As a collaborator with the International Science Reserve (ISR), the Council of Scientific Society Presidents (CSSP) is extending the call to wildfire researchers to join this expanding science community. Established in 2022 with the support of IBM, Google, and UL, the International Science Reserve (ISR) is a network of open scientific communities, bringing together specialized resources from across the globe to prepare for and help respond to complex and urgent global crises. Wildfires have been chosen as the ISR's pilot crisis.
What is the ISR
As was learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, science in a time of crisis is not "science as usual." During a crisis, scientists need unfettered and rapid access to resources and collaborators. Preparing before a crisis incident occurs is critical to shortening response times, improving coordination, and reducing the impact of the crisis. The ISR works in collaboration and partnership with the existing crisis response ecosystem, augmenting and accelerating efforts by governments and global organizations through all three stages of a crisis – preparation, response, and recovery. The goal of the ISR is to be ready with tested and proven procedures, and the means to match human and material resources to research needs, when a real disaster strikes.
What you can do
The ISR is seeking global and cross-disciplinary scientists with research specific to wildfires and research related to wildfires (climate science, ecology, forestry, atmospheric science, public health, etc.). In addition, it is critical to have scientists in our community who have research that could help address an active wildfire crisis (such as data scientists, sociologists, psychologists, pulmonologists, and engineers).
We are asking you to join the ISR and share this opportunity with your community.
If you are interested in collaborating further, the ISR would like to set up a brief call to discuss what this partnership could look like. Please contact [email protected] to set up a meeting with the team.
Why Join the ISR Community
Members of the ISR community will be invited to participate in its first readiness exercises in March. The goal is to understand how the ISR can accelerate your research during a declared wildfire crisis. In the event of a declared crisis, there will be an urgent call for proposals that could help address the crisis. A proposal is scientists' opportunity to seek collaborators and resources that will accelerate your crisis-related research.
The ISR increases the capacity of the global community to respond to complex global crises by:
- Facilitating access to specialized scientific and technical resources, such as advanced technologies, specialized talent, labs, databases, and high-performance computing.
- Convening and coordinating scientists from around the world to build institutional memory in crisis management and response.
- Developing an engaged 'crisis community' which regularly participates in readiness exercises and contributes to a better understanding of the role of science in crisis.
Members will be part of an engaged community committed to rapid crisis response. They will benefit from knowledge sharing, community convenings, and the opportunity for your research to make a real difference. The ISR's sole purpose is to help accelerate science – when it is needed most – during a crisis. We hope you will help us get your scientists involved in this important endeavor.
