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Carolyn Enquist, Ph.D.

Currently exercising the authority of the Director of the Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center (SW CASC).

Dr. Carolyn Enquist is the Deputy Director of the SW CASC, one of the nine regional centers that form the National and Regional Climate Adaptation Science Center network.

Carolyn Enquist is the Deputy Director of the Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center, and is a US Geological Survey employee based in Tucson, AZ. Over the past two decades, Carolyn has worked for the National Wildlife Federation, the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service, The Nature Conservancy, The Wildlife Society, and the USA National Phenology Network. She has largely focused on management implications of climate change for biodiversity conservation. She has both led and contributed to numerous peer-reviewed articles and national reports focused on the biodiversity impacts of climate change, practical guidance for conducting vulnerability assessments, and the practice of climate adaptation planning and implementation. She received M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in ecology from the University of New Mexico.

Education and Certifications

  • Ph.D. in Ecology, University of New Mexico

  • M.S. in Ecology, University of New Mexico

Science and Products

link
The Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge support native and nonnative grasses, including nonnative African lovegrasses.

Building Knowledge Exchange Networks to Support Climate Adaptation in the Interior Southwest

The Interior Southwest (Arizona, Nevada, and Utah) is home to a vast and diverse geography consisting of deep canyons, great expanses of desert, mountain ranges, and forests, as well as diverse human communities. The majority of the land in these states is held by state, federal and tribal entities; and environmental changes pose challenges to the management of these public and tribal lands across
By
Climate Adaptation Science Centers
link

Building Knowledge Exchange Networks to Support Climate Adaptation in the Interior Southwest

The Interior Southwest (Arizona, Nevada, and Utah) is home to a vast and diverse geography consisting of deep canyons, great expanses of desert, mountain ranges, and forests, as well as diverse human communities. The majority of the land in these states is held by state, federal and tribal entities; and environmental changes pose challenges to the management of these public and tribal lands across
Learn More

Vegetation type conversion in the US Southwest: Frontline observations and management responses

Forest and nonforest ecosystems of the western United States are experiencing major transformations in response to land-use change, climate warming, and their interactive effects with wildland fire. Some ecosystems are transitioning to persistent alternative types, hereafter called “vegetation type conversion” (VTC). VTC is one of the most pressing management issues in the southwestern US, yet cur
Authors
Christopher H. Guiterman, Rachel M. Gregg, Laura A.E. Marshall, Jill J. Beckmann, Phillip J. van Mantgem, Donald A. Falk, Jon Keeley, Anthony C. Caprio, Jonathan D. Coop, Paula J. Fornwalt, Collin Haffey, R. Keala Hagmann, Stephen Jackson, Ann M. Lynch, Ellis Margolis, Christopher Marks, Marc D. Meyer, Hugh Safford, Alexandra Dunya Syphard, Alan H. Taylor, Craig Wilcox, Dennis Carril, Carolyn Armstrong Enquist, David W. Huffman, Jose Iniguez, Nicole A. Molinari, Christina M Restaino, Jens T. Stevens
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Climate Adaptation Science Centers, Fort Collins Science Center, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC)

Seasonality of biological and physical systems as indicators of climatic variation and change

Evidence-based responses to climate change by society require operational and sustained information including biophysical indicator systems that provide up-to-date measures of trends and patterns against historical baselines. Two key components linking anthropogenic climate change to impacts on socio-ecological systems are the periodic inter- and intra-annual variations in physical climate systems
Authors
Jake Weltzin, Julio L. Betancourt, Benjamin I. Cook, Theresa Crimmins, Carolyn Armstrong Enquist, MD Gerst, JE Gross, GM Henebry, RA Hufft, MA Kenney, John S. Kimball, Bradley C. Reed, SW Running
By
Species Management Research Program, Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center

Unfamiliar territory: Emerging themes for ecological drought research and management

