MRI News

As part of our commitment to support our research community to advance key research questions relevant for knowledge on social-ecological systems in mountains, the MRI funds MRI Synthesis Workshops

These workshops bring together global change researchers to address specific topics of interest to the mountain research community, with the objective of producing synthesis products such as articles for publication in peer-reviewed scientific journals or the compilation of relevant data into publishable datasets or databases. For the 2020 call, the MRI Coordination Office received 13 proposals that met the conditions for funding support, from which two were selected. Due to the complex situation around the COVID-19 pandemic for much of 2020, the first of these Synthesis Workshops will take place online in 2021. 

The Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS), Mountain Research Initiative (MRI), PAst Global ChangES Early-Career Network (PAGES-ECN), Permafrost Young Research Network (PYRN), and Young Earth System Scientists (YESS) community successfully organized the group review of the Second Order Draft (SOD) of Working Group II (WGII) contribution to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 6th Assessment Report (AR6) by early career scientists.

As announced in December 2020, MRI Executive Director Dr. Carolina Adler is now editor of the MountainMedia section of the journal Mountain Research and Development (MRD)

Early in 2020, a call for proposals as part of the MRI Synthesis Workshops seed funding programme was issued. A total of 13 proposals fulfilled the requirements for further consideration. Of these, two proposals were selected. The first addresses renewable energy transitions in the Hindu Kush Himalaya, Andes, and European Alps. The second focuses on climate change adaptation in Africa.

As part of our commitment to support our research community to advance key research questions relevant for knowledge on social-ecological systems in mountains, the MRI continues to make small grants available for MRI Synthesis Workshops. Together with MRI Working Groups, these workshops are part of current MRI Community-Led Activities, which are those activities led primarily by researchers and supported by the MRI Coordination Office through seed funding, and administrative and communications assistance.

The Adrien Guébhard-Séverine prize is awarded for an outstanding PhD thesis in the field of hydrogeology or geothermal energy. 

The Adrien Guébhard-Séverine prize is awarded annually or every two years by the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland to a student who has completed a PhD thesis in the field of hydrogeology or geothermal energy. The prize honours the memory of Dr. Adrien Guébhard-Séverine (1849-1924), a native of Neuchâtel and an associate professor of physics at the Faculty of Medicine of Paris, France, as well as a geologist and prehistorian.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group (WG) II contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) is now entering its next phase; between 4 December 2020 and 29 January 2021, governments and expert reviewers are invited to provide comments on the Second Order Draft. Earlier this month, in collaboration with the IPCC WGII Technical Support Unit (TSU), the MRI held two virtual webinars to offer information about the AR6 and the expert review, with a view to encouraging experts and early career researchers to take part in this important step in the report’s development.

In addition to key sectoral and regional chapters, the IPCC WGII contribution to AR6 also features a dedicated Cross-Chapter Paper on Mountains, to which many from the MRI community are contributing as coordinating lead authors, lead authors, review editors, contributing authors – and you, as expert reviewers. The expert review is an essential stage in the preparation of IPCC reports. It ensures that the reports cover the most up-to-date scientific, technical, and socio-economic findings, and are representative of a broad range of independent expertise from developed and developing countries. But what exactly does the expert review role and process involve, and how can you participate?

From January 2021, Mountain Research Initiative Executive Director Dr. Carolina Adler will become the new MountainMedia Editor for the journal Mountain Research and Development (MRD), taking over the reins from Professor Martin Price following his decision to step down after 27 years in the role.

The American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting 2020 took place virtually this month. Mountain Research Initiative (MRI) Science Leadership Council members Bryan Mark and Shawn Marshall and MRI Scientific Project Officer Gabrielle Vance convened three exciting sessions (one poster, two oral) around the theme of Environmental and Climate Change in Global Mountain Regions. The MRI also organized an informal side event to complement the AGU sessions. 

Mountains are sensitive to global climate, hold valued archives of changes over time, and closely couple resources and risks to society.  The MRI AGU sessions invited contributions examining past, present, and future environmental change and associated societal impacts in mountain regions. The co-conveners sought measurement and modelling studies of the changing climate, cryosphere, hydrology, and ecology of global mountain environments, including their couplings and implications for mountain social-ecological systems (e.g. hazards, fire, water resources, and other socio-cultural impacts).

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