Shima Mohebbi, Assistant Professor, Systems Engineering and Operations Research (SEOR), is set to begin a project developing game theoretic models for conservation incentives and the socio-spatial dynamics of water sustainability.
Water resource management is a complex / wicked problem that is affected by water scarcity and the impact of climate change on water supplies. In response, societies make massive investments in water conservation and allocation to support human water security. There is a growing interest in voluntary incentives (e.g., payments/subsidies offered to water users) as a strategy for reducing conflicts in and beyond water conservation. Effective implementation of these strategies requires the optimal allocation of financial incentives across space and time.
For this project, Dr. Mohebbi, along with collaborators from the University of Oklahoma, Texas A&M University, Clark University, Oklahoma State University, and Florida International University, received a nearly $1.6 million award from the National Science Foundation.
Dr. Mohebbi will be leading the task related to the “dynamic game theory of conflicts and cooperation among users.” Introducing dynamics and a complex set of feedbacks between social and environmental systems raises new fundamental questions in the field of Operations Research and Management Science. The main goal of this task is to develop novel differential games to understand how water users' propensities for cooperative behavior might vary over time across the river network.
Mohebbi will receive $235,762 from the National Science Foundation for this project. Funding will begin in January 2022 and will end in late December 2026.
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