2023 Future Thinkers for Climate Resilience in the Pacific
The outcome of ACIAR’s Future Thinkers’ Awards were recently announced, with three climate research and capacity building initiatives selected for funding as part of the PASS-CR Program.
A virtual announcement was made on 11 August congratulating our 2023 Future Thinkers’ Awardees, Dr Md. Abdul Kader, Dr Leslie T Ubaub and Dr Francis Mani.
The focus of the 2023 round was on supervisors of higher-degree-by-research (HDR) students at Fiji National University (FNU) and The University of the South Pacific (USP). Interested applicants were invited to prepare a research or capacity building proposal that supported the process of effectively integrating climate change thinking into their existing or planned research.
The selection process looked at opportunities to enhance collaboration across research areas and among researchers based in the Pacific and Australia. All submitted proposals were reviewed by an international selection panel, which deliberated on the merits and innovative elements of the projects. These are the three proposals that the panel selected:
By simulating taro yield under current and future climate projections, Dr Md. Abdul Kader’s project seeks to contribute to identify effective soil and nutrient management techniques to maximise taro production and improve soil health in the Pacific region. His project will also focus on building capacity on the use of modelling tools in the Pacific. Read more about Dr Md. Abdul Kader’s project here.
Dr Leslie T Ubaub’s research aims to contribute to the development of suitable adaptation strategies to mitigate the effects of heat stress on crop productivity. Extreme temperature is a major climate hazard in Samoa, potentially affecting floral development and plant-pollinator interactions in crop production, which will be the focus of her research and capacity building initiative. Read more about Dr Leslie T Ubaub’s project here.
Dr Francis Mani's research aligns closely with climate change approaches aimed at reducing emissions from the livestock sector. His project will be focused on gaining new capacities to improve livestock emission estimations. His work has the potential to contribute significantly to Fiji's future enhanced National Determined Contributions and Low Emissions Development Strategies, enabling the country to effectively track and verify its progress towards greenhouse gas mitigation goals. Read more about Dr Francis Mani’s project here.
Over the coming weeks, we will be showcasing a more in-depth story on each of the projects. Congratulations to our 2023 Future Thinkers and good luck for the journey ahead!