Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center's Regional Science Meeting
Incorporating Climate Science in the Management of Natural and Cultural Resources in the Midwest and Northeast
May 15-17, 2017 - University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Since the inception of the NE CASC in 2012, our stakeholder partners have been guiding our science directions and priorities so that together we can improve the way our climate science informs decisions and actions in adapting to a changing climate. For our Regional Science Meeting, we gathered our scientists and partners to reflect on our collaborative work to incorporate climate science in the management of natural and cultural resources in the Northeast and Midwest and determined future directions and needs for our region.
See the presentations list and hyperlinks >>
See the FULL PROCEEDINGS here >>
Goals of the Regional Meeting:
- To share NE CASC research and discuss emerging themes for future work.
- To provide a forum for and build collaborations among resource management professionals applying climate-related information and researchers who are currently engaged in climate-related projects to discuss inter-disciplinary and inter-institutional research topics.
- To identify opportunities and improve directions in actionable science, science communication, and advancing adaptation plans for resource professionals.
Specific Outcomes and Output:
- An understanding of the science produced by the NE CASC and applications in natural resource management through presentations, breakout focused discussions, panel discussions, and displays of tools and projects.
- Identification of adaptation strategies that are being applied or incorporated into management action plans.
- Discussion of next steps in research and the application of climate science.
- Refinement of the metrics used to gauge success in producing actionable science and climate adaptation.
- Prioritization of emerging actionable science projects, outreach, and collaborations.
- Broadening the NE CASC network; increase engagement between stakeholder-scientist partnerships in the NE CASC community.
- Development of a project storyboard that includes the problem, situation, tools used, examples of decisions made and actions implemented, lessons learned, etc.
Key Note Address Tuesday, May 16 - 9:15am Bruce Stein, National Wildlife Federation, “Preparing for Change—Ecological and Institutional” Bruce Stein from Addie on Vimeo. |
Climate Science in the Northeast and Midwest with Federal Panel Discussion Tuesday, May 16 - 10:00am Ray Bradley, NE CASC and UMass, Amherst, “How has climate in the NE U.S. changed? What can we expect in the future?” with Ambarish Karmalkar. |
Conservation Across Landscapes: Aquatic Connectivity Tuesday, May 16 - 11:15am Keith Nislow, UMass Amherst and USFS, “The climate around aquatic connectivity: defining the science and management framework in the northeastern region” Melissa Ocana, Program Manager, UMass Amherst, “The North Atlantic Aquatic Connectivity Collaborative (NAACC): Climate-Ready and Critter-Friendly Culverts” Scott Jackson, UMass, Amherst, and Jessie Levine, TNC Canada. Ben Letcher, Ecologist, Conte Anadromous Fish Research Center USGS, “Aquatic Connectivity” |
Planning Under Uncertainty Tuesday, May 16 - 12:30pm Tom Bonnot and Ambarish Karmalkar, NE CASC Post-doc Fellows -“Planning Under Uncertainty” |
Conservation Across Landscapes: Terrestrial Landscape Conservation Design Tuesday, May 16 - 1:45pm Scott Schwenk, Science Coordinator, NA LCC “Collaborative Landscape Conservation Design from Maine to Virginia.” Frank Thompson, NE CASC Co-PI and US Forest Service Northern Research Station: “Linking Climate, ecosystem and landscape models to inform vulnerability assessments and landscape conservation design.” Tom Bonnot, Post-doctoral Fellow, University of Missouri School of Natural Resources: “Application of landscape and wildlife models in a structured decision framework for landscape conservation design in the Gulf Coastal Plains and Ozarks Landscape Conservation Cooperative.” |
Integrating climate science into state conservation planning and actions: Opportunities and challenges Tuesday, May 16 - 3:00pm Michelle Staudinger, Science Coordinator, DOI NE CASC, “Integrating and implementing climate change into Northeast and Midwest SWAPs” Davia Palmeri, Climate Change Coordinator, Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, “SWAP Implementation: A National Perspective » Brad Potter, Coordinator, Upper Midwest & Great Lakes Landscape Conservation Cooperative, “Working on State Wildlife Action Plan Priorities Across Multiple Midwest States” Elizabeth Crisfield, Strategic Stewardship Initiative, “Climate Change and State Wildlife Agencies” with Karen Terwilliger. Sally Ann Sims, Consultant, Terwilliger Consulting, “2015 Northeast SWAPs: Climate Change: Impacts and Adaptation in the Northeast Exploring Regional Priorities for Action” Rebecca Quinones, Aquatic Biologist, MA Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, “SWAP’ing into action: Examples of Climate Adaptation in Massachusetts” Dustin Bronson, Forest Research Scientist, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, ”Wisconsin perspectives on integrating climate information into the WAP” |
