CEE Professor Helen Nguyen will begin planning a global center to develop mitigation and adaptation strategies for vulnerable communities in the changing climate, thanks to a $250,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. The grant is part of a $76.4 million initiative to establish international, interdisciplinary research centers to develop use-inspired research on climate change and clean energy.
Nguyen’s vision for the center involves using Southeast Asia as a living laboratory to enable multidisciplinary researchers to explore three main themes: carbon-neutral sustainable urban development, low-impact and resilient agriculture, and health impacts of climate change and adaptation. Researchers from various fields of engineering, physical and health sciences, humanities and policy from the United States, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and India will collaborate on projects within these three themes.
“Building a climate-resilient Southeast Asia will improve public health, trade and travel on a global scale and bring the lessons learned to other locations,” Nguyen said.
Southeast Asia consists of the areas located south of mainland China, east of India and northwest of Australia. The region contains nearly 8.5% of the world’s population with high cultural and ethnic diversity, dense urban areas located in vulnerable coastal regions and deltas, and significant levels of poverty. At the same time, the region includes one of the fastest growing economies and some of the United States’ most important trade partners, and it is a critical manufacturing hub.
The most recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change showed that Southeast Asia is highly vulnerable to climate change-induced sea level rise, heat waves, drought and flood. Climate change will threaten the standard of living in Southeast Asia and have global consequences due to trade and travel. This makes it critical to better understand how to build resilience in the region as climate change develops, Nguyen said.
Potential research to be explored during the designing stage. Each theme captures all three domains: environment, human and infrastructure