Clemson University fellows travel to Colombia; students could follow

Published: August 30, 2011

Clemson University professor Dan Hitchcock holds the Tiger paw flag in this photo with staffers of Coralina, the corporation responsible for natural resource management in San Andrés. image by: Clemson University

CLEMSON — For three Clemson University fellows, an exchange program to South America provided firsthand experience of how communities in other parts of the world are preparing for potential effects of climate change.

For two weeks this summer, two Clemson University professors and a communications specialist visited Colombia as part of the U.S. State Department-sponsored Partners of the Americas’ Climate Change Fellows Program.

Dan Hitchcock, an assistant professor at the Belle W. Baruch Institute of Coastal Ecology and Forest Science, conducted his fellowship on San Andrés, a Colombian island in the Caribbean Sea about 140 miles off the Nicaraguan coast.

Communities on the island experience many water resource limitations, such as saltwater intrusion of groundwater. While on San Andrés, Hitchcock worked with local engineers and hydrologists of Coralina, the corporation responsible for natural resource management in the regional archipelago.

Together, they explored water management solutions, such as enhanced groundwater recharge, improved groundwater monitoring and more efficient and cost-effective technology.

While rainwater collection is very common on the island, groundwater continues to be a necessary source of water for the people, Hitchcock said. The idea is to get rainwater back into the ground as a replenished resource while combating saltwater intrusion, he said.

“The island’s steep topography lends itself to a high rainwater runoff condition,” Hitchcock said. “When rain water flows quickly over the land, erosion becomes a problem and the aquifer is denied this natural input of water, denying the local population water for its needs.”

The experience was eye-opening, said Hitchcock, who hopes to involve Clemson students on future trips.

“This will be an extremely worthwhile opportunity for our students,” he said. “They can explore real-world climate change issues and solutions firsthand, while sharing cross-cultural experiences — a very unique learning environment away from the traditional college campus.”

As part of the exchange program, the Baruch Institute hosted a Colombian fellow from Coralina in the spring. Geologist Liane Gamboa Corrales spent five weeks working with Clemson scientists learning about coastal water resources projects. A second fellow will travel to South Carolina in the fall.

Clemson University Radio Productions also is a program partner.

The group hosted Colombian environmental journalist Pablo Correa in April from national newspaper El Espectador. Correa produced segments for the Your Day radio program and wrote stories for his newspaper. In exchange, El Espectador and Correa hosted Clemson radio production manager Eric Rodgers in the Colombian capital Bogotá. Rodgers produced four radio segments for Your Day.

Radio Productions will host two fellows this fall. Maria Valencia, a freelance environmental journalist, and Ana Maria Gonzalez, a communication specialist with the National Park Service in Colombia, will visit in September and October.

Jim London, College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities associate dean for research and graduate studies, also traveled with the group.

Colombia was an appropriate setting, London said. The most recent La Niña climate pattern sat over Colombia for two years, bringing almost constant rains. As a result, the country experienced record floods that caused significant damage.

His visit was spent mostly in Cali, Colombia's third-largest city. Located in the Cauca Ville valley in the southwest of the country, Cali received the greatest amount of flooding among the major cities.

He spent time with faculty and staff from four universities in the region. He also met with the region’s governor and staff, including the climate change director. They discussed what an adaptation plan for Cali and Cauca Valle would look like, and are already discussing follow-up work, London said.

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