2025 CASC Science Highlights

Alaska CASC

Alaska CASC Helps Juneau Community Understand and Prepare for Glacial Outburst Floods

Every summer, meltwater builds up in Suicide Basin, an ice-dammed lake above Mendenhall Glacier. When the water pressure becomes too high, the water bursts through, flooding the river and parts of the City of Juneau, Alaska. In previous years, Alaska CASC researchers have monitored conditions in Suicide Basin and developed models for forecasting glacial outburst floods that have been used by the National Weather Service to issue flood watches and warnings in the area. In 2025, Alaska CASC-supported researchers developed the Juneau Flood Dashboard to help residents prepare for glacial outburst floods in the basin. The tool shares maps and alerts and allows users to see how different water levels might affect specific areas of the Mendenhall Valley down to the street-level.
 

Climate Adaptation through Education: European Green Crabs in Southeast Alaska

European green crabs are an invasive species that recently reached Southeast Alaska, where they pose a serious threat to coastal ecosystems. Because they are expanding northward with warming oceans, early detection and coordinated community involvement are considered essential for reducing ecological and economic impacts. Research from the Alaska CASC Ambassadors Program resulted in consistent data collection of European green crab across multiple coastal sites by faculty, students, and community members. The team also produced waterproof educational materials used in both fieldwork and public outreach. This project highlights one of the most impactful outcomes of the Alaska CASC Ambassadors Program, with the community identifying the presence of European green crab in Southeast Alaska and the resulting media coverage, all of which lead to the implementation of a rapid response plan by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.  

Midwest CASC

Native Fish Bounce Back After "Direct" Interventions in Two Wisconsin Lakes

Since their introduction, rainbow smelt have disrupted lake food webs by outcompeting, preying upon, and displacing native fish. Researchers supported by the Midwest CASC used the Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) framework to successfully restore native fish populations in two Wisconsin lakes by removing invasive rainbow smelt and stocking native cisco. This successful intervention highlighted the power of actively guiding disrupted ecosystems to a desired state using the “direct” approach of the RAD framework.
 

Updates to SWAPs in the Midwest: A Collaborative Approach

State Wildlife Action Plans (SWAPs) are essential blueprints for conservation, enabling states to protect wildlife species before they become too rare or costly to restore. The Midwest CASC engaged state partners to develop a resource that could function as an up-to-date scientific foundation for Midwest states to use to inform future adaptation actions. The team produced individual reports that identify and delineate priority habitats, summarize exposure to key climate stressors, synthesize scientific literature into qualitative summaries of climate impacts to habitats and key wildlife species, and explore possible restoration and conservation strategies. 

North Central CASC

Northeast CASC

Northwest CASC

Too Hot to Handle? Managing the Ecological Impacts of Extreme Heat in the Northwest

In 2025, the Northwest CASC convened over 80 natural resource managers and scientists from across the Northwest region in a five-month, virtual working group process to review what is known and unknown about managing the ecological impacts of extreme heat events in the Northwest. This Deep Dive sought to understand how the 2021 Pacific Northwest heat wave affected ecosystems and resource management so that researchers and practitioners can better anticipate the impacts of future extreme heat events and understand what, if anything, can be done to manage associated risks to natural systems. Products from this Deep Dive include three synthesis reports (State of the Science, State of the Practice, State of the Policy), an actionable science agenda with research and capacity-building needs for informing management of extreme heat events, and a tools database for research and management.
  

Coldwater Fish in Warm Waters: Redband Trout in the Upper Klamath Lake

The warmer waters of the Upper Klamath Lake were once thought to be inhospitable to native redband trout, a coldwater fish species. However, researchers supported by the Northwest CASC are uncovering how redband trout are using the lake’s warmer waters to avoid invasive predators and feast on its supply of prey fish. By tracking fish locations and water temperatures with tools like radio tags, the researchers are building models and maps that describe and identify locations where redband trout are most likely to outcompete the invasive species. These areas would be ideal locations to focus conservation efforts.