Novel forms of drought are emerging globally, due to climate change, shifting teleconnection patterns, expanding human water use, and a history of human influence on the environment that increases the probability of transformational ecological impacts. These costly ecological impacts cascade to human communities, and understanding this changing drought landscape is one of today’s grand challenges.
Authors
Shelley D. Crausbay, Julio L. Betancourt, John B. Bradford, Jennifer M. Cartwright, William C. Dennison, Jason B. Dunham, Carolyn Armstrong Enquist, Abby G. Frazier, Kimberly R. Hall, Jeremy Littell, Charlie H. Luce, Richard Palmer, Aaron R. Ramirez, Imtiaz Rangwala, Laura Thompson, Brianne M. Walsh, Shawn Carter
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Climate Adaptation Science Centers, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center, Southwest Biological Science Center

Organizing phenological data resources to inform natural resource conservation

Changes in the timing of plant and animal life cycle events, in response to climate change, are already happening across the globe. The impacts of these changes may affect biodiversity via disruption to mutualisms, trophic mismatches, invasions and population declines. To understand the nature, causes and consequences of changed, varied or static phenologies, new data resources and tools are being
Authors
Alyssa H. Rosemartin, Theresa Crimmins, Carolyn A.F. Enquist, Katharine L. Gerst, Jherime L. Kellermann, Erin E. Posthumus, Ellen G. Denny, Patricia Guertin, Lee Marsh, Jake F. Weltzin

Biodiversity in a changing climate: a synthesis of current and projected trends in the US

This paper provides a synthesis of the recent literature describing how global biodiversity is being affected by climate change and is projected to respond in the future. Current studies reinforce earlier findings of major climate-change-related impacts on biological systems and document new, more subtle after-effects. For example, many species are shifting their distributions and phenologies at f
Authors
Michelle D. Staudinger, Shawn L. Carter, Molly S. Cross, Natalie S. Dubois, J. Emmett Duffy, Carolyn Enquist, Roger Griffis, Jessica J. Hellmann, Joshua J. Lawler, John O’Leary, Scott A. Morrison, Lesley Sneddon, Bruce A. Stein, Laura M. Thompson, Woody Turner
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Climate Adaptation Science Centers

Natural ecosystems

Natural Ecosystems analyzes the association of observed changes in climate with changes in the geographic distributions and phenology (the timing of blossoms or migrations of birds) for Southwestern ecosystems and their species, portraying ecosystem disturbances—such as wildfires and outbreaks of forest pathogens—and carbon storage and release, in relation to climate change.
Authors
Erica Fleishman, Jayne Belnap, Neil Cobb, Carolyn A.F. Enquist, Karl Ford, Glen MacDonald, Mike Pellant, Tania Schoennagel, Lara M. Schmit, Mark Schwartz, Suzanne van Drunick, Anthony LeRoy Westerling, Alisa Keyser, Ryan Lucas
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Southwest Biological Science Center

Incorporating climate change into systematic conservation planning

The principles of systematic conservation planning are now widely used by governments and non-government organizations alike to develop biodiversity conservation plans for countries, states, regions, and ecoregions. Many of the species and ecosystems these plans were designed to conserve are now being affected by climate change, and there is a critical need to incorporate new and complementary app
Authors
Craig R. Groves, Edward T. Game, Mark G. Anderson, Molly Cross, Carolyn Enquist, Zach Ferdana, Evan Girvetz, Anne Gondor, Kimberly R. Hall, Jonathan Higgins, Rob Marshall, Ken Popper, Steve Schill, Sarah L. Shafer
By
Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center

