Copy
Newsletter not displaying properly? View in browser.

20 Years of Our Changing Mountains

Friend us on Facebook Friend us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Twitter
Find us online Find us online
Dear MRI Community,

As you know, in 2021, the MRI has been active for 20 years. In addition, this is the year of two other notable anniversaries that are connected to the MRI.

The first is the 50th anniversary of UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme. This intergovernmental and interdisciplinary scientific programme was established in 1971, and aims to establish a scientific basis for enhancing the relationship between people and their environments. From the early 1970s to the early 1990s, one of the most active of its 14 ‘project areas’ was project area 6 (MAB-6), on the ‘Impact of human activities on mountain and tundra ecosystems’. MAB-6 was an immense catalyst to research projects in mountains in many parts of the world. It also provided many opportunities for knowledge exchange and training – through many meetings and the establishment of both the International Mountain Society and its journal Mountain Research and Development; and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), based in Kathmandu, Nepal – and was a key impetus to the inclusion of mountains on global political agendas from the 1992 Rio Earth Summit onwards. However, while many of the aims of MAB-6 were achieved during the MAB Programme’s first two decades, one was not: a series of comparative world-wide research activities.

From the late 1980s, international political and scientific attention increasingly turned to climate change and other aspects of global change. As a result, international scientific organizations began to create new structures: the first being the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) in 1987.  Scientists working in mountain areas, including many who had been active in MAB-6, recognized the need for a focus on mountain areas in the IGBP. This brings us to the second anniversary: a workshop held at ICIMOD in spring 1996, on ‘Predicting global change impacts on mountain hydrology and ecology; Integrated catchment hydrology/altitudinal gradient studies’. This exciting event was followed by other meetings that eventually led to the establishment of the MRI Coordination Office in 2001.

Over the past 20 years, the MRI has finally fulfilled the unachieved aim of MAB-6 for global collaboration in mountain research. There have also been a number of interactions between the MRI and the MAB Programme which, since the early 1990s, have primarily focused on biosphere reserves, “sites for testing interdisciplinary approaches to understanding and managing changes and interactions between social and ecological systems”. Of the 714 biosphere reserves world-wide, in 129 countries, two-thirds are in mountain areas. An early activity involving both the MRI and the MAB Programme was the Global Change and Mountain Regions (GLOCHAMORE) project, funded mainly by the EU’s 6th Framework Programme from 2003 to 2005, with a focus on mountain biosphere reserves.

In 2021, the MAB Programme is launching a World Network of Mountain Biosphere Reserves, and the MRI will be an important partner in this opportunity for targeted research in mountain areas, to jointly achieve the objectives of these two global initiatives. Those of you interested in participating in this network are invited to complete this short survey to support the effective development of the network's structure. Many of you are already working in mountain biosphere reserves, and I hope that many more of you will, as a result of this new partnership.
Enjoy your read,

Martin Price
Professor Emeritus, University of the Highlands and Islands.

MRI News

A new article published in the journal One Earth proposes a set of potential Essential Mountain Climate Variables to support the monitoring and understanding of key climate change-related mountain processes. The article builds upon a workshop organized by GEO Mountains and hosted by the MRI.
In June, the MRI Mountain Resilience Working Group held a summer school in Ostana, Italy, and online. Students discovered and designed approaches to several key questions, merging science, design, and local practice in a mountain environment.
The MRI's session at the Sustainability Research & Innovation Congress 2021 highlighted examples of how key components of risk are accounted for in mountain contexts, and their implications for sustainability. 
New research undertaken by the MRI Mountain Observatories Working Group identifies both gaps and recent advances in the monitoring of key biophysical and socioeconomic variables in the mountains, and proposes ways to improve and connect existing initiatives – with the ultimate aim of developing a global mountain observatories network. Lead author Maria Shahgedanova explains why making these connections for our changing mountains is so crucial.
A new global survey, led by Björn Alfthan and Laurent Fouinat of GRID-Arendal, sought the voices of mountain guides, mountaineers, and other mountain enthusiasts to shed light on waste pollution in mountains. Among others, the survey explores the types, location, and quantity of waste in the mountains, including related trends, as perceived by the respondents. The MRI was among the survey's partner organizations.
This issue includes studies on indigenous-driven sustainability initiatives in the tropical Andes, urban risk knowledge, and the danger of glacial lake outburst floods in the Indian Himalayas. It also contains research that maps English-language scientific journal articles that analyze the climate change adaptation options planned or implemented in European mountain regions. MRI Executive Director Carolina Adler is among the authors.

