NSF funds 18 CNH projects - 2012

A man carries a bundle of grasses collected in a community forest in Chitwan, Nepal.

Photo by: Scott Yabiku, Arizona State University

Oct. 3, 2012

The National Science Foundation's (NSF) Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems (CNH) program announced funding for 18 new projects in 2012; total funding for the awards is $17.6 million.

Research funded by CNH awards aims to provide a better understanding of natural processes and cycles and of human behavior and decisions -- and how and where they intersect.

"We're dependent on our environment and the resources it provides us, yet we often don't recognize that many of our most pressing problems can only be tackled by considering them as a single, interconnected system," said Sarah Ruth, program director in NSF's Directorate for Geosciences.

"CNH grants seek to explore that system, and to foster a better understanding of our place in it."

"For more than a decade, the CNH program has supported projects that have explored the complex ways people and natural systems interact with each other," said Tom Baerwald, CNH program director in NSF's Directorate for Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences.

"This year's awards have the same broad range, exploring topics for which basic researchers seek enhanced understanding and practical insights, while improving the ways people function and prosper while maintaining and improving environmental quality."

"Social and natural scientists must work together to understand how human societies and ecological systems depend on each other," said Peter Alpert, CNH program director in the Directorate for Biological Sciences. "The CNH program remains at the forefront of support for this key research on sustainability."

NSF's Directorates for Geosciences; Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences; and Biological Sciences support research conducted through the CNH program.

CNH is part of NSF's Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability investment.

CNH 2012 awardees, their institutions and projects are:

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