| Geoscience and Environment |
|
Current and Future Research
|
Current and Future ResearchTwo years ago, when I finished work on a master's degree, I had no intention of doing work for a doctoral degree. Instead, I returned to Indonesia again as a consultant working on a project to improve the environment.Recently, I have been involved in preparing a proposal for water resource economics, a field that I have worked in intermittently for 25 years. Now, having spent several years studying Earth Science, I find that the physical aspects of water resources interest me as much or more than the economic and financial aspects. Perhaps the way to resolve what appears to be a conflict of interests is to combine them: to approach the subject of water resources as a problem in management, combining physical and economic aspects. From a scientific point of view, the class of problem becomes one of managing the interaction between Earth and mankind, an approach that relates economics and Earth science. This is not specific enough for a research topic. For that reason, this web site sets out a specific topic related to protecting both lakes and water reservoirs by reducing sedimentation that can reduce the life of a lake or reservoir as it fills with sediment instead of water. Lakes and reservoirs have the potential for multiple uses, such as irrigation, water supply, power supply and fishing. Fishing as a secondary use for reservoirs may provide poor rural communities with income generation, improved nutrition, community empowerment and environmental governance. Aquaculture will be explored as a possible alternative dissertation topic that would expand the geographical scope to include coastal lowlands and waterways. A recent consulting assignment in Indonesia showed that governments can be effective as facilitators in stimulating community participation in small-scale infrastructure development. Observations during the assignment indicated that many sites have the potential for small-scale development. A worhthwhile task would be to develop an approach to identifying such sites and packaging them into a development program that would be planned and implemented by the beneficiary communities. Climate variability over short and long time periods also affects water resources. For this reason, this web site will explore climatic factors affecting water resources, one of which might be feasible as a potential research topic, instead of sedimentation or aquaculture. The URL of this site is [http://www.geoscience-environment] |