Lessons Learned From an Inter‐Institutional Graduate Course on Interdisciplinary Modeling for Water‐Related Issues and Changing Climate

摘要

The need for training in interdisciplinary approaches to address water and climate issues is widely recognized (Barthel et al. 2012; Bl?schl et al. 2012; Daraio et al. 2010; Ewel 2001; Johnson and Weaver 2009; Pringle 1999; Saito et al. 2012). Computer modeling is a useful tool for integrating approaches from different disciplines (Nicolson et al. 2002), but because typical academic training is principally disciplinary, many scientists and practitioners are not aware of available modeling techniques in other disciplines (Saito et al. 2007). Since 2005, we have been conducting an inter-institutional course on interdisciplinary modeling for water-related issues and changing climate. The course objectives were to increase students’ awareness of modeling approaches in different disciplines and provide experience in working in interdisciplinary teams. The course originated with a week-long curriculum development workshop funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF; Saito et al. 2007). A first inter-institutional course offering between the University of Nevada Reno (UNR), the Desert Research Institute (DRI), and University of California at Davis (UCD) occurred in 2008. The most recent two offerings were conducted as part of the Western Tri-State Consortium (WTC; http://westernconsortium.org), which is a collaboration between the NSF-funded Experimental Programs to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) for Idaho, Nevada, and New Mexico to improve infrastructure for climate change and water resources research in each state. A key feature of this course has been the use of multiple instructors from different institutions to provide lectures and laboratory exercises from different disciplines and perspectives. In this paper, we present a brief description of course development and implementation, results of course evaluations, lessons learned, and future needs for educating students about interdisciplinary approaches for addressing water and climate-related issues.