Non-USGS Publications**

Enquist, C.A.F. and S.T. Jackson. 2016. Ensuring Coordination Among Regional Climate Science Programs, National Adaptation Forum, St. Louis, MO, 14 May 2015. Eos, Meeting Reports, January 25, 2016.
Gerst, K.L., J. L. Kellermann, C.A.F. Enquist, A.H. Rosemartin, E.G. Denny. 2015. Estimating the onset of spring from a complex phenology database: trade-offs across geographic scales. International Journal of Biometeorology. 1-10. DOI 10.1007/s00484-015-1036-4.
Enquist, C.A.F., J.L. Kellermann, K.L. Gerst, and A.J. Miller-Rushing. 2014. Phenology research for natural resource management in the U.S. International Journal of Biometeorology. 58:579-589.
Stein, B.A., A. Staudt, M. S. Cross, N. Dubois, C. Enquist, R. Griffis, L. Hansen, J. Hellman, J. Lawler, E. Nelson, A. Pairis. 2013. Preparing for and managing change: climate adaptation for biodiversity and ecosystems. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 11: 502-510.
Cross, M.S., P.D. McCarthy, G. Garfin, D. Gori, C. Enquist. 2013. Accelerating climate change adaptation in vulnerable landscapes across the southwestern United States. Cons Biol 27:4-13.
Schwartz, M.D., C.A.F. Enquist, E.G. Denny. 2013. Phenological implications of warming temperatures and extreme climatic events. Eos 94 (10): 99.
Cross, M., E. Zavaleta, D. Bachelet, M. Brooks, C. Enquist, E. Fleishman, L. Graumlich, C. Groves, L.Hannah, L. Hansen, G. Hayward, M. Koopman, J. Lawler, J. Malcolm, J. Nordgren, B. Petersen, E. Rowland, D. Scott, S. Shafer, R. Shaw, and G. Tabor. 2012. The Adaptation for Conservation Targets (ACT) framework: A tool for incorporating climate change into natural resource management. Environmental Management. 50:341-351.
Cross, M., E. Girvetz, A. Schragg, and C. Enquist. 2012. Integrating Climate Change Science into Large-Scale Conservation, In: Conservation and climate disruption: Ecoregional science and practice in a changing climate (Eds. C. C. Chester, J.A. Hilty & Molly S. Cross), Island Press.
Enquist, C., A. Rosemartin, M.D. Schwartz. 2012. Identifying and prioritizing phenological data products and tools. Eos. 93(37): 356.
Enquist, B.J. and C.A.F. Enquist. 2011. Long-term change in a Neotropical forest: assessing functional and floristic responses to drought and past disturbance. Global Change Biology. 17:1408-1424
Glick, P., B. Stein, N. Edelson, N., N. Green, R. Beach, M. Cross, C. Enquist, D. Finch, H. Gailbraith, E. Girvetz, J. Gross, M. Harris, K. Hayhoe, J. Hoffman, D. Inkley, B. Jones, L. Joyce, J. Lawler, D. Ojima, J. O’Leary, B. Young. 2011. Scanning the conservation horizon: a guide to climate change vulnerability assessment. The National Wildlife Federation, Washington, D.C.
Enquist, C. and A. Miller-Rushing. 2011. Standards and tools for using phenology in science, management, and education. Park Science 28.
Robles, M.D. and C. Enquist. 2011. Managing changing landscapes in the Southwestern United States. The Nature Conservancy. Tucson, Arizona. 26 pp.
West, J.M., P. Kareiva, C. Enquist, A. Johnson, S.H. Julius, J. Lawler, B. Petersen, L. Pitelka, R. Shaw. 2009. U.S. natural resources and climate change: concepts and approaches for management adaptation. Environmental Management. 44 (6): 1001. DOI 10.1007/s00267-009-9345-1.
McCarthy, P., C.A.F. Enquist, and G. Garfin. 2008. Mitigating climate change in the American Southwest. Eos 89 (1): 3, Meeting Reports.
Enquist, C.A.F. and D.F. Gori. 2008. Application of an expert system approach for assessing grassland status in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands: implications for conservation and management. Natural Areas Journal 28: 414-428.
Enquist, C.A.F. 2002. Predicted regional impacts of climate change on the geographic distribution and diversity of tropical forests in Costa Rica. Journal of Biogeography 29(4):519-534.

**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.

Unfamiliar Territory: Emerging Themes for Ecological Drought Research and Management

Unfamiliar Territory: Emerging Themes for Ecological Drought Research and Management

Novel forms of drought are emerging globally, due to climate change, shifting teleconnection patterns, expanding human water use, and a history of...