Watch Now: MRI 20th Anniversary Lecture

In case you missed it, here's a chance to catch up on the third event in our 20th Anniversary Lecture Series! Guest speaker is Ignacio Palomo, Laureate of the Make Our Planet Great Again Research Program at CNRS. In this fascinating lecture, Ignacio outlines a new framework to evaluate how nature-based solutions may contribute to transformative change.

Participate

MRI 20th Anniversary Lecture

Register for This Free Online Event by 27 September 2021

Other Upcoming MRI Events

Join us at the AGU Fall Meeting 2021 for the MRI session on 'Global Environmental Change in Mountain Social-Ecological Systems.' The AGU Fall Meeting will be held in New Orleans and online 13-17 December. Abstract submission deadline 4 August 2021.
Our session at the 19th Swiss Geoscience Meeting welcomes contributions from all fields of mountain research that support a deeper understanding of the scalability, transferability, and transformative potential of global change research findings. Deadline for abstracts 31 August.
With new mountain events added regularly, don't forget to check out our online calendar.
View Events Calendar

GEO Mountains News

In June 2021, the U.S. Geological Survey completed and made available the Global Mountain Explorer Version 2.0. The Global Mountain Explorer (GME) is a web-based visualization and query tool which allows the online exploration of three terrain-based characterizations of global mountain extent. These characterizations are often referred to as K1, K2, and K3, according to the last name of the first author of the research paper which presented the respective analysis.
The GEO Mountains session 'Mountains at GEO' included contributions from representatives of GEO BON, GEO Human Planet, and Himalayan GEOSS, and provided examples of several recent/ongoing projects that together demonstrate how collaborations amongst GEO Work Programme activities can drive progress in several aspects within the 'mountain sphere.' It also identified possible areas for mutual exchange and collaboration with other GEO activities.

Conéctate A+ News

Andes+ to Alps: Opportunities for Students
Date: 20 July 2021 | Time: 16:00-17:00 CEST | Location: Online
This Conéctate A+ webinar will help students in the Andes+ region discover study and scholarship opportunities in Switzerland.
Registration for this free online event closes 19 July 2021.
This Frontiers Research Topic calls for contributions that focus on climate and cryosphere interactions in all regions of the Andean Cordillera over all timescales. Abstract submission deadline 11 July 2021.
This roundtable event is taking place as part of the XIX Scientific Meeting of the Argentine Association of Geophysics and Geodesy. Abstract submission for oral and poster presentations closes 9 July 2021.

News From Our Network

Featured Articles

Some four months ago, a devastating flood ravaged the Chamoli district in the Indian Himalayas, killing over 200 people. The flood was caused by a massive landslide, which also involved a glacier. Researchers at the University of Zurich, the WSL, and ETH Zurich have now analyzed the causes, scope, and impact of the disaster as part of an international collaboration.
"It is important to know how alpine species will respond to climate warming so the best conservation decisions can be made to protect them – that is particularly true in isolated island environments with very limited opportunities for species to go anywhere else.” With global warming decreasing the size of New Zealand’s alpine zone, a new study published in Molecular Ecology looks at what this might mean for the altitude-loving kea.
“Glacier meltwater, and therefore climate change impacts on glaciers, are crucial in the Indus basin." Climate change is causing mountain snow to melt more rapidly and glaciers to shrink, altering the water supplies of more than 1 billion people who depend on rivers that have their headwaters in the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges according to a new paper published in the journal Science.
"Few would have thought it possible to use radar altimetry in regions with extremely complex topography like High Mountain Asia and the Gulf of Alaska." New research based on information from the European Space Agency’s CryoSat mission shows how much ice has been lost from mountain glaciers in the Gulf of Alaska and in High Mountain Asia since 2010.
In a peer-reviewed workshop report on biodiversity and climate change published earlier this month, global experts identify options for solutions in a first-ever collaboration between IPBES and IPCC selected scientists. The report highlights a number of instances in which climate change and biodiversity loss are key interacting issues for mountain regions. 

Other New Publications

This list, updated each week, contains articles relevant to mountain research that you won't want to miss this month.
Have an idea for a blog post or mountain news to share?
Get in touch!

