Loretta Singletary is a Professor with the Department of Economics and University of Nevada, Reno, Extension, and the University's Interdisciplinary Outreach Liaison; adjunct faculty with Graduate Program of Hydrologic Sciences and member of University graduate faculty. She works with university faculty on teaching and research programs that require an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approach to effectively address natural resources issues. Dr. Singletary also works with local, state and federal agencies, groups and organizations to collectively identify and investigate water resource issues through community-based participatory research and outreach programs.
Research interests
Dr. Singletary is nationally recognized for her collaborative research approaches to investigating water resource issues. Currently funded programs feature partnerships with community stakeholders across Nevada, and the western United States, in addition to university faculty and graduate students. She conducts interdisciplinary research with input from of community-based decision-making. She is interested in the application of environmental mediation, conflict resolution, and collaborative learning concepts to participatory and collaborative research approaches. Her current integrated research and outreach programs include assessing and enhancing community climate resiliency in snow-fed arid land river systems; evaluating alternative water allocation mechanisms; reclaiming water resources for food security; enhancing Indigenous community climate resiliency and planning; and identifying sustainable agriculture and water resource management issues unique to Indigenous lands.
Integrated Research and Extension Programs
Where We Live (W2L): Local and Place Based Adaptation to Climate Change in Underserved Rural Communities. (National Science Foundation, EPSCoR RII Track-2 FEC, total award - $6M; to UNR - $1,77M). Three-state collaborative research project - University of Idaho, University of Nevada, Reno and University of South Carolina. https://www.unr.edu/nevada-today/news/2023/where-we-live-climate-change-study
This collaborative research project advances research, education, workforce development, and partnerships among Idaho, Nevada, and South Carolina to address climate change in underserved rural communities. The project brings together a number of scientists across academic disciplines in all three states to look at differences in climate change impact perception and adaptation in underserved rural communities across the country. Under the program, researchers will partner with local, state, tribal and federal organizations in rural communities. These communities constitute nearly 84% of the United States land area and are home to only 14% of the population. These areas serve as critical sources of food, freshwater, wildlife habitat and energy as well as supporting carbon sequestration, education, recreation, and tourism. The UNR team will focus on the drought and wildfire hazards in Nevada. Part of technical work includes assessment of risk and environmental measurements related to human perception of these hazards. The team will then reach out to underserved communities across Nevada (to be determined) to measure the perception of the elements of these climate-induced changes. By working collaboratively with communities, the team will co-develop and co-design adaptation strategies to influence the decision making related to risk mitigation and building adaptive capacity. In perspective, the efforts will increase our empirical and theoretical understanding of the mechanisms and relationships of perception-to-action with respect to adaptation for climate-induced change and will benefit underserved communities in Nevada.
Evaluating Alternative Water Institution Performance: Are Food Production Systems at Risk from Changing Water Availability? (USDA-NIFA, $4.9m) in collaboration with Desert Research Institute, Colorado State University, Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University. https://packpages.unr.edu/snowcap/
This project aims to support food production in the intermountain west through a collaborative research framework integrating physical and economic models with stakeholder participation to evaluate outcomes of shifts in snowmelt-derived water supplies. Expected impacts include improved water management policy to support adaptation to changes in water available to agricultural users. The project will determine how changes in the timing of flows constrain agricultural producer decision-making and how water rights institutions can exacerbate or relieve these constraints. A collaborative research and outreach strategy identify and involve stakeholders directly in scientific inquiry and social learning processes. The project will produce a replicable framework that will enhance knowledge co-production and governance processes to result in water allocation outcomes that best represent the role and needs of agriculture and food production.
Water for Agriculture Challenge Area: Enhancing the Climate Resiliency of Native American Water and Land Resources (USDA-NIFA, $4.5m) in collaboration with Desert Research Institute, University of Arizona, Utah State University, and First Americans Land Grant Consortium. https://nativewaters-aridlands.com/
Enhancing the climate resiliency of agricultural water resources on reservation lands of the Great Basin and Southwestern US is threatened by the risk of prolonged drought and flash floods and projected declines in surface and groundwater supplies. Native American tribes on arid lands are especially vulnerable to climate change due to marginal soils, geographic isolation, and ongoing challenges to quantify agricultural water rights. Research and extension experts from 1862 and 1994 land grant institutions partner with tribal communities to assess the impacts of climate change on future water supplies, identify barriers and solutions, and evaluate and prioritize actions to enhance the climate resiliency of tribal agricultural water resources and food systems. A participatory research approach ensures that the local knowledge and perspectives of tribal communities remain at the forefront of the project, providing for social learning while protecting Native American cultural traditions and sensitive information. The project goals are to identify and address science information needs to support tribes in efforts to sustain or adopt innovative strategies to enhance the climate resilience of agricultural water resources and food systems as well as to support tribal college efforts to strengthen teaching, research, and outreach expertise on reservation lands.
Water Sustainability in Snow-Fed Arid Land River System: (NSF-USDA, $3.8m) in collaboration with Desert Research Institute and U.S. Geological Survey. http://waterfortheseasons.com/
Assessing and enhancing the climate resilience of snow-fed river dependent communities in the arid western United States has taken on critical importance in response to changing climatic conditions. Assessing climate resiliency involves understanding the extent to which snow-fed dependent communities can absorb climate induced variable water supplies while identifying viable adaptation strategies. Participatory research approaches, such as collaborative modeling, are well suited in this context because they are intended to draw upon local stakeholders' knowledge and their diverse, often competing, perspectives to inform science research. A key feature of this program is the collaborative modeling research design, engaging diverse water use communities to address complex public issues surrounding variable water supply, water policy, and climate adaptation.
Addressing Human Health Impacts from Emerging Contaminants in Reclaimed Water to Enhance its Use for Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture (USDA-NIFA, $499k)
The main goal of this project is to integrate research, education, and extension to identify, minimize, and mitigate human health impacts from emerging contaminants in reclaimed water, potentially enhancing its use for urban and peri-urban irrigated agriculture. The research team conducts basic research to: identify chemical contaminants in reclaimed water used for urban and peri-urban irrigated agriculture; determines pathways of contaminant entrainment into agricultural products; determines associated human health risks; and develop strategies for mitigation of those risks over the agricultural production chain, particularly focusing on reclaimed water production and point-of-use. Research results are used to enhance the decision-making capacity of: agricultural producers concerning the benefits and risks associated with reclaimed water use; water reclamation facility and water utility staff about the potential risks and mitigation needs and methods to improve suitability of reclaimed water for use in irrigated agricultural production; and affected stakeholder communities and policy makers about the feasibility and benefits/risks of using reclaimed water resources for irrigated agriculture.
