Southwest and Mexico Border Region Human-Environment Regional Observatory (SOMBRHERO)

SOMBRHERO Vulnerability Assessment

Undertaken by HERO REU Students:
Brenda Bonnano, Lucas Murray, and Greg Reiter

Supervised by:
Cynthia Sorrensen, Ph.D.
SOMBRHERO Project Coordinator
University of Arizona

The Southwest and Mexico Border Region Human-Environment Regional Observatory (SOMBRHERO) is designed to monitor long term local human environment interactions along the Univted States/Mexico border region as defined by the states of Arizona, USA and Sonora, MX. We are particularly interested in measuring a set of parameters that reflect the coplex transnational context of the border, its diverse and often fragile environments, its shifting as well as deep-rooted cultural identities, its transboundary environmental issues, and its poetnetial vulnerabilities to global climate change.

SOMBRHERO is part of the larger Human Environment Regional Observatory (HERO) initiative based at Penn State designed to monitor long-term human-environment relations at local and regional scales. Global environemental change results from countless human actions occurring locally. At the same time, humans both feel the impacts of and respond to global environmental change where they live.

As such HERO coordinates four sites that reflect varying biophysical and socioeconomic contexts, including Central Massachusetts (HERO-CM) at Clark University, Susquehanna River Basin (HERO-SRB) at Penn State University, and High Plains-Ogallala (HERO-HPO) at Kansas State University, and SOMBRHERO.

During the summer 2002, each HERO site conducted a vulnerability assessment of its region following the Protocol to Assess Regional Vulnerability to Environmental Hazards developed for the HERO project.

With support from a National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) grant, coordinators at each HERO site supervised three undergraduate student researchers to undertake the vulnerability assessment and to compile a database and map conditions, trends, and indicators of vulnerability. The twelve HERO REU studentsreceived training and orientation by attending a two-week, intensive short course at Penn State. The short course introduced the students to the concepts, data, and tools needed to study the local dimensions of global environmental change. After the short course, the three HERO REU students for each site worked for six weeks with a faculty research mentor and with other faculty, post-doctoral researchers, and graduate students.