Rationale for the Meeting: Two key challenges facing Central Asian countries include land degradation and water resource manage-ment. Land-cover change, unsustainable land use, and poor management of river waters in the region have cre-ated disputes. As the countries of Central Asia are heavily dependent on use of fragile dry lands and limited arable land, land-use change and water management are central issues in the region.

Planning for a sustainable environment, in which human needs are met equitably without harm to the environment, and without sacrificing the ability of future generations to meet their needs requires a robust understanding of the integrated system of society, the natural world, and the alterations humans bring to the environment. Developing this robust understanding of the integrated system is a common interest among Belmont Forum members and is the focus of this Collaborative Research Action Call for proposals.

Planning for a sustainable environment, in which human needs are met equitably without harm to the environment, and without sacrificing the ability of future generations to meet their needs requires a robust understanding of the integrated system of society, the natural world, and the alterations humans bring to the environment. Developing this robust understanding of the integrated system is a common interest among Belmont Forum members and is the focus of this Collaborative Research Action Call for proposals.

(U) Embassy Kathmandu proposes to host a water resources expert as an Embassy Science Fellow (ESF) to assist in promoting water security in South Asia and to support engagement with governmental and scientific leaders in Nepal.

(U) Embassy Kathmandu proposes to host a water resources expert as an Embassy Science Fellow (ESF) to assist in promoting water security in South Asia and to support engagement with governmental and scientific leaders in Nepal.

156 researchers from 32 countries and all continents discussed upcoming opportunities and challenges at the beginning of this new remote sensing era during the 5th workshop of the EARSeL Special Interest Group on Land Use and Land Cover. The workshop was jointly organized between the EARSeL SIG and NASA’s LCLUC Science Team at the Department of Geography of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany, on March 17-18, 2014.

Following the success of the previous four international biennial conferences (2006-2012) on Drylands, Deserts, and Desertification (DDD), the organization of the 2014 DDD conference is now in full gear and the conference is scheduled to take place at the Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus, between November 17-20, 2014.

Andrew J. Hansen, Nathan Piekielek, Cory Davis, Jessica Haas, David M. Theobald, John E. Gross, William B. Monahan, Tom Olliff, and Steven W. Running 2014. Exposure of U.S. National Parks to land use and climate change 1900–2100. Ecological Applications 24:484–502. http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/13-0905.1

The webinar explored NASA's Land-Cover/Land-Use Change Program. The presentation included an overview of the program, followed by case studies highlighting urban, forest and agricultural land-use change tracking over time in the United States. Garik Gutman NASA Headquarters, Washington DC Cristina Milesi California State University Monterey Bay/NASA Ames Research Center Chengquan Huang University of Maryland David Roy South Dakota State University

Book chapter