New Opportunities

Open Calls

The newly formed Global Network for Geoscience and Society (GNGS) seeks the mountain research community's input. The GNGS will address aspects of science-policy while also highlighting non-policy-related opportunities for civic-minded geoscientists to address societal challenges related to natural resource exploitation, environmental contamination, natural hazards, and climate change. The GNGS is currently asking for feedback on the design of this new platform that will be guided by input from end-users.
The Canadian Mountain Assessment is advancing an innovative, made-in-Canada approach to knowledge sharing and co-production that brings together Indigenous and Western scientific ways of knowing to address three fundamental questions: what do we know, not know, and need to know about Canada’s diverse and rapidly changing mountain systems? Self-nominations will be accepted until 9 July 2021, but submissions will be accepted on a rolling basis for qualified applicants.
The Southern African Mountain Conference  2022 will be held from 14 to 17 March 2022 in the Maloti-Drakensberg mountains of South Africa-Lesotho. The theme is Southern African mountains – their value and vulnerabilities.’ Abstract submission deadline 31 August 2021.
The Cryosphere 2022: International Symposium on Ice, Snow, and Water in a Warming World is now calling for abstracts. This symposium will bring together scientists and policy makers for a discussion on the latest results from studies of the entire cryosphere. The abstract submission deadline is 15 March 2022.

Get Published

Focus Issue Mountain Research and Development: Addressing Challenges of Hazards, Risks, and Disaster Management in Mountain Regions
This Focus Issue of the journal Mountain Research and Development (MRD) seeks trans- and interdisciplinary contributions that help understand the links between hazards, vulnerabilities, disaster management, and diverse dimensions of development, adaptation, and global change. Insights into integrative approaches to improving disaster management across the entire cycle from prevention to recovery are also highly welcome. 
Full paper submission deadline is 1 September 2021. 

Call for Papers: Climate System Uncertainty and Biodiversity Conservation
Manuscripts from the mountain research community are welcomed for a joint Special Issue of the open-access journals Climate and Earth on 'Climate System Uncertainty and Biodiversity Conservation.' The editors encourage submissions on the science of climatic uncertainty and conservation solutions in mountain systems.
Deadline to submit is 31 August 2021.

Special Issue of Journal of Mountain Science: Disaster Risk Reduction in Mountain Areas
This Special Issue of the Journal of Mountain Science (JMS) welcomes contributions that explore the diverse dimensions of disaster risk reduction in mountain regions undertaken by diverse stakeholders.
Submission deadline is 15 September 2021. 

Nature Scientific Reports Collection: Mountain Surface Processes and Regulation
This Scientific Reports Collection in the journal Nature provides a platform for interdisciplinary studies of mountain surface processes and their responses to climate change and human activities.
Submissions are welcome on a rolling basis.
Check out the MRI website for more open calls and publication opportunities.
More Open Calls

Funding

The AAS Affiliates Programme seeks early and mid-career researchers who demonstrate excellence in their development and application of science in Africa. These individuals become an ‘Affiliate of the AAS’ for a period of five years during which they receive individualized professional development support and join a wider community of science leaders on the African continent.
Deadline 23 July 2021. 
 
The Afromontane Research Unit (ARU) at the University of the Free State, South Africa, has successfully secured an EU Horizon 2020 BiodivERsA Project: Mechanisms underlying the success and impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning of range-expanding species under climate change (“RangeX”). The ARU is inviting applications from suitable candidates for a scholarship for a two year Masters programme (2022–2023) that will assist in the ARU contribution to this project.
Application deadline 31 July 2021.

Swiss National Science Foundation Postdoc.Mobility Fellowships
Swiss National Science Foundation Postdoc.Mobility fellowships support postdocs who wish to conduct a research stay abroad.
Deadline 1 August 2021.
 
In 2021, the focus of this award will be exclusively on work related to the COVID pandemic – any activity or approach carried out in a pandemic-related response aimed at building the resilience of HKH communities.
Deadline for nominations is 30 September 2021.
 
PAGES and the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) announce the 2021 International Mobility Research Fellowship Program for Latin American and Caribbean early-career scientists on past global changes.
Deadline 30 September 2021. 
For a full list of open funding opportunities, please see our website.
All Funding Opportunities

Featured Job

Afromontane Research Unit, University of the Free State, QwaQwa, South Africa.
The Afromontane Research Unit is inviting applications for a post-doctoral fellowship in geography as part of the project 'Migration in the Afromontane: Exploring Intersections With Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Development in QwaQwa, Free State, South Africa.
Application deadline 15 July 2021. 
A regularly updated compilation of mountain job opportunities can be found on our website.
All Mountain Jobs
Facebook
Twitter
Website
Copyright © 2021 Mountain Research Initiative. All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
Mountain Research Initiative
Mittelstrasse 43
3012 Bern
Switzerland

You are receiving this email because you have subscribed to the MRI newsletter mailing list.
No longer want to hear from us or need to change your contact details?
You can unsubscribe or update your profile at any time.