East-West Center Research Program Presentation by Dr. Matthew Stiller-Reeve

March 17, 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Mānoa Campus, East-West Center Research Program, Burns Hall, Room 3012 Add to Calendar

Interdisciplinary Practices in Climate Research: Experiences from the TRACKS Project

Dr. Mathew Stiller-Reeve

Researcher, Uni Research Climate/Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, Bergen, Norway

Tuesday, March 17, 2015 12:00 noon to 1:00pm
John A. Burns Hall, Room 3012 (3rd floor)

This talk will cover some of lessons learned by the climate scientists within an interdisciplinary research project called ‘TRACKS’: Transforming Climate Knowledge with and for Society (www.projecttracks.net). TRACKS uses the climate narratives of local people in northeast Bangladesh as a basis for mobilizing high quality climate knowledge for adaptation. This demands an interdisciplinary approach, with focus on natural and social sciences. Also discussed will be the TRACKS research process so far, and some of the challenges faced. It will conclude with an open discussion about experiences with interdisciplinarity. What practices have others implemented and why were these successful, or not?.

In TRACKS, different disciplines cooperate fully in all aspects of the research. For example, the climate scientists were fully involved in a workshop with social science colleagues from Bangladesh and Norway to design the research questions, interview framework, and data management strategy. The climate scientists also travelled to Bangladesh with their social science colleagues to observe and discuss 10 pilot interviews with local people, and take part in two ‘stakeholder mapping’ workshops. Research questions have been built on first-hand experience of the situation in northeast Bangladesh. At no point did the scientists decide on the pertinent climatic issues independently of the local people.

Mathew Stiller-Reeve, is a researcher at Uni Research Climate and the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research in Bergen, Norway. He is a member of the climate service group and specializes in interdisciplinary approaches to climate research. He completed his PhD from the University of Bergen in February 2015. His research focused on how to integrate climate analysis with local perceptions about the monsoon onset in Bangladesh. Dr. Reeve is also active in the science communication community. In 2012, he founded and still leads the ClimateSnack initiative which brings together young and early career scientists to improve their writing and communication skills.


Event Sponsor
East-West Center Research Program, Mānoa Campus

More Information
Laura Moriyama, (808) 944-7444, Laura.Moriyama@eastwestcenter.org

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