1. Outreach

SW CASC Blog

Atmospheric Rivers Cause Billions of Dollars in Flood Damage in the Western U.S.

1 week 4 days ago
Earyn McGee

From 1978-2018, 84% of the flood damage in the western U.S. was associated with atmospheric rivers, costing the region almost $42.6 billion, according to authors of a new study published in Science Advances. Atmospheric rivers (ARs) are long narrow bands of moisture in the air carrying high volumes of water vapor.

Science Co-Production and the Cohort Experience: Lessons from an NRWD Fellow

1 month 6 days ago
Elly Fard

When I first started graduate school at UCLA, I believed that the most important part of an academic career is the science. In academia, it’s very easy to get pigeonholed in your research and focus on publishing large impact papers. However, currently, even great scientific insights aren't having an impact in societal and governmental decisions. But what is the reason? Is it the intimidating jargon found in most scientific articles? Or is it because of a lack of focus on outreach? These questions intrigued me, and I decided to work on finding some answers.
 

Different Perspectives on Conducting Actionable Science: Lessons from a Panel on Translational Ecology

2 months 6 days ago
Sarah Leroy

Have you wanted to work with practitioners to conduct actionable research that’s useful, but don’t know where to begin? Or maybe you’re concerned about getting push back from a community about what your research is telling them? On October 21, 2019, the SW CASC co-hosted a panel discussion with the Environmental Sciences Department at the University of Arizona, where researchers answered questions like these from graduate students interested in actionable science.

SW CASC’s Natural Resources Workforce Development Fellows Kick Off in Logan, Utah

2 months 2 weeks ago
Michelle Baker
Nancy Huntly

The Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center’s (SWCASC) Natural Resources Workforce Development (NRWD) Fellowship was initiated to provide graduate students with opportunities for training and practice in developing use-inspired science to inform natural resource management decisions.

Honoring the Whole Student

3 months 4 weeks ago
Althea Walker

Althea Walker, the American Indian Higher Education Consortium Tribal Climate Science Liaison at the Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center, participates in the project, Honoring the Whole Student: Developing Good Practices for Supporting the Intersectionality of Diverse Undergraduate Students in Geoscience.

Climate-related Needs of State Game and Fish Managers

5 months 1 week ago
Gregg Garfin

Ever wonder what’s on the mind of natural resource managers, as they take on the challenges of climate variations and long-term climate shifts? Ever wonder how they’re using climate-related science products, or want to know the spatial scales that are important for their work? We at the SW CASC regularly ask these questions and many more as we aim to develop climate-related scientific insights, information and products that address the needs of natural resource managers. To inform the SW CASC’s second phase of operations (2018-2023), Dr.

Reflections from Rising Voices

6 months 2 weeks ago
Nikki Tulley, Althea Walker, Sarah LeRoy
In May of 2019, SWCASC affiliates attended the 7th Annual Rising Voices Workshop in Boulder, Colorado. Rising Voices is a program that facilitates intercultural, relational-based approaches for understanding and adapting to extreme weather and climate events, climate variability and climate change. The workshop was focused on "Converging Voices: Building Relationships and Practices for Intercultural Science." Below are reflections from Nikki Tulley (Ph.D.

Highlights from the Geoscience Alliance Translational Ecology Panel

9 months 1 week ago
Earyn McGee
Indigenous voices often have not been highlighted in the geosciences. The Geoscience Alliance aims to bring those voices to the forefront, increase knowledge within Indigenous communities, and foster collaboration between Indigenous Peoples and non-natives to improve the condition of Native communities.

Changing Snowmelt Patterns in the Southwest U.S.

10 months 1 week ago
Earyn McGee

Scientists need to work together to improve and create tools to more accurately predict snowpack regimes on multiple scales in the Southwest U.S. This is one of many conclusions that Dr. Adrian Harpold, a SW CASC investigator, presented on January 23rd, 2019 when he visited the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research at the University of Arizona. Dr. Harpold is an ecohydrologist at the University of Nevada, Reno, and his talk was entitled “Managing forests with less snow: Combining high-resolution observations and modeling to better predict forest hydrology under change.” Dr.

Welcome to the SW CASC Blog!

10 months 4 weeks ago
Earyn McGee
Welcome to the SW CASC Blog! The Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center (SW CASC) is one of eight regional Climate Adaptation Science Centers under the Department of the Interior, managed by the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) National Climate Adaptation Science Center. We are a collaborative partnership between USGS and a consortium of seven academic institutions from across the region: University of Arizona (Host Institution), Colorado State University, Desert Research Institute, Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, University of California, Davis, University of California, Los Angeles, Utah State University.