Research project that focused on novel socio-economic analysis aimed at finding out if ecological infrastructure investments are feasible in various scenarios to improve reliability of the Panama Canal.
A recently completed research project led by University of Wyoming researchers allowed novel socio-economic analysis aimed at finding out if ecological infrastructure investments are feasible in various scenarios to improve reliability of the Panama Canal.
Fred Ogden, a professor in UW’s Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering and the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, was the principal investigator on the research. He is currently a visiting senior scientist and academic-in-residence at the Office of Water Prediction at the U.S. National Water Center in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
“Our study created a large team that included hydrologists, botanists, forest ecologists, soil scientists, geochemists, geophysicists, civil engineers, social scientists and economists -- all with the objective of improving our understanding of how people make land management decisions affecting tropical watersheds,” Ogden says. “In particular, we focused on desirable outcomes of increased stream flow during extended dry periods and reduced erosion. This paper represents a summary of the results of our comprehensive study to inform and improve land management decisions providing hydrologic benefits in the tropics.”
Ogden contributed to the paper, titled “Assessing Ecological Infrastructure Investments,” that was published Jan. 7 (today) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The journal is one of the world’s most prestigious multidisciplinary scientific serials, with coverage spanning the biological, physical and social sciences.
Continue reading at University of Wyoming
Image via University of Wyoming
