The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has awarded the University of Colorado Boulder with a 5-year cooperative agreement to host the North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center (NC CASC). This new award follows an initial successful 6-year partnership.

NC CASC, which has been housed at CIRES since 2018, is one of nine regional climate centers created to assist land and resource managers from federal, state, Tribal, and local governments, non-profit organizations, and private landowners across the country in meeting the challenges of changing climate. The center advances the development and delivery of actionable science to help fish, wildlife, water, land, and people in the North Central region adapt to a changing environment. This includes the states of Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas, and Nebraska.

Climate adaptation science is vital for developing strategies to protect ecosystems, communities, and economies from the impacts of climate change. The center’s principal investigator, William Travis, professor of Geography at the University of Colorado Boulder, said that by integrating climate data with local needs, NC CASC helps decision-makers implement sustainable, science-based solutions. 

“The landscapes, wildlife, and cultural resources so valued by the region’s residents are under increasing pressure from rising temperatures, changing land use patterns, and extreme events,” Travis said. "The center will continue collaborating with regional partners, including USGS scientists and Tribal nations, to develop practical climate solutions, data, and science-based tools and guidance for effective adaptation.”  

NC CASC coordinates a regional network of partners who draw on their particular expertise to address issues of wildfire, invasive plants, species at risk, and cultural values under rapidly changing climate conditions. Consortium partners include Colorado State University, the University of Wyoming, The Nature Conservancy, South Dakota State University, the University of Montana, and the Great Plains Tribal Water Alliance. 

With the new award set to begin October 1, 2024, Dr. Imtiaz Rangwala, NC CASC’s Climate Science Lead, says he is “​​very excited to continue the engagement with partners in the delivery of actionable climate science including development of tools to generate robust scenarios of future climate and ecological change to inform efforts that include US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Species Status Assessments, State Wildlife Action Plans, and Tribal Climate Adaptation Plans." 

The award will continue to support NC CASC's engagement efforts, including projects focused on sustaining bison grazing on Badlands and Wind Cave National Parks and adjacent Tribal lands; modeling future snowpack that supports species like wolverines; and providing climate science and data for the Sicangu Lakota (Rosebud Sioux) Climate Adaptation Plan. 

Scientists from the University of Colorado Boulder, CIRES, the USGS, and consortium partner organizations will advance research that informs and empowers communities to tackle the environmental challenges of today and the future.

This story was adapted from an NC CASC press release.