Read Article
Climate, Fire, and Forest Change in California’s Sierra Nevada

Climate, Fire, and Forest Change in California’s Sierra Nevada

The Southwest CASC has developed an informational handout that summarizes and synthesizes information on climate, fire, and forest change in...

Read Article

Science and Products

  • Science
    link
    The Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge support native and nonnative grasses, including nonnative African lovegrasses.

    Building Knowledge Exchange Networks to Support Climate Adaptation in the Interior Southwest

    The Interior Southwest (Arizona, Nevada, and Utah) is home to a vast and diverse geography consisting of deep canyons, great expanses of desert, mountain ranges, and forests, as well as diverse human communities. The majority of the land in these states is held by state, federal and tribal entities; and environmental changes pose challenges to the management of these public and tribal lands across
    By
    Climate Adaptation Science Centers
    link

    Building Knowledge Exchange Networks to Support Climate Adaptation in the Interior Southwest

    The Interior Southwest (Arizona, Nevada, and Utah) is home to a vast and diverse geography consisting of deep canyons, great expanses of desert, mountain ranges, and forests, as well as diverse human communities. The majority of the land in these states is held by state, federal and tribal entities; and environmental changes pose challenges to the management of these public and tribal lands across
    Learn More
  • Publications

    Vegetation type conversion in the US Southwest: Frontline observations and management responses

    Forest and nonforest ecosystems of the western United States are experiencing major transformations in response to land-use change, climate warming, and their interactive effects with wildland fire. Some ecosystems are transitioning to persistent alternative types, hereafter called “vegetation type conversion” (VTC). VTC is one of the most pressing management issues in the southwestern US, yet cur
    Authors
    Christopher H. Guiterman, Rachel M. Gregg, Laura A.E. Marshall, Jill J. Beckmann, Phillip J. van Mantgem, Donald A. Falk, Jon Keeley, Anthony C. Caprio, Jonathan D. Coop, Paula J. Fornwalt, Collin Haffey, R. Keala Hagmann, Stephen Jackson, Ann M. Lynch, Ellis Margolis, Christopher Marks, Marc D. Meyer, Hugh Safford, Alexandra Dunya Syphard, Alan H. Taylor, Craig Wilcox, Dennis Carril, Carolyn Armstrong Enquist, David W. Huffman, Jose Iniguez, Nicole A. Molinari, Christina M Restaino, Jens T. Stevens
    By
    Ecosystems Mission Area, Climate Adaptation Science Centers, Fort Collins Science Center, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC)

    Seasonality of biological and physical systems as indicators of climatic variation and change

    Evidence-based responses to climate change by society require operational and sustained information including biophysical indicator systems that provide up-to-date measures of trends and patterns against historical baselines. Two key components linking anthropogenic climate change to impacts on socio-ecological systems are the periodic inter- and intra-annual variations in physical climate systems
    Authors
    Jake Weltzin, Julio L. Betancourt, Benjamin I. Cook, Theresa Crimmins, Carolyn Armstrong Enquist, MD Gerst, JE Gross, GM Henebry, RA Hufft, MA Kenney, John S. Kimball, Bradley C. Reed, SW Running
    By
    Species Management Research Program, Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center

    Unfamiliar territory: Emerging themes for ecological drought research and management

    Novel forms of drought are emerging globally, due to climate change, shifting teleconnection patterns, expanding human water use, and a history of human influence on the environment that increases the probability of transformational ecological impacts. These costly ecological impacts cascade to human communities, and understanding this changing drought landscape is one of today’s grand challenges.
    Authors
    Shelley D. Crausbay, Julio L. Betancourt, John B. Bradford, Jennifer M. Cartwright, William C. Dennison, Jason B. Dunham, Carolyn Armstrong Enquist, Abby G. Frazier, Kimberly R. Hall, Jeremy Littell, Charlie H. Luce, Richard Palmer, Aaron R. Ramirez, Imtiaz Rangwala, Laura Thompson, Brianne M. Walsh, Shawn Carter
    By
    Ecosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Climate Adaptation Science Centers, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Lower Mississippi-Gulf Water Science Center, Southwest Biological Science Center

