HR: 16:50h
AN: ED24A-03    [Abstracts]
TI: IAI Global Change Agenda and Support of Higher Education in the Andean Amazon Countries.
AU: * Galarraga, R
EM: remigala@server.epn.edu.ec
AF: Escuela Politecnica Nacional, Ladron de Guevara E11-253, Quito, Pic N/A, Ecuador
AU: McClain, M
EM: mcclainm@fiu.edu
AU: Fierro, V
EM: glaciar@server.epn.edu.ec
AB: The Andean Amazon River Analysis and Management project, an IAI Collaborative Research Network operating during 1999-2004, examined the impacts of climate and land-use changes on the hydrobiogeochemistry of rivers draining the Amazon Andes of Ecuador, Peru, Colombia and Bolivia. The project also provided a means to strengthen scientific collaboration among these Andean countries and the USA. Research in these countries was carried out under the guidance of investigators with backgrounds in the relevant environmental fields, but the bulk of the research activities were carried out by undergraduate and graduate students who studied within these countries and overseas. Twenty graduate students and 15 undergraduates completed studies within the project, in topics related to monitoring hydrometeorological variables both in time and space. Student research and capacity building were focused in areas central to global environmental change, including modeling of precipitation and precipitation-runoff processes, basin-scale water quality characterization and biogeochemical cycling, and socioeconomic controls on the use and management of riverine resources. The analysis of human dimension aspects of climate change research was also featured, especially those aspects that linked the consequences of water quality degradation on human health. Most of undergraduate and graduate students that collaborated in the AARAM project have joined national environmental institutions and some have continued for higher scientific degrees in fields closely related to the IAI scientific agenda. Through this IAI initiative, the number of trained global change scientists in the Andean countries has grown and there is enhanced awareness of key global change science issues among the scientific community.
DE: 0800 EDUCATION
DE: 0810 Post-secondary education
DE: 0850 Geoscience education research
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: 2007 Joint Assembly