IAI - Inter American Institute for Global Change Research

Sixteen countries of the Americas have signed the Agreement Establishing the Inter American Institute for Global Change Research (May 13, 1992; Montevideo, Uruguay):

Argentina Bolivia Brazil Canada Chile Colombia Costa Rica Cuba Dominican Republic Ecuador Mexico Panama Paraguay Peru U.S. Uruguay

The IAI will focus its efforts on increasing our understanding of global change related phenomena and the societal implications of such phenomena while augmenting the overall scientific capacity of the region. It is envisaged that each country participating in the IAI will benefit by the enhancement of regional relationships, establishment of new institutional arrangements, promotion of the open exchange of scientific data and information generated by the Institute's research programs, and the implementation of IAI Training and Education Programs. Furthermore, the Science Agenda of the IAI is consistent with international global change research programs such as the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), the International Geosphere Biosphere Programme (IGBP), and the Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change Programme (HDP), and thus the IAI may serve as a vehicle through which the region can contribute to such efforts.

The Science Agenda of the IAI

The Institute's Science Agenda reflects environmental issues which affect the physical territories and socio economic systems of the IAI Member Nations. The region's scientific communities, with the guidance of national representatives, have identified a number of research themes as initial priority for the IAI:

Tropical Ecosystems and Biogeochemical Cycles;

Impacts of Climate Change on Biodiversity;

El NiÑo Southern Oscillation and Interannual Climate Variability;

Ocean/Atmosphere/Land Interactions in the Inter tropical Americas;

Comparative Studies of Oceanic, Coastal and Estuarine Processes in the Temperate Zones;

Comparative Studies of Temperate Terrestrial Ecosystems; and High Latitude Processes.

The Canadian contacts for the IAI are as follows;

Canadian representative Gordon Mcbean at 416-739-4770

Canadian representative on the Scientific Advisory Panel John Stewart at 306-966-4050.

For more information contact Bob Halliday at 306-975-5718