Center for Integrated Multi-Scale Modeling (CIMM)

A new collaborative research center to scale up solutions

What makes a place great?  We can take small actions—cutting waste, conserving energy, building relationships—but its difficult to see how these make a difference on a larger scale. What if we could explore future scenarios for how we could change a place? Would it encourage you to take more of those actions for the greater good?

Today, we have more information at our fingertips than ever before—data about people and places. We also have more communication channels than ever before, yet people feel less connected. We need new ways for people gather and share knowledge about their place, and combine this with the data researchers have collected to tackle our most pressing problems.

To accomplish this, Portland State University has established a new collaborative research center, the Center for Integrated and Multiscale Modeling, or CIMM. The Center combines high-powered computer modeling with the knowledge and input from people who live in a place and make it what it is. CIMM allows us to visualize, analyze, and explore how individual actions and perspectives can shape a place. Then it links actions to larger scales – starting from the individual, to the household, to the neighborhood, city, regional and even the globe. It can also allow us to predict change over scales of time, from the second to the decade - allowing us to model future scenarios and envision what that place could become.

Imagine how this could change the way you make decisions, individually and as part of your community. If we come together to frame problems based on shared knowledge, perhaps we can build a shared vision of a livable future.

Participants

CIMM includes faculty and students from a range of Colleges and Departments at PSU, and will establish links and partnerships with other researchers, Universities, NGO’s, businesses, and other stakeholders. CIMM will also link with and support several ongoing collaborations at PSU, such as the IGERT and ULTRA-Ex projects.  An initial, partial list of PSU faculty currently working in the areas of modeling, data assembly, and participatory processes that might participate in CIMM can be found below.

Vivek Shandas | Urban Studies and Planning | Integrated modeling, participatory modeling, urban systems | vshandas@pdx.edu
Robert Scheller | Environmental Science and Management | Agent-based modeling and simulation (forest landscape change) | rmschell@pdx.edu
John Gliebe | Urban Studies and Planning | Discrete choice modeling (land use and transportation) | gliebej@pdx.edu
David Sailor | Mechanical Engineering | Thermodynamic modeling (thermal transfer in the built environment) | sailor@cecs.pdx.edu
Alexis Dinno | Community Health | Multi-level modeling and loop analysis | alexis.dinno@pdx.edu
William Garrick | Academic Research Computing | Online databases and interactive platforms | will@pdx.edu
Wayne Wakeland | System Science | System Dynamic Modeling | wakeland@pdx.edu
Linda George | Environmental Science and Management | Air quality and atmospheric chemistry | georgel@pdx.edu
Alan Yeakley | Environmental Science and Management | Urban Hydrology and biogeochemistry | yeakley@pdx.edu
Todd Rosensteil | Biology | Carbon Dynamics and Plant Physiology | rosensti@pdx.edu
Sarah Eppley | Biology | Plant reproduction and ecosystem dynamics | eppley@pdx.edu
Andrew Rice | Physics | Thermodynamics, atmospheric chemistry | arice@pdx.edu
Geoffrey Duh | Geography | Remote sensing and GIS | jduh@pdx.edu
Huafen Hu | Mechanical Engineering | Building energy systems | hu@cecs.pdx.edu
Barry Messer | Urban Studies and Planning | Sustainability curriculum | messerw@pdx.edu
Connie Ozawa | Urban Studies and Planning | Science and policy interactions, environmental mediation | ozawac@pdx.edu
Bowen McBeath | Social Work | Child welfare and conflict negotiation | mcbeath@pdx.edu
Kevin Kecskes | Center for Academic Excellence | Community engagement and service learning | kecskesk@pdx.edu
Jeff Gerwing | Environmental Science and Management | Sustainability curriculum | jgerwing@pdx.edu
Wayne Selcome | N/A | Spatial Delphi | selcome@aol.com
Jeff Fletcher | Systems Science | Evolution of cooperation | jeff@pdx.edu
Christoff Teuscher | Electrical and computer engineering | Computation, complex adaptive systems | teuscher@pdx.edu
Melanie Mitchell | Computer Science | Complexity, evolution | mm@pdx.edu
John Reuter | Environmental Science and Management | Complex environmental problems | reuterj@pdx.edu
Radu Popa | Biology | Biogeochemistry | rpopa@pdx.edu
Peter Veerman | Mathematics + Statistics | Dynamical systems, mathematical physics | veerman@pdx.edu
Steve Bleiler | Mathematics + Statistics | Game theory, mathematical models | bleilers@pdx.edu
Aslam Khalil | Physics | Global climate models | khalilm@pdx.edu
Chris Butenhoff | Physics | Global climate models | cbuten@pdx.edu
Niles Lehman | Chemistry | Evolutionary biochemistry | niles@pdx.edu
Chris Moeers | Civil and environmental engineering | Ocean prediction science | cmoeers@pdx.edu
David Percy | Geospatial databases, Web GIS, GIS Programming | percyd@pdx.edu
Hamid Moradkhani | Civil and Environmental Engineering | Hydrologic modeling | hamidm@pdx.edu
David Jay | Civil and Environmental Engineering | Hydrologic modeling | djay@cecs.pdx.edu
Heejun Chang | Geography | Integrated Regional Assessment of Environmental Change | changh@pdx.edu