Teaming for Interdisciplinary Research Pre-Seed Program

Mountains are one of the most important landscapes of the planet, where about 60% of people reside and from where about 82% of people obtain many ecosystem services, including water, wood, mineral wealth, scenic beauty, cultural affirmation, and inspiration. Most mountain socio-ecological systems today are the result of an intricate relationship between the people of the past and the imposing verticality of the rugged terrain that in many areas is no longer obvious, thus making it necessary to redress mountains’ management to include ecological legacies. Because of the United Nations’ Declaration of the Decade of Ecological Restoration, a team of UGA faculty has formed a Convergent Mountain Science cluster, so that they could work within transdisciplinary frameworks to benefit conservation and sustainable development of the world’s mountainscapes.

We comprise ecologists, geographers, environmental architects, sustainability planners, historic preservationists, environmental communicators, natural resources experts in fire prevention, forest management and protected area policy interventions, horticulturalists, geomorphologists, paleoecologists and climate scientists who share the need to apply research and advocacy for mountains. We aim to make UGA a leader in mountain studies in the Southeastern USA and internationally. Firstly, we will develop an integrative framework for comparative studies between the Appalachians and the Andes. Then, we will cement international collaborative work with specific disciplinary exchanges and training with like-minded programs in the hemisphere. Thirdly, we will aim to create an Institute of Convergent Mountain Science to offer a professional Master’s degree in Mountain Management. We anticipate long-term research efforts on Mt. Chimborazo of Ecuador and on selected sites of Southern Appalachia, generating knowledge to benefit researchers, managers, and community members, including indigenous Puruwa and Cherokee leaders.

Team Lead

Fausto Sarmiento
Department of Geography
fsarmien@uga.edu

Team Members

Anandam Kavoori
Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication

James Reap
College of Environment + Design

Jon Calabria
College of Environment + Design

Sungkyung Lee
College of Environment + Design

Kamal Gandhi
Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources

Kyle Maurice Woosnam
Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources

Jesse Abrams
Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources; Savannah River Ecology Laboratory

Elizabeth King
Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources; Odum School of Ecology

Darío Chávez
Department of Horticulture

David Leigh
Department of Geography

David Porinchu
Department of Geography

Gabriel Kooperman
Department of Geography