About

RECHARGE NRT is the first to focus on cascading hazards in urban and suburban areas.  More than half of the Earth’s nearly eight billion people now reside in cities and suburbs, a figure that is projected to rise to 70 percent by mid-century. At the same time, climate-related and non-climate-related hazards are on the rise, individually and in cascading combinations. The confluence of rapid urbanization and increasing hazards creates social, ecological, and technological problems involving system feedback loops and spatial and temporal diversity.

Apparent solutions to these complex challenges invariably lead to new issues because of feedback effects, where even the best option reveals further issues. Such “wicked” problems require interdisciplinary approaches and the engagement of community partners to mold solutions and adaptively manage new issues. The social-ecological-technological systems (SETS) framework offers a holistic conceptual model to understand the science and find effective adaptive management for changing natural and social systems. The disciplinary and cultural diversity of the trainees and the supporting faculty team enriches the learning experience for discovering innovative approaches to complex scientific and societal problems at local, national, and international scales. The curriculum, research projects, and community partnerships integrate intellectual and experiential knowledge, allowing RECHARGE NRT to create a new generation of scientists and engineers proficient both in frontier science and management approaches for community resilience vital to sustainable regional systems.

This NRT program is part of the flagship effort by the National Science Foundation to educate U.S. natural and social scientists and engineers beyond their normal disciplinary boundaries to help solve some of the world’s most complex problems. National studies have documented the advantages of NRT training for graduate students. Completion of their programs takes one-half year less on average than comparable non-NRT programs. RECHAEGE NRT graduates surpass non-NRT graduates in integrating disciplines and place high value on their training. For these and other reasons, graduates of NRT programs report their training gave them a competitive edge in the job market.