    Organizing phenological data resources to inform natural resource conservation

    Changes in the timing of plant and animal life cycle events, in response to climate change, are already happening across the globe. The impacts of these changes may affect biodiversity via disruption to mutualisms, trophic mismatches, invasions and population declines. To understand the nature, causes and consequences of changed, varied or static phenologies, new data resources and tools are being
    Authors
    Alyssa H. Rosemartin, Theresa Crimmins, Carolyn A.F. Enquist, Katharine L. Gerst, Jherime L. Kellermann, Erin E. Posthumus, Ellen G. Denny, Patricia Guertin, Lee Marsh, Jake F. Weltzin

    Biodiversity in a changing climate: a synthesis of current and projected trends in the US

    This paper provides a synthesis of the recent literature describing how global biodiversity is being affected by climate change and is projected to respond in the future. Current studies reinforce earlier findings of major climate-change-related impacts on biological systems and document new, more subtle after-effects. For example, many species are shifting their distributions and phenologies at f
    Authors
    Michelle D. Staudinger, Shawn L. Carter, Molly S. Cross, Natalie S. Dubois, J. Emmett Duffy, Carolyn Enquist, Roger Griffis, Jessica J. Hellmann, Joshua J. Lawler, John O’Leary, Scott A. Morrison, Lesley Sneddon, Bruce A. Stein, Laura M. Thompson, Woody Turner
    By
    Ecosystems Mission Area, Climate Adaptation Science Centers

    Natural ecosystems

    Natural Ecosystems analyzes the association of observed changes in climate with changes in the geographic distributions and phenology (the timing of blossoms or migrations of birds) for Southwestern ecosystems and their species, portraying ecosystem disturbances—such as wildfires and outbreaks of forest pathogens—and carbon storage and release, in relation to climate change.
    Authors
    Erica Fleishman, Jayne Belnap, Neil Cobb, Carolyn A.F. Enquist, Karl Ford, Glen MacDonald, Mike Pellant, Tania Schoennagel, Lara M. Schmit, Mark Schwartz, Suzanne van Drunick, Anthony LeRoy Westerling, Alisa Keyser, Ryan Lucas
    By
    Ecosystems Mission Area, Southwest Biological Science Center

    Incorporating climate change into systematic conservation planning

    The principles of systematic conservation planning are now widely used by governments and non-government organizations alike to develop biodiversity conservation plans for countries, states, regions, and ecoregions. Many of the species and ecosystems these plans were designed to conserve are now being affected by climate change, and there is a critical need to incorporate new and complementary app
    Authors
    Craig R. Groves, Edward T. Game, Mark G. Anderson, Molly Cross, Carolyn Enquist, Zach Ferdana, Evan Girvetz, Anne Gondor, Kimberly R. Hall, Jonathan Higgins, Rob Marshall, Ken Popper, Steve Schill, Sarah L. Shafer
    By
    Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center

