Members of five Climate Science Centers (North Central, Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, & South Central) attended and participated in this year’s Rising Voices 3 (RV3) workshop in Boulder, CO on June 29-30, 2015 that was co-sponsored by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the North Central Climate Science Center (NC CSC).

The workshop incorporated the theme of Learning and Doing: Education and Adaptation through Diverse Ways of Knowing. Rising Voices workshops are an opportunity for collaboration that facilitate cross-cultural approaches for adaptation solutions to climate variability and change. The Rising Voices “family” is made up of engaged indigenous leaders, indigenous and non-indigenous environmental experts, students, youth, and scientific professionals across the United States, including representatives from tribal, local, state, and federal resource management agencies, academia, tribal colleges, and research organizations. 

The two and a half day workshop focused on the following topics this year: water, health and livelihoods, phenology, and relocation. Working groups convened to generate discussion and follow-up action items. Additionally, some of the outcomes that RV3 aspired to are: developing new and stronger adaptation partnerships; ideas for improving curricula and student/early-career involvement; recommendations to catalyze national and international climate policy; and to jointly write reports, proceedings, and proclamations stemming from the workshop’s action items and building on previous Rising Voices workshop outcomes. Lastly, a robust evaluation process of Rising Voices, using scientific and indigenous metrics, is being carried out by the College of Menominee Nation’s Sustainability Development Institute and staff of NCAR.

One of the most striking aspects of the workshop are the stories of climate impacts shared throughout the meeting coupled with impressive research and engagement of place by tribal youth. As in previous years, a strong Pacific Islands contingent was also present at RV3.

Several representatives from the CSCs that attended the workshop are pictured above. From left to right in the photo they are: on the first row: Brian Miller(North Central CSC Research Scientist) and Arwen Bird (with the University of Washington, Northwest CSC consortium member) and back: Aranzazu Lascurain (Southeast CSC Program Coordinator), Gary Collins (North Central CSC Joint Stakeholder Committee), Jeff Morisette (North Central CSC Federal Director), Marie Schaefer (with the College of Menominee Nation, Northeast CSC consortium member), Laura Farris (North Central CSC Joint Stakeholder Committee), Dennis Ojima (North Central CSC University Director) and Wendy Dorman (with the College of Menominee Nation, Northeast CSC consortium member). Shannon McNeeley (North Central CSC Research Scientist), Paulette Blanchard and Scott Ketchum (students affiliated with the CSC network) were also in attendance.

Staff from the Department of the Interior (DOI) outside of the CSCs included the active participation of Eric Wood, of the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center and the USGS Climate and Land Use Change representative for the Office of Tribal Relations, as well as Nicole Herman-Mercer of the USGS National Research Office in Denver. 

For more information on Rising Voices, visit: https://risingvoices.ucar.edu/