Impact/Benefits
Along with collaboration between the three Western Consortium institutions, this class focused on models that are available in several disciplines, allowing students to recognize the advantages and limitations of modeling.
Explanation
The Western Tri-State Consortium sponsored a graduate level class in the Summer of 2010 called Interdisciplinary Modeling: Water-Related Issues and Changing Climate. The Western Tri-State Consortium, comprised of Nevada EPSCoR, Idaho EPSCoR, and New Mexico EPSCoR, offered the class at the University of Nevada, Reno from July 12 to July 30. Faculty from Idaho, Nevada and New Mexico, including Dr. Alexander Fernald from NMSU, organized the class. New Mexico also contributed three other instructors from NMSU and UNM. Twenty-three graduate students took the class, including three from NMSU and four from UNM. Based partly on the outcomes of the 2005 Interdisciplinary Modeling of Aquatic Ecosystems Curriculum Development Workshop, this course was designed to address many of the challenges often encountered when studying an interdisciplinary subject such as water related issues.
Students were introduced to models that are available in different disciplines and learned how such models might be applied together to address interdisciplinary modeling of cli¬mate change impacts on water resources. The course also addressed the advan¬tages and limitations of using models, different spatial and temporal scales that specific disciplines are concerned with, differences in degrees of uncertainty of data and models, interdisciplinary modeling options, communication between disciplines, and interactions with stake¬holders and the public.
The class was divided into lectures and a lab in which students used common software to do an interdisciplinary modeling project. As a result, the participating students are better prepared for professional or academic careers in which they interact with peers from other disciplines to address real-work aquatic ecosystem issues.
Outcome
The Tri-State Consortium Graduate Class, “Interdisciplinary Modeling: Water-Related Issues and Changing Climate”, helped graduate students prepare for their careers in which they have to address real-work water issues.
