Mark your calendars for the National Climate Adaptation Science Center’s upcoming webinar on Managing Post-Fire, Climate-Induced Vegetation Transitions on Thursday, March 11th at 12 p.m. PT. In this webinar, NW CASC-supported researchers, Meade Krosby, Mary Ann Rozance and Kim Davis, will present a review of current knowledge and practice around the emerging climate impact of post-fire vegetation transitions in the Northwest. This synthesis is the result of the NW CASC’s 2020 Deep Dive workshop, which convened natural resource managers and scientists from Northwest Tribes, universities, non-profit and private sectors, and federal, state and local governments to review what is currently known (and unknown) about managing climate-driven, post-fire vegetation transitions in the Northwest.
Register Today for the Northwest Climate Conference
Registration for the 2021 Northwest Climate Conference, taking place April 6-8, is now available! You can register here for either general registration ($150), student registration ($25), or apply to be considered for a full scholarship. This conference is for everyone working to build a climate-resilient Northwest. It has provided a learning and networking community for practitioners, scientists, community organizers, tribal members and others interested in climate change for over a decade. Please review the agenda and list of lightning talks that will be available, and keep an eye on our website for more details regarding plenary speakers, youth presentations, networking opportunities and more.
Faces of Adaptation: Meet Jessica Halofsky
Jessica Halofsky is the director of the USDA Northwest Climate Hub and the Forest Service Western Wildland Environmental Threat Assessment Center (WWETAC). In her role, Jessica promotes applied climate change science and adaptation in natural resources in the Northwest and across the West. Jessica has a background in forest ecology and fire and has been doing climate change adaptation work in the Northwest for over a decade. In her previous position, she pioneered one of the first climate change vulnerability assessment and adaptation projects with Olympic National Forest and National Park. Since that initial project, Jessica has co-led eight other sub-regional to regional-scale climate change vulnerability assessment and adaptation partnerships around the western US.
What led you to work in the field of climate adaptation?
I did my dissertation work at Oregon State University on fire and worked in the largest fire in Oregon’s recorded history — the 2002 Biscuit Fire. In doing that work, it became more and more clear to me that climate change is a vital issue of our time. So when I had the opportunity to work on one of the first climate change vulnerability assessments for a national forest and national park, I jumped at the chance. I’ve been working in climate change adaptation ever since.
What does your day-to-day work look like?
I spend a lot of my time assessing partner needs, facilitating and working with scientists and partners on projects, doing outreach (e.g., webinars and workshops), writing and editing reports, and connecting with the Northwest Climate Hub and WWETAC teams on various projects. I continue to work with national forests on climate change vulnerability assessments and adaptation across the West. Right now, my days usually involve many Zoom/Teams meetings, but I’m very much looking forward to in-person meetings and workshops sometime soon!
How does your organization support climate resilience in the Northwest?
The Forest Service WWETAC staff and funded partners develop and distribute scientific information about climate change and related forest threats across the western US, including wildfire, invasive plants, insect outbreaks and drought. WWETAC scientists and collaborators develop maps of current and future vegetation and carbon content, as well as modeling tools, science syntheses and case studies. These tools and products help land managers across the West plan management activities that optimize the ability of forests to sequester carbon while facilitating forest resilience and addressing resource needs such as clean water, air, wildlife habitat and recreation.
The USDA Northwest Climate Hub works with a diverse network of partners to support science-based decision making and facilitate communication with partners about climate-related risks and vulnerabilities in natural resources. The Northwest Hub covers Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington and offers practical, science-based information and tools that field staff and other partners can share with agricultural producers and natural resource managers to meet region-specific, climate-related needs. Through science assessments and syntheses, technology and tool development, and outreach and education, the Hubs leverage agency investments to build regional responses to climate variability and change.
What is your favorite thing about your work?
I feel lucky to work with great people, including the Hub and WWETAC teams and the broader natural resource community in the Northwest, and I really enjoy learning from partners and other scientists. I strive to do work that people find useful, so I think it’s especially rewarding when I see work that I’ve done or facilitated used by land managers on the ground.
A New Framework for Assessing Beaver-Related Restoration
Climate change and streams in the Northwest
Beavers are a fascinating and charismatic creature of the Northwest, but did you know they also play an important role in shaping our streams and rivers? Although beaver populations have bounced back after many populations were wiped out by hunting and habitat conversion, the century-long absence of beavers on the landscape is thought to be one of many factors contributing to the widespread degradation of streams in the western US. As climate change exacerbates drought, which in turn places additional stress on streams, there has been increasing focus on beaver-related restoration as a climate adaptation strategy and approach for restoring degraded streams. A recent NW CASC study offers a framework for evaluating the efficacy of beaver-related restoration and similar efforts.
Nature restoring nature – beavers as an adaptation strategy
Beaver-related restoration (BRR) involves bringing beaver dams back to landscapes by transferring beavers to degraded streams, building artificial dams, and restoring vegetation along streams to provide dam-building material that attracts beavers.
BRR is a process-based restoration strategy, meaning that it aims to restore processes, like dams storing water and sediment, thought to be vital to sustaining freshwater ecosystems. The same thing that makes BRR exciting — the concept of restoring nature with nature — also makes it complex, since restoration outcomes depend on complicated processes and factors, like beaver ecology and adjacent land uses, over which humans have limited control. This complexity can make this type of restoration difficult to evaluate.
On the one hand, process-based restoration methods like BRR are often inexpensive and low-tech, holding potential to be more scalable than more expensive and technical restoration methods. On the other hand, very few BRR projects have been carefully monitored, making it hard to discern whether the outcomes could be replicated in other locations.
A new adaptive framework for evaluating beaver-related restoration
Responding to the lack of robust evaluation of BRR projects, a recent NW CASC study offers a new framework for evaluating beaver-related restoration and other process-based restoration strategies. This framework moves away from a success-failure paradigm towards a more adaptive evaluation approach that can help researchers set more realistic expectations for project outcomes. Instead of setting rigid goals at the beginning of a project and evaluating effectiveness at the end, this study details a framework that can be used to document what happens throughout a project, where outcomes diverge from initial expectations and whether the goals for