State of the Science

Pinyon-juniper woodlands are a major part of western landscapes and are valued for recreational use, cultural resources, watershed protection, and wildlife habitats. These woodlands have been identified by several stakeholders, including natural resource management entities, federal and state agencies, and numerous tribal nations, as important ecosystems that are currently threatened by...

In the Northwest U.S., warming temperatures and changing precipitation patterns will likely result in significantly altered snowpack, stream flows, and water availability. Along with these changes comes an increased risk of “ecological drought”, or periods of water stress that impact ecosystems and the services they provide –which can ultimately impact human communities. More frequent...

In the North Central U.S., drought is a dominant driver of ecological, economic, and social stress. Drought conditions have occurred in the region due to lower precipitation, extended periods of high temperatures and evaporative demand, or a combination of these factors. This project will continue ongoing efforts to identify and address climate science challenges related to drought...

The Global Change Graduate Fellows Program is designed to train the next generation of global change scientists by providing financial, scientific, and professional development support for graduate students who are interested in multi-disciplinary research. They come together across disciplines to discover, collaborate, and share their knowledge with patners. This program is sponsored by...

The Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center (NW CASC) offers both regular skills-building webinar series and individual applied science webinars. NW CASC’s applied science webinars cover a range of topics and lessons learned from NW CASC-funded projects, while its skills-building webinar series are designed to promote a deeper understanding of actionable science approaches by...

The Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center (NW CASC) organizes an annual Deep Dive into an emerging climate risk. The NW CASC convenes researchers, practitioners and students to assess the state of knowledge and practice associated with managing that risk. Each Deep Dive aims to facilitate community development of an Actionable Science Agenda that outlines knowledge gaps and...

The Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center (NW CASC) is hosted by the University of Washington on behalf of a multi-university consortium, enabling the federal government and Northwest natural and cultural resource managers to leverage the research capacity, expertise and infrastructure of public agencies and universities across Washington, Oregon, Idaho and western Montana. Each NW...

Consortium Principal Investigators lead Working Groups on a variety of global change topics that draw on their scientific strengths and interests. The Working Groups bring together multi-disciplinary teams of academics, USGS staff, Tribal Nations, representatives from state agencies, other stakeholders, and students to address regionally-relevant emerging issues and to develop syntheses...

The Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center (SE CASC) promotes collaborative research, with a focus on training next-generation scientists through active engagement with stakeholders and agencies, to enhance landscape-level conservation and management of natural and cultural resources. The SE CASC is hosted by North Carolina State University (NCSU) with consortium partners Duke...

In order to assess and understand the potential impacts of climate change on important natural resources, managers, planners, and decision-makers need climate information at a local or regional scale. In general, Global Climate Models (GCMs) provide data at coarser scales than most natural resource managers need but Regional Climate Models (RCMs) are starting to deliver finer scale...

The 2017 Idaho Climate Summit - Safeguarding Idaho’s Economy in a Changing Climate: Our Water, Our Land, Our Health, Our Future was a two-day conversation about Idaho’s changing climate led by businesses, resource and land managers, Idaho tribes and tribal organizations, researchers, public interest organizations, community members, and government officials. The summit explored market...

The Northwest Climate Conference annually brings together researchers and practitioners from around the Pacific Northwest to discuss scientific results, challenges, and solutions related to climate impacts on people, natural resources, and infrastructure in the region. It is the region's premier opportunity for a cross-disciplinary exchange of knowledge and ideas about regional climate...