08 February 2017 - 15 February 2017
Colorado, USA

IIASA and USA

IIASA Director General and CEO Professor Dr. Pavel Kabat will travel to Colorado to hold a number of high-level meetings and strengthen research collaborations with the USA. Kabat will also give lectures at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), and at the Colorado State University to the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) group.

Denver's City Park © Christopher Boswell | Shutterstock

Denver's City Park © Christopher Boswell | Shutterstock

Research collaborations between IIASA and the USA have been highly productive ever since the institute was founded in 1972. The IIASA-US relationship is central to the institute and consequently IIASA participates in more activities related to the USA than any of its other member countries. 

Joining Kabat on his visit to the USA is Ecosystems Services and Management (ESM) Program Director Michael Obersteiner. On 9 February, they will attend the Knowledge Systems for Sustainability (KSS) Consortium Launch at NREL. KSS is a global research alliance that builds and tests knowledge systems for sustainability to better manage complex risks related to food, energy, water, climate, and human society. IIASA is one of the founding partner organizations. Kabat will also give a lecture on energy technologies futures.

Kabat will then travel to Boulder, and meet with representatives from NCAR, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) and Colorado State University. In addition to discussing how IIASA can further collaborate with these institutions Kabat will also present IIASA work on the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) and the IIASA research project The World in 2050 (TWI2050) to NCAR scientists. The following day, Kabat will visit the Colorado State University to give a lecture to the CIRES group on science policy and science diplomacy. 

High-Level Meetings

The visit will include high-level meetings with the following stakeholders to continue the strong relationship between IIASA and the USA: 

  • Daniel Baer, former US ambassador to the OSCE
  • Antonio J. Busalacchi, president of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) 
  • Jim Hurrell, Director of NCAR
  • Martin Keller, Director of NREL
  • Martin Kropff, Director General of CIMMYT
  • Roger Pielke, Professor in the Environmental Studies Program at the University of Colorado
  • James Syvitski, Executive Director, Community Surface Dynamics Modeling System (CSDMS), and former Chair of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP)

(L-R) Professor Martin Kropff, Director General of CIMMYT; Martin Keller, Director of NREL; and Professor Dr. Pavel Kabat, IIASA Director General and CEO

Country Profile: USA

The US National Member Organization is the National Academy of Sciences, which partners with the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Science Foundation to promote cooperation with American scientists, research institutions, and government agencies. Opportunities for cooperation start with young PhD students from the USA, who receive grants to participate in the IIASA Young Scientists Summer Program, and extend up to institutional cooperation such as the IIASA Director General’s collaboration with Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director of The Earth Institute, Columbia University, on achieving the sustainable development goals.



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Last edited: 13 February 2017

CONTACT DETAILS

Michael Obersteiner

Principal Research Scholar Exploratory Modeling of Human-natural Systems Research Group - Advancing Systems Analysis Program

Info sheet on IIASA Activities with the US

Knowledge Systems for Sustainability

Knowledge Systems for Sustainability

An Introduction & Invitation (pdf)

TWI2050 brochure

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International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
Schlossplatz 1, A-2361 Laxenburg, Austria
Phone: (+43 2236) 807 0 Fax:(+43 2236) 71 313