    Non-USGS Publications**

    Enquist, C.A.F. and S.T. Jackson. 2016. Ensuring Coordination Among Regional Climate Science Programs, National Adaptation Forum, St. Louis, MO, 14 May 2015. Eos, Meeting Reports, January 25, 2016.
    Gerst, K.L., J. L. Kellermann, C.A.F. Enquist, A.H. Rosemartin, E.G. Denny. 2015. Estimating the onset of spring from a complex phenology database: trade-offs across geographic scales. International Journal of Biometeorology. 1-10. DOI 10.1007/s00484-015-1036-4.
    Enquist, C.A.F., J.L. Kellermann, K.L. Gerst, and A.J. Miller-Rushing. 2014. Phenology research for natural resource management in the U.S. International Journal of Biometeorology. 58:579-589.
    Stein, B.A., A. Staudt, M. S. Cross, N. Dubois, C. Enquist, R. Griffis, L. Hansen, J. Hellman, J. Lawler, E. Nelson, A. Pairis. 2013. Preparing for and managing change: climate adaptation for biodiversity and ecosystems. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 11: 502-510.
    Cross, M.S., P.D. McCarthy, G. Garfin, D. Gori, C. Enquist. 2013. Accelerating climate change adaptation in vulnerable landscapes across the southwestern United States. Cons Biol 27:4-13.
    Schwartz, M.D., C.A.F. Enquist, E.G. Denny. 2013. Phenological implications of warming temperatures and extreme climatic events. Eos 94 (10): 99.
    Cross, M., E. Zavaleta, D. Bachelet, M. Brooks, C. Enquist, E. Fleishman, L. Graumlich, C. Groves, L.Hannah, L. Hansen, G. Hayward, M. Koopman, J. Lawler, J. Malcolm, J. Nordgren, B. Petersen, E. Rowland, D. Scott, S. Shafer, R. Shaw, and G. Tabor. 2012. The Adaptation for Conservation Targets (ACT) framework: A tool for incorporating climate change into natural resource management. Environmental Management. 50:341-351.
    Cross, M., E. Girvetz, A. Schragg, and C. Enquist. 2012. Integrating Climate Change Science into Large-Scale Conservation, In: Conservation and climate disruption: Ecoregional science and practice in a changing climate (Eds. C. C. Chester, J.A. Hilty & Molly S. Cross), Island Press.
    Enquist, C., A. Rosemartin, M.D. Schwartz. 2012. Identifying and prioritizing phenological data products and tools. Eos. 93(37): 356.
    Enquist, B.J. and C.A.F. Enquist. 2011. Long-term change in a Neotropical forest: assessing functional and floristic responses to drought and past disturbance. Global Change Biology. 17:1408-1424
    Glick, P., B. Stein, N. Edelson, N., N. Green, R. Beach, M. Cross, C. Enquist, D. Finch, H. Gailbraith, E. Girvetz, J. Gross, M. Harris, K. Hayhoe, J. Hoffman, D. Inkley, B. Jones, L. Joyce, J. Lawler, D. Ojima, J. O’Leary, B. Young. 2011. Scanning the conservation horizon: a guide to climate change vulnerability assessment. The National Wildlife Federation, Washington, D.C.
    Enquist, C. and A. Miller-Rushing. 2011. Standards and tools for using phenology in science, management, and education. Park Science 28.
    Robles, M.D. and C. Enquist. 2011. Managing changing landscapes in the Southwestern United States. The Nature Conservancy. Tucson, Arizona. 26 pp.
    West, J.M., P. Kareiva, C. Enquist, A. Johnson, S.H. Julius, J. Lawler, B. Petersen, L. Pitelka, R. Shaw. 2009. U.S. natural resources and climate change: concepts and approaches for management adaptation. Environmental Management. 44 (6): 1001. DOI 10.1007/s00267-009-9345-1.
    McCarthy, P., C.A.F. Enquist, and G. Garfin. 2008. Mitigating climate change in the American Southwest. Eos 89 (1): 3, Meeting Reports.
    Enquist, C.A.F. and D.F. Gori. 2008. Application of an expert system approach for assessing grassland status in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands: implications for conservation and management. Natural Areas Journal 28: 414-428.
    Enquist, C.A.F. 2002. Predicted regional impacts of climate change on the geographic distribution and diversity of tropical forests in Costa Rica. Journal of Biogeography 29(4):519-534.

    **Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.

  • News
    Unfamiliar Territory: Emerging Themes for Ecological Drought Research and Management

    Unfamiliar Territory: Emerging Themes for Ecological Drought Research and Management

    Novel forms of drought are emerging globally, due to climate change, shifting teleconnection patterns, expanding human water use, and a history of...

    Read Article
    Climate, Fire, and Forest Change in California’s Sierra Nevada

    Climate, Fire, and Forest Change in California’s Sierra Nevada

    The Southwest CASC has developed an informational handout that summarizes and synthesizes information on climate, fire, and forest change in...

    Read Article