CRN-2050

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CRN-2050 Paleotempestology of the Caribbean
region A multi-proxy, multi-site study of the
spatial and temporal variability of Caribbean
hurricane activity Kam-biu Liu
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Project Overview

• PI Kam-biu Liu
• 12 co-PIs from 4 nations (U.S., Canada, Mexico,
  Costa Rica)
• Objective to study the spatial and temporal
  variability of Caribbean hurricane across
  multiple timescales and at multiple sites
• Methodology by employing the principles and
  methods of paleotempestology

PI Kam-biu Liu (LSU) Co-PIs Nina Lam
(LSU) Sam Bentley (Memorial) Jeff Donnelly
(Woods Hole) Tom Webb III (Brown) Claudia Mora
(Tennessee) Amy Frappier (Boston Col.) Anne Cohen
(Woods Hole) Matthew Peros (Ottawa) Joe Desloges
(Toronto) Jorge Sanchez (Mexico) Jorge Amador
(Costa Rica) Eric Alfaro (Costa Rica)
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Paleotempestology is a new field of science that
studies past hurricane activities by means of
geological and archival techniques.
Our CRN2050 project spearheads the expanding
frontiers of Paleotempestology. Multi-proxy
Reconstruction of Prehistoric Hurricane
Activities
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Goals Objectives

• Produces the first comprehensive
  paleotempestological record from the entire
  Caribbean region based on multiple proxies
• Contributes to the expanding frontiers of
  paleotempestology by developing new proxies
• Provides insight into climate mechanisms
  controlling Caribbean hurricane activityvital
  for long-term forecasting
• Integrates paleotempestological data with
  socio-economic data into web-based GIS tool
  research results available to stakeholders and
  vital for risk management vulnerability
  reduction
• Publishes edited book on Caribbean hurricane
  activity as a tangible research product
• Communicates results and findings to stakeholders
  policy-makers.

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CRN2050 A multi-investigator (13),
multi-institutional (10), multi-national (4)
project

• Opportunities for collaborative research are
  obvious
• Team consists of paleoclimatologists,
  paleoecologists, meteorologists, coastal
  geologists, isotope geochemists, social
  scientists, GI scientists.
• But administrative challenges are many,
  including
• Different institutional/legal concerns during
  (sub)contract negotiation phase
• e.g., intellectual property rights dispute
  resolution third-party arbitration
• Different accounting procedures and financial
  constraints
• e.g., fixed-price contract vs. cost reimbursable
  cash advance? Currency problem
• Different institutional cultures (efficiency)
  barriers
• e.g., delayed signing of Costa Rica subaward
• Project has been delayed

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• Challenges opportunities of multi-national
  fieldwork
• We are vigorously developing new networks of
  local contacts collaborators in different
  countries as part of capacity building (e.g.,
  NGOs).

Nicaragua
Belize
Dominican Rep

• Our Cuba crisis has been resolved (a main
  reason for project delay).
• Cuba fieldwork will start this year.

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Despite these challenges, obstacles, delays,
significant progress has been made

• Fieldwork already conducted in
• Yucatan caves (Frappier), Quintana Roo, Mexico
  (Donnelly), Dominican Republic (Liu)
• Fieldwork being planned for
• Nicaragua (Liu), Jamaica (Liu), Cuba (Peros),
  Belize (Bentley)
• Lab work already in progress
• Tree-ring isotopic analysis (Mora), Yucatan
  speleothems (Frappier), Coral XRF analysis
  (Cohen)
• GIS being developed website already started at
  LSU
• Socio-economic data collection (Lam)
• First co-PIs meeting to be held at Boston AAG
  meeting (4/2008)

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New collaboration with other CRNs

• With CRN-2061 (Caribbean coastal scenarios)
• Recent joint fieldwork in Dominican Republic
  (Yuna River basin)
• With CRN-2048 (Modeling E. Pacific hurricane
  dynamics)
• Collaboration planning meeting in Crete (last
  year) and Baja Sur (next month) between Liu and
  de Raga

Yuna watershed basin (CRN2050, CRN2061)
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Caribbean Societies are Highly Vulnerable to
Catastrophic Destruction by Hurricane Strikes

• Therefore, our project
• has a societal dimension
• is policy-relevant
• integrates natural social sciences

Hurricane Mitch
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Plans to communicate to policy-makers and
stakeholders

• Mass media (via news release)
• Popular science magazines (American Scientist,
  The Sedimentary Record)
• Website (www.lsu.edu/rsgis/crn) newsletters
• Local contacts collaborators
• Conference participation (e.g., UNFCCC meeting on
  climate change, vulnerability, and adaptation for
  SIDS)