder engagement to better understand local water systems' current and future climate vulnerabilities. The project aims to address the interconnected risks of displacement due to droughts, wildfires, floods, landslides, erosion, and their adverse effects on ecosystems, traditional land-based activities, community livelihoods, and food security.
“Vulnerable groups such as communities in low- and middle-income countries, Indigenous communities or groups that are vulnerable due to their geographic, social, and economic circumstances are the most-at-risk to the impacts of climate change,” stated Denis Muthike. “Our research will empower these global communities to comprehend climate vulnerabilities in their water systems, develop action plans to support climate resilience and water security goals, and implement and evaluate localized interventions to enhance the resilience of their water systems.”
“This research builds on our Drought Resilience Impact Program (DRIP) with the Millennium Water Alliance, reaching hundreds of thousands of people with improved water security in Northern Kenya since 2015,” said Mortenson Center Director, Professor Evan Thomas.
Only eleven collaborative research projects were awarded a collective total of $26M of funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH), and other international partner funding agencies with the NSF and NEF contributions totaling about $6.5M. The NSF and NEH are optimistic that this significant investment in high-risk/high-reward research will generate transformative impacts at local, regional, and global scales. Funding for the Mortenson Center project will come from the NSF.