Adding Intellectual Capacity

The RII science team is interdisciplinary: the participants come from a wide range of disciplines, including agricultural economics, biological sciences, civil engineering, economics, fish and wildlife resources, forest resources, geography, geology, geosciences, hydrology, and soil physics. In addition, ten new faculty hires will be made in various areas to fill needed gaps in expertise.

A top priority is to acquire more expertise in climatology by hiring a climatologist to interpret climate model output, downscale global climate models, and perform regional modeling. To build capability in hydrologic modeling of intermediate and large basins, two water resource engineers will be hired. A spatial econometrician, a regional scientist, an ecosystem services analyst, and a water policy analyst will add significant intellectual infrastructure at the intersection of hydrology with economics and policy. A soil scientist, ecosystem ecologist, and a spatial analyst will fill key positions in ecological research.