Regional Graduate Student, Post-Doc, and Early Career Researcher Training III

Led by members of the South Central Climate Science Center (SC CSC) consortium, this project builds upon the successes of the 2014 and 2016 trainings to develop and implement professional development training for graduate students, postdocs, and early-career researchers within the SC CSC region. The objectives were: (1) introduce a new cohort of early-career researchers to the research challenges of the SC CSC, offering them insight into how their research fits into the broader priorities of the SC CSC and applicability to end user needs; (2) facilitate interdisciplinary interactions to discuss research with peers and foster collaborative opportunities; and (3) generate a syllabus, knowledge tests, and specific curricular materials designed for a formal classroom setting. Curricular materials included digitally recorded presentations on the SC CSC enterprise, a “how to” guide for conducting similar trainings, and real-world case studies that illustrate the science-to-policy interface. Our desire was to remove the institutional barriers, or “silos,” at an influential time of development for these early-career professionals and to build a cohort who can continue networking across the SC CSC through their research pathways and who will eventually lead outcome-oriented, interdisciplinary research.