Cross-Scale Impacts of SDG 15 Achievement in Kenya: Household Decisions, Ecosystem Change, and Atmospheric Water Recycling | Global Council for Science and the Environment (GCSE)

Project Description

This work is summarized by two central themes: (1) to understand the crossscale, coupled dynamics of achieving Sustainable Development Goal #15 (SDG#15), and (2) to engage the stakeholder community in Kenya to ensure our analysis remains relevant to local SDG implementation goals and maximum transdisciplinary impact.

This research advances the knowledge needed to address SDG#15 within the context of ongoing climate variability and change, by illustrating how crossscale interactions driven by SDG#15 achievement relate to biodiversity within Kenya, and more generally in East Africa. The integration of NASA remotesensing and modeling products into the coupled framework pushes the boundaries of SDG oriented science and is a significant leap towards more integrated thinking regarding long term achievement of sustainability in East Africa (Keys and Falkenmark 2018).

Project Leads

Dr. Key's headshot Patrick Keys, PhD, Lead Scientist, School of Global Environmental Sustainability, Colorado State University.

Dr. Patrick (Pat) Keys is Lead Scientist for the School of Global Environmental Sustainability, at Colorado State University. His research is focused on a broad range of global sustainability challenges, including climate change impacts, cross-scale risks, and social-ecological tele-connections. He has developed innovative modeling tools for examining terrestrial moisture recycling, aimed at leveraging geophysical insights for resource management and how humans interact with the atmospheric water cycle. He also works to understand how creative, scenario methods can be used to qualitatively and quantitatively discern a sustainable path forward for society.

Randall Boone, PhD, Research Scientist and Professor, Colorado State University

Kathleen Galvin, PhD, Director, The Africa Center, Professor of Anthropology, Colorado State University

Additional Collaborators

Gabriel Senay, PhD, Scientist, U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center

Lan Wang-Erlandsson, PhD, Researcher, Stockholm Resilience Centre

Elizabeth Barnes, PhD, Associate Professor, Colorado State University

In-Country Partners

Munira Bashir, PhD, Kenya Program Director, The Nature Conservancy

Jesse Njoka, PhD, Senior Lecturer, University of Nairobi

Dickson Oyekaelo, Local Wildlife Conservation Expert