East-West Center Awarded $173,000 to Study Communication of Climate Information in the Pacific

HONOLULU (Oct. 11, 2012) -- The East-West Center has been awarded $173,000 in funding to study how key climate information spreads across different sectors and countries in the Pacific islands region.

With $148,000 in funding from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and $25,000 from the Department of Interior’s Pacific Islands Climate Science Center, researchers will use the upcoming release of a major Pacific Islands Regional Climate Assessment report as springboard for collecting data to analyze the flow of climate and fresh water information in Hawai‘i and the U.S.-affiliated Pacific islands.

By tracking information flows, key hubs and isolated groups using network analysis and statistical methods, the researchers plan to map out gaps in the communication and flow of climate information, allowing future projects to focus on areas with less active research and outreach.

“Due to the large amount of distance between Pacific islands and their diverse cultures, environments and economies, collaboration and communication about climate knowledge and fragile water resources across the region is essential,” said East-West Center environmental researcher Victoria Keener, the project’s principal investigator. “There are no existing formal analyses that track the flow, sources, and quality of this information across the Pacific islands region, so this project will help address the blind spot researchers and agencies currently have as to which communities and stakeholders may be not be getting access to key knowledge.”

The information analysis project and the soon-to-be-released Pacific Islands Regional Climate Assessment report are part of the ongoing Pacific Regional Integrated Science and Assessment initiative, for which the East-West Center is the lead institution.

For more information, visit www.PacificRISA.org or contact KeenerV@EastWestCenter.org.