Scenario Planning: Managing for a Range of Possible Futures Tuesday, May 16 - 3:00pm Alex Bryan, USGS/ NE CASC Climate Postdoc Fellow- “Scenario Planning: Managing for a Range of Possible Futures” |
Collaboration in Action: Tribes and the NE CASC Network Tuesday, May 16 - 4:30pm Chris Caldwell, Sustainable Development Institute Director, College of Menominee Nation, “Collaboration in Action: Tribes and the NECSC“ Tansey Smith, Climate Change Specialist, 1854 Treaty Authority, “The 1984 Treaty Authority” Asha Ajmani, Ecology Program Manager, Sipayik Environmental Department, "Passamaquoddy Tribal Climate Change Program” |
Floodplains, Wetlands, and Water Resources Wednesday, May 17 - 9:00am Richard Palmer, University Director of NE CASC , UMass Amherst, and Christian Marks, Floodplain Forest Ecologist, The Nature Conservancy, “Restoring Floodplains in the Connecticut River Basin: A Collaborative Approach to Flood Management” Abigail Erickson, Bogumila Backiel, Christian Marks, Keith Nislow. Gwen White, Coordinator, Tallgrass Prairie LCC (presenting remotely), “Mississippi Basin/Gulf Hypoxia Initiative: Precision Conservation Blueprint v1.5” Robb Jacobson, Supervisory Research Hydrologist, USGS, “Exploring Common Ground between Agriculture and Ecological Restoration in Large-River Floodplains” Colin Gleason, Assistant Professor, UMass Amherst, “Supraglacial Rivers and Sea Level Rise: An Overlooked Control” |
Wildlife Vulnerability to Climate Change & What To Do About It Wednesday, May 17 - 9:00am Toni Lyn Morelli, USGS Research Ecologist with the NE CASC, and Rebecca Quinones, Aquatic Biologist, MA Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, “Using Decision Tools to Assess Vulnerability and Inform Management of Wildlife in the Northeast” “Decreasing Vulnerability of Coldwater Fishes in Massachusetts” Ben Zuckerberg, Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin- Madison- "Assessing Climate Change Vulnerability of Grassland Birds" with Lisa A. McCauley and Christine A. Ribic Evan Grant, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, USGS, “Climate Change Uncertainty is NOT a Primary Impediment to Stream Conservation” Dan Pendleton, New England Aquarium, “How and why is the Timing and Occurrence of Seasonal Migrants in the Gulf of Maine Changing due to Climate?” Mike Schummer, Visiting Assistant Professor, State University of New York at Oswego, “Weather Severity Indices for Projecting Changing in Autumn-Winter Distributions of Dabbling Ducks in the Mississippi and Atlantic Flyways During the 21st Century”
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Great Lakes Coastal Resilience Wednesday, May 17 - 10:30am Pete McIntyre, NE CASC Co-PI, University of Wisconsin-Madison "Current NECSC-related projects, and priorities for the future” Brian Irwin, Georgia Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, “Viewing Fisheries from a Decision-Analytic Perspective” Karen Murchie, Shedd Aquarium, presenting remotely, “Monitoring Fish Migration Timing and Cues in Great Lakes Tributaries via Citizen Science” |
Atlantic Coastal Resilience Wednesday, May 17 - 10:30am Erika Lentz, Research Ecologist, USGS, “A Research and Decision Support Framework to Evaluate Coastal Landscape Change” Taj Schottland, Coastal Adaptation Specialist, National Wildlife Federation, “Adaptation Planning: A Case Study From the Great Marsh of Massachusetts” Megan Tyrrell, Research Coordinator, Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, “Thresholds Synthesis to SLR and Storm Threats for Focal Species Along the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf Coasts” |
Managing Climate Change Refugia Wednesday, May 17 - 11:45am Toni Lyn Morelli, USGS Research Ecologist with the NE CASC, "Managing Climate Change Refugia" |
Forest Management and Adaptation Wednesday, May 17 - 1:00pm Anthony D’Amato, University of Vermont and co-PI with NE CASC, “Forest Management and Adaptation: NECSC Research and Partnerships” |
Fish and Fisheries Management Wednesday, May 17 - 1:00pm Brian Irwin, GA Coop F&W Research Unit, “Spatial and Temporal Variation in Fish Populations” Gretchen Hansen, MN DNR,“Climate Change impacts on Lake Thermal Habitat and Fish Communities in the Upper Midwest” Craig Paukert, MO Coop Research Unit, “FishTail: A Decision Support Mapper for Conserving Stream Fish Habitats of the NE CASC Region” Adrian Jordaan, UMass, “Coastal Fish Migrations and Seasonal Change” |