Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability

Funded through the National Science Foundation’s Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE), this is a novel, interdisciplinary, and multi-site research and training program for comparative study of population and environment interaction. This is a collaborative program among five major US universities and four different institutions in China and Nepal. This program has three interrelated goals: research, education and to strengthen international programs on human-environment interactions.

This program directly builds on two highly successful international longitudinal research and training programs – the Wolong Giant Panda Reserve in China and the Chitwan National Park in Nepal. Both of these study sites are characterized by large, growing populations, rapidly changing economies, and unique biodiversity and environmental challenges. Both sites are also World heritage properties of UNESCO, and considered among the top 25 global biodiversity hotspots.

This project is supported by the National Science Foundation.