{"id":107,"date":"2016-04-04T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-04-04T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/?p=107"},"modified":"2024-04-02T15:20:56","modified_gmt":"2024-04-02T22:20:56","slug":"john-matthews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/john-matthews\/","title":{"rendered":"Sustainability as a moving target"},"content":{"rendered":"

Natural Resources Leadership Academy track to focus on climate adaptation<\/h2>\n
\n
\"Natural<\/div>\n

Pictured above is Natural Resources Leadership Academy Instructor John Matthews studying how aquatic insects have been affected by changes in precipitation and air temperature over the past 50 years. This photo was taken in 2006 while he was working on his PhD research in a pond in Caledon, Ontario.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

By Heather Turner<\/em>
\nApril 4, 2016<\/em><\/p>\n

Climate change is often a heated topic, no pun intended. Many have different ideas and beliefs, and sometimes the issue can cause a passionate debate.<\/p>\n

John Matthews<\/a>, however, isn\u2019t interested in discussing whether or not climate change is real. His goal is to create a collaborative environment where people of diverse backgrounds work together to find sustainable solutions to climate change and climate adaptation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe this topic is important because it is the central problem of our time,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s a hard problem, it\u2019s an important problem, it\u2019s an ongoing problem, but it\u2019s also a tractable problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

To get the conversation going this summer, John will teach a track, or course, Resilient and Robust Resource Management<\/a>, at Oregon State University\u2019s fifth annual Natural Resources Leadership Academy<\/a> (NRLA).
\n<\/p>\n

\n
\"John\"Play\"<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n

John Matthews, secretariat coordinator and co-founder of the Alliance for Global Water Adaptation (AGWA), will teach a track titled Resilient and Robust Resource Management at this year\u2019s Natural Resources Leadership Academy. Watch the video above to learn what you will explore in this track.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThis course is going to focus on sustainability as a moving target, especially the aspect of climate change and how we relate to ecosystems and to economics,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

John\u2019s track will be held during the second week of the NRLA, June 20-24, along with a track titled Environmental Water Transactions. Week 1<\/a> of the academy, held June 12-17, features three tracks: Natural Resources and Community Values, Collaborative Governance, and Water Conflict Management.<\/p>\n

The NRLA brings together professionals and graduate students from across the world to enhance leadership skills, establish connections and learn from experts on timely, relevant topics in today\u2019s changing world. Housed at America\u2019s natural resources university, the academy features internationally renowned faculty who will lead participants through a variety of topics covering areas of conflict management, communication, sustainable natural resources and leadership.<\/p>\n

And John was the ideal person to lead this track on resource management. He serves as secretariat coordinator and co-founder of the Alliance for Global Water Adaptation<\/a> (AGWA) \u2013 a global network of more than 800 professionals who are focused on mainstreaming the process of climate adaptation in their work.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving someone of John\u2019s caliber and experience here at OSU is a real boon to the academy and to the campus community at large,\u201d says NRLA Academic Director and Instructor Aaron Wolf<\/a>.\u00a0\u201cHe works globally at the highest levels and will bring vast expertise into the classroom.\u00a0Moreover, given the structure of the academy, those interested in the tracks offered the first week can supplement their training with John\u2019s track and vice versa.\u201d<\/p>\n

The track will use global case studies to approach climate adaptation from several perspectives, including how the eco-hydrological landscape responds to climate shifts, how built and managed aspects of the landscape interact with climate change, how a variety of institutions engage with non-stationary management, and how governance frameworks and management agreements encompass dynamic institutional and hydrological relationships.<\/p>\n

“<\/span>This is the time, this is the topic that young people really need to begin to consider what the implications are for their work going forward.”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n
\"John<\/div>\n

In 2010 in the eastern Tibetan plateau in Qinghai Province, China, John stands in front of summer tents for a family of indigenous yak herders. He traveled to the headwaters of the Mekong and Yangtze rivers as part of a small World Wildlife Fund expedition to survey monks, herders and government officials about how intense, rapid climate change was altering ecosystems and livelihoods of that region. “It was a devastatingly beautiful and upsetting trip,\u201d John says. “I had no idea how quickly climate change was moving \u2013\u00a0faster than anywhere else I have been. I cried for three days when I got home.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThis is the time, this is the topic that young people really need to begin to consider what the implications are for their work going forward,\u201d John says. \u201cI cannot stress enough that our generation, the next generation, my great-grandchildren are really going to be worried about how is it that we respond to ongoing climate impacts.\u201d<\/p>\n

John, an aquatic ecologist, will be taking a holistic approach to his NRLA track, where he will co-teach with experts from a wide range of backgrounds, including an economist, an engineer and a geographer.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo single discipline has all of the answers,\u201d he says. \u201cThe state of the science is moving so rapidly now that if we\u2019re not engaged in a full conversation between researchers, practitioners and the policy world, then we won\u2019t come to an effective solution in time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having completed postdoctoral studies at Oregon State almost a decade ago and living in Corvallis for 10 years, John is a neighbor, member of the community and now colleague at Oregon State.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019m most looking forward to from the Natural Resources Leadership Academy is seeing not just our class working in isolation, developing its own insights by itself, but interacting with all of the other classes,\u201d he says. \u201cHaving a broader conversation, a family of conversations that are coming together, feeding and building on each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope participants come out of this class with a very positive attitude toward climate change. It\u2019s something they can successfully integrate into their work and develop useful and sustainable solutions for.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/span> 4<\/span> minute read<\/span><\/span>John Matthews isn\u2019t interested in discussing whether or not climate change is real. His goal is to create a collaborative environment where people of diverse backgrounds work together to find sustainable solutions to climate change and climate adaptation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":145,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[673],"tags":[58],"class_list":["post-107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","tag-osu-summer-session"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/John-Matthews-Main.jpg?fit=638%2C410&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7BNSE-1J","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2426,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/online-energy-policy-certificate-program-for-the-21st-century\/","url_meta":{"origin":107,"position":0},"title":"An energy policy program for the 21st century","author":"Emily Willis","date":"December 4, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cA major question the energy policy program tries to address is how the U.S. government and its institutions are going to use the country\u2019s resources more sustainably and not cause future problems or make existing problems worse,\u201d Professor David Bernell said.","rel":"","context":"In "All Stories"","block_context":{"text":"All Stories","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/category\/all\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"An energy grid worker stands outside near an electrical tower while holding a laptop computer.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/gc-energy-policy-800x450-1.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/gc-energy-policy-800x450-1.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/gc-energy-policy-800x450-1.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/gc-energy-policy-800x450-1.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2287,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/how-the-affordable-learning-grant-supports-faculty\/","url_meta":{"origin":107,"position":1},"title":"Liberating course materials from the textbook industry","author":"Elena Moffet","date":"June 12, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Whether you\u2019re struggling to find a suitable textbook for your course or want to remove learning barriers for your students, there has never been a better time to explore the world of open educational resources.\u00a0Oregon State associate professor John Lambrinos shares why and relates his experience.","rel":"","context":"In "All Stories"","block_context":{"text":"All Stories","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/category\/all\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/4172-Campus-0775-800x450-1.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/4172-Campus-0775-800x450-1.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/4172-Campus-0775-800x450-1.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/4172-Campus-0775-800x450-1.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2022,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/osu-everywhere-jami-dennis-mnr\/","url_meta":{"origin":107,"position":2},"title":"Oregon State Everywhere: Geospatial technology, natural resources make a perfect pair online","author":"Jami Dennis","date":"May 18, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I was not a typical grad student. 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