1. Kazakhstan: Joint Government of Kazakhstan and the Asian Development Bank Knowledge and Experience Exchange Program, Michigan State University, USDA, ADB, 2017-2021. 

• assessment of the resource potential of the livestock industry

• understand the principles of rangeland management and how this knowledge is used in assessing the health of rangelands;
• gain basic skills in assessing the productivity of dedicated lands;
• understand the basic principles of using geographic information systems and remote sensing to estimate annual pasture production;
• gain skills in estimating the initial indicators of livestock for grazing livestock and assessing feed budgets for the year and production or regional scale;
• gain insight into the inputs and outputs of the rangeland and erosion hydrology model, and how to use this tool to assess the sustainability and conservation of rangelands.

2. Digital Agriculture and Flood Mapping for Kazakhstan's Changing Climate, Michigan State University, АDB, 2019. 

• Create a comprehensive, high-resolution geospatial database for GAR (1980s–present).
• Create a map of historical flood zones along the main rivers/lakes in the BAL and evaluate key parameters for the models.
• Conducting seminars and trainings on the project for land surveyors, politicians, teachers and students from Kazakhstan.
• Conduct a comprehensive flood assessment through vulnerability analysis and identify hot spots that require proactive planning.

3. Interdependent Dynamics of food, energy and water in Kazakhstan and Mongolia. Michigan State University, National University Mongolia, University of South Dakota, NASA, 2020 – 2023. 

• to quantify interdependent changes in food production, total evaporation and radiation balance in Kazakhstan and Mongolia during 1981-2020, as well as to identify socio-economic and physiological factors responsible for the change, through empirical and mechanical studies and their modeling;
• to assess the direct effects of land-use change, total evaporation and albedo in remote sensing with a resolution of 30 m scaling, and to identify the indirect impacts of infrastructure (e.g. road networks, transport, technology), livestock/farmers' demographics, policies and climate in the three selected areas in each country
• to study the direct impact of management practices on land use, as well as the results of FEW through manipulative field experiments on landscapes dominated by crops and grasslands
   

4.  Key Curriculums of Ecology and Environmental Sciences for Regional Universities in Kazakhstan & Beyond, Michigan State University, UniCEN, 2020-2022. 

• Organize an intensive seminar on the curriculum, for teachers of various higher educational institutions of the United States and Kazakhstan. In order to ensure the long-term sustainability of new training programs by Kazakhstani participants;
• Establish direct communication between faculty in U.S. and Kazakhstan institutions, which will help ensure continued communication after the workshop, as well as facilitate long-term cooperation in environmental research and education.
• Prepare a set of curricula, handbooks and other educational materials in conjunction with teachers of a US university that can be used in higher educational institutions of Kazakhstan.

5. The effects of excessive water use and agricultural intensification on Aral Sea shrinkage: socioeconomic-environmental systems (SES) dynamics within the Syr Darya River Basin, Michigan State University, University of South Dakota USAID, U.S. Engineering, and Medicine, National Academies of Sciences, 2021-2023. 

• This proposal is designed to study the empirical and mechanical impact of land use and climate change on the rate of drying up of the Aral Sea, which has become one of the most serious environmental disasters since 1960. Our premise is that excessive water abstraction, intensification and expansion of both rangelands, redirection and management of water flows, and changes in vegetation cover outweigh the impact of climate. Scientific efforts to identify human contributions and climate need to focus on an adjacent sea catchment basin, such as the Syr Darya River Basin (SRP), which is the largest watershed of the Aral Sea.

• creation of a comprehensive database on climate, ecosystems, LULCC, economic measures, social values and policies since 1970 (i.e. the beginning of images) at two administrative levels (Kzyl-Orda region and three districts in debt of the Syr Darya River);
• study of Interdependent Changes in Food, Energy and Water (FEW) for the Kyzyl-Orda region and three districts using high-resolution data for mechanical understanding of related changes in climate and Aral Sea level;
• Identification of critical driving forces on the surface of the earth, including changes in control, in river flows and the study of level changes;
• creation of a web page with open access for the exchange of all data and research results

6. Evaluating the effectiveness of various land cover/use systems to mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing albedo

• to assess the emission of greenhouse gases (CO₂, CH₄, N₂O) and albedo in arable soils on the example of the Almaty region when using fertilizers (manure, mineral fertilizers and control) when applying various types of basic tillage for different crops (wheat, corn and rye).

