Coupled Natural-Human Systems
Surface Water and Groundwater Conjunctive Use, Interactions, and Integration
In the High Plains and Central Valley aquifers surface water and groundwater can be geophysically and administratively coupled. Such integration, interactions, and conjunctive use are essential to maintain local-to-regional ecosystems as well as economies. Water systems in these areas and many other regions around the world are examples of how natural and human systems are coupled. A better understanding of the socioecological, socioeconomic, and sociotechnical processes and scales that govern the water continuum from the land surface to the aquifer is critical to built resilient infrastructure.
Integrated Water Quality, Water Quantity, and Ecosystem Resilience
Rural and urban water demands will continue on the rise as the population grows, and the consumption of energy and food increases. Agriculture, in particular, poses multiple challenges because of the complexities in managing water resources across jurisdictional and geopolitical boundaries and geospatial scales. Additionally, the acceleration of the human enterprise has progressively deteriorated the environment and, in particular, water (and air) quality. The need for integrated studies, technological developments, and innovation in the nexus water quality and quantity becomes critical to build resilient, secure, and sustainable water, food, energy, and environmental services systems.
Phenotype Predictability and Adaptive (Agro)ecosystems
Breeding is arguably the most affordable and accessible technology used to improve crop yield in farms around the globe since it has been an activity built upon the ingenuity, persistence, and cultural values in many nations. Breeding also materializes an evolving knowledge from empirical experiences to analytical principles on agricultural responses to environmental changes as mechanisms to built a resilient food-production system and enhance ecosystem resilience. The integration of statistical, data-driven, and numerical models foster applied and basic research activities aimed to deliver decision support tools, as well as to elucidate the underlying principles of plants' adaptive abilities..
Climate-Resilient Infrastructure
Research in India and the US