Pacific Islands CASC

Using Environmental DNA (eDNA) to Study Fish Communities in Hawaiʻi

Researchers funded by the Pacific Islands CASC used environmental DNA (eDNA) to study how fish communities in Hawaiʻi’s Heʻeia estuary are affected by seasonal extreme tides. eDNA, or genetic material left behind in the environment by organisms from their skin, fur, feces, blood, mucus, or scales, allows scientists to track species and monitor fish diversity and ecosystem changes efficiently, without directly handling or observing them.  The researchers and local Native Hawaiian Fishpond (Loko iʻa) organizations worked together to co-create a practical toolkit that offers clear guidelines for collecting and analyzing eDNA samples without needing advanced training. Several conservation groups are already using the non-invasive method to monitor native and endemic goby species (ʻoʻopu) as indicators of stream health.
 

Enhancing Biosecurity on Wake Atoll

In collaboration with other federal research centers and in accordance with the Wake Island 2015 Biosecurity Plan defined methods, the Pacific Islands CASC helped evaluate biosecurity on Wake Atoll for the U.S. Air Force. Scientists inspected shipping containers, cargo areas, and barges in Hawai‘i and on the Wake Atoll, including the Wake Island Airfield. They found introduced seeds in all locations, and over 9,000 individuals of 131 non-native animal species. Poor sanitation, damaged containers, and ineffective detection and eradication tools were among the reasons these organisms were introduced to the atoll. The 2025 report’s findings can help inform stronger protocols to prevent invasive species from reaching remote islands or continental U.S. ports and threatening local ecosystems, communities, infrastructure, and mission readiness.

South Central CASC

Southeast CASC

Southwest CASC

National CASC

Scent Dogs Join Tick Surveillance Efforts

National CASC-supported researchers found that scent detection dogs can accurately and efficiently find winter ticks—parasites that are linked to disease and wildlife declines—offering a promising tool for monitoring ticks as they expand into new regions. Efficient surveillance is essential for managing the spread of winter ticks into new areas and reducing the risk of disease in humans and wildlife. As ticks continue to threaten large ungulates like moose and elk, scent detection dogs may provide wildlife managers a faster, more flexible approach for early tick detection.
   

As Lakes Warm and Ice Seasons Shorten, Anglers Are Catching Different Fish Across the Midwest

To understand how warming lake temperatures are changing fisheries in the Midwest, USGS scientists with the National CASC, Midwest CASC, and Missouri Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, together with partners, analyzed recreational fishing data in midwestern lakes. They found that warmwater fish already make up a larger share of anglers’ catch than in the past, especially in lakes with higher surface temperatures and less ice cover, but larger, deeper lakes may sustain cool and coldwater fishing opportunities.

Multi-CASC

An Updated Climate Change Vulnerability Index (CCVI 4.0) for Species Climate Adaptation Planning

In early 2025, NatureServe released CCVI 4.0, the latest version of the Climate Change Vulnerability Index for terrestrial and freshwater species. The newest update was developed in collaboration with seven CASCs and incorporated direct input from partners, including many state fish and wildlife agencies who use the CCVI to inform State Wildlife Action Plans. The updated CCVI 4.0 now incorporates a decade of new scientific insights on how climate change impacts terrestrial and freshwater species and provides a new web-based platform to improve data sharing and collaboration. It also includes updated climate exposure data, a new vulnerability comparison across two future emissions scenarios, and a refined adaptive capacity framework created by researchers from the Northwest CASC.
  

Navigating the Climate Adaptation Toolkit

Climate adaptation planning processes and tools are increasing in number and evolving rapidly. To address this challenge, scientists from the North Central, Northwest, and Southeast CASCs, together with partners, demonstrated how many tools work in tandem to encourage, not prevent, coordination and shared learning. The researchers found that prevailing adaptation processes are fundamentally similar and have substantial overlap. The result of this research is a clearer picture of how different climate-adaptation tools can complement one another as resource managers, adaptation practitioners, and scientists navigate uncertain futures.