MultiSector Dynamics

About Us

Upcoming webinar: 'Charting the State & Frontier of Human Systems Modeling for MSD Research'. September 27, 2022 1-2pm ET

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About us

We are a multi-disciplinary collective of researchers based at universities and national labs across the United States. Our community of practice is made up of junior and senior natural and social scientists, engineers, economists, and other researchers working at the interface of human and natural systems.

The following mission statement, themes and science questions, and community development process are meant as starting points for the MultiSector Dynamics (MSD) community and will continuously evolve and be formally developed into an upcoming white paper.

Mission Statement

Our mission is to help establish a community of practice of MultiSector Dynamics (MSD) researchers in the United States and internationally.

The MSD community aims to improve our understanding of the co-evolution of human and natural systems over time, and build the next generation of tools that bridge across sectors (energy, water, land, economy) and scales (spatial, temporal), and offer a holistic view of systems-of-systems.

Using these tools we aim to identify and illuminate how key processes act across the multiple scales that shape the complex interactions and multidirectional feedbacks among human and Earth systems.

Community Development Process

The MSD community’s mission and focus is coalescing rapidly from insights generated by the participating members of the research community. In the coming year, members of the Community will have opportunities to work together to continue evolving our mission, themes, science questions, and synergistic activities. 

MSD Working Groups

Working Group – Open Science and FAIR Data

Welcome to the MSD Working Group on Open Science and FAIR Data One component of an effective community of practice is leveraging shared tools and resources. The purpose of this working group is to facilitate the reuse of models and datasets across the MSD community. Open science is one strategy…

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Working Group – Urban Systems

The urban systems working group is focused on adressing questions related to system dependencies, tipping points, and uncertainties in an urban context and to exploring model coupling across sectors and scales.

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Working Group – Human Systems Modeling

Welcome to the MSD Working Group on Human Systems Modeling The Human Systems Modeling working group explores state of the art modeling methods that can improve representation of human decision making and adaptation in multi-sector systems, drawing from advances in economics, social sciences, computer science, and statistics. We investigate a…

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Working Group – Uncertainty Quantification and Scenario Development

Welcome to the MSD Working Group on Uncertainty Quantification and Scenario Development The Uncertainty Quantification and Scenario Development working group studies the propagation of uncertainties, including deep uncertainties, through multi-sector systems. We are interested in understanding how uncertainty interacts with complex system dynamics and cross-sectoral feedback mechanisms to affect the…

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Working Group – Multisector Impacts of Energy Transitions

This Working Group will identify what feedbacks, sectors, and societal constructs are missing from existing analytical approaches and define new research pathways towards a more holistic understanding of the multisector impacts of energy transitions.

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Working Group – Professional Development and Education for Early Career Scientists

Welcome to the MSD Working Group on Professional Development and Education for Early Career Scientists As the MSD community is formed and begins to grow, this Working Group will seek to expand participation among a diverse group of early career scientists, provide professional development opportunities to graduate students and post-docs,…

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