Saturday, January 14, 2006

Study in rainfall and runoff at Tech taught by Italian hydrologist

Argen Duncan El Defensor Chieftain Reporter

aduncan@dchieftain.com

A collaboration that began with a friendship is reaching across an ocean and two languages to bring new curriculum and international publicity to New Mexico Tech.

This past week, Italian hydrologist and Associate Professor Salvatore Grimaldi taught a 30-hour short course in time series analysis, a method of studying trends and statistical properties of rainfall and runoff.

The class was one of the first events in a three-year agreement between Tech and the Honors Center of Italian Universities, made up of 15 schools, to work jointly on research projects and academics and to exchange students and faculty, Grimaldi said.

Tech Assistant Professor of Hydrology Enrique Vivoni, who helped coordinate the agreement and the course, said Grimaldi brought curriculum Tech hydrology graduate degrees don't offer, although the math department teaches similar material.

He said time series analysis trends indicate how humans and climate change affect rainfall and runoff.

"So what he's teaching are tools students can use to better understand rainfall and runoff as examples of hydrological variables," Vivoni said.

With students often hearing about such things as global warming, Grimaldi said, they need tools to critically evaluate research papers from other investigators.

During the course, participants met six hours a day, Monday through Friday. Of the 14 students, nine came from New Mexico Tech and five from other organizations.

"It's very intensive activity," Grimaldi said.

Students worked on computers, collected their own data to see if they could identify other trends and statistical properties, and gave presentations. Vivoni said they were enthusiastic.

"It's an experience that you don't take lightly; you work hard," he said.

Grimaldi said the class was a pleasure for him and the students. He has coordinated a European conference, written a paper on time series analysis and organized yearly workshops since 1998. Grimaldi said he's happy to share that experience with Vivoni.

Officials signed the international agreement in April 2005. Vivoni said they expect to renew it after three years if it meets its goals of student and faculty exchanges, short courses and joint research.

"We've had good, strong support from the beginning from the president's office, Daniel H. López," he said.

The agreement grew from Grimaldi and Vivoni's friendship while they were students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which had a relationship with the honors center, Vivoni said.

Vivoni was involved in an MIT and honors center collaborative short course in preparation for Tech's agreement.

Under the current arrangement, Grimaldi said he expects students from each country to visit the other, with the Italians coming to Tech for more than half a year, starting this month.

Also, Vivoni said he and Grimaldi have done research and published papers that benefit both Italy and New Mexico.

Grimaldi said he and Vivoni are planning a short course in Italy this summer. They will probably do joint research every year and hold short courses on different topics, he said. The hydrologists spoke of involving as many people as possible and said others want similar relationships for their universities.

"It's a great vehicle of publicity for New Mexico Tech internationally," Vivoni said.

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