• To assess the emission of greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, N2O) and albedo in arable soils when using fertilizers and applying different types of basic tillage for different crops;
• understand and assess how much our traditional and effective methods affect emissions and mitigate the negative impact of agriculture on global climate change.

7. KendyrTex, CLIENT II, 2022-2023. 

• Study of the cultivation of "Kendyr" for the possible production of fiber in quality comparable to cotton,
• Development of effective, climate- and location-adapted methods of cultivation and harvesting;
• To develop additional fibrous raw materials for the growing textile market.

01) Kolluru V., John,R., Chen J., Xiao J., Goljani A. R., Giannico V., Kussainova M. Optimal ranges of social-environmental drivers and their impacts on vegetation dynamics in Kazakhstan. Science of the Total Environment, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157562

02) Kolluru V., John,R., Chen R., Jarchow M., Goljani A.R., Giannico V., Saraf S., Jain K., Kussainova M., Yuan J. Untangling the impacts of socioeconomic and climatic changes on vegetation greenness and productivity in Kazakhstan. 2022 Environ. Res. Lett. 17 095007, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac8c59

03) Matsui K., Akhapov Y., Kussainova M. (2017). Management of wood resources: A dilemma between conservation and livelihoods in a rural district in the Aral region. Energy for Sustainable Development 41: 121-127, DOI:10.1016/j.esd.2017.08.010

04) Matsui K., Watanabe T., Kussainova M., Funakawa S. (2018). Soil properties that determine the mortality and growth of Haloxylon aphyllum in the Aral region, Kazakhstan. Arid Land Research and Management 33: 37-54, DOI:10.1080/15324982.2018.1496187

05) Starodubtsev V. Kussainova M. (2018). Spatio-temporal development of deltaic landscape in the Kapchagai reservoir and methods of its study. Environment and Soil Resources Conservation: book of proceedings 10th International Soil Science Congress, Almaty.

06) Kussainova M., Pachikin K., Erokhina K. (2016). Distribution, typology and assessment of degraded soils Piedmont Plains Zhetysu Ridge, Kazakhstan. Eurasian Journal of Soil Science 6 (2):178 – 188.

07) Chen, J., Z. Ouyang, R. John, G. M. Henebry, P. Groisman, A. Karnieli, M. Kussainova, A. Amartuvshin, A. Tulobaev, E. T. Isabaevich, C. Crank, L. Tian, A. Kadhim, J. Qi, and G. Gutman. 2020. Social-Ecological Systems across the Asian Drylands Belt (ADB). In Gutman et al. (Eds.), Land-Cover and Land-Use Change in Drylands of Eurasia, Springer 978-3- 030- 30741-7, 439140_1_En, (10)

08) Kussainova M., Spaeth K., Zhaparkulova E. (2020) Efficiency of using the rangeland hydrology and erosion model for assessing the degradation of pastures and forage lands in Aydarly, Kazakhstan. Eurasian Journal of Soil Science 9(2) 186- 193. DOI: 10.18393/ejss.708898

09) Kussainova M., Durmuş M., Erkoçak A. (2013). Soil dehydrogenase activity of natural macro aggregates in a toposequence of forest soil. Eurasian Journal of Soil Science 2 (1): 69 - 75.

10) Kussainova M., Tauschke M., Saparov A. (2014). The Effect of Applying the Microbiofertiliser “MERS” on the Soil Microbial Community and the Productivity of Winter Wheat Under the Conditions of Southeast Kazakhstan. NovelMeasurement and Assessment Tools for Monitoring and Management of Land and Water Resources in Agricultural Landscapes of Central Asia. Springer, Cham.

11) Mikailsoy F., Kussainova M., Er F. (2018). The Proceedings of the 10th International Soil Science Congress on “Environment and Soil Resources Conservation”.

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