University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras Campus IGERT Program: Natural-Human Systems in the Urbanizing Tropics
Description: The NSF-funded IGERT program at the University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras aims to train Ph.D. students to develop interdisciplinary and collaborative research for environmental problems in urbanizing, tropical landscapes. Puerto Rico has had a dynamic environmental history, suffering nearly complete deforestation, then enjoying forest recovery, and then experiencing urban sprawl as the economy modernized. This last shift produced environmental problems, overlaid by changes in climate and vulnerability to catastrophic storms, making Puerto Rico an ideal place to conduct integrative research. IGERT research can focus on many topics involving environmental themes in the urbanized tropics such as climate, water, food security, renewable energy, waste management, biodiversity, and urban system services. Fellows work together with natural and social science faculty as well as government agencies, NGOs, and community groups to develop dissertation questions that directed to environmental problems in Puerto Rico and beyond. Benefits: $30,000/year for two years; $2,000 for travel and education materials; office, computer and software usage; reserved space in all special courses and workshops Website: http://envsci.uprrp.edu/igert Location: San Juan, Puerto Rico Contacts: Rafael Rios Davila PhD, Program Director rafaelrios00...@yahoo.com Sheila Ward, Program Associate Director sew...@hpcf.upr.edu Colibrí Sanfiorenzo-Barnhard, Program Coordinator, uprrp.ig...@gmail.com -- Sheila Ward, PhD Special Assistant to the Dean College of Natural Sciences University of Puerto Rico - Rio Piedras PO Box 70377 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-8377 sew...@hpcf.upr.edu phone: (787) 764-0000 ext. 1-4735-# fax: (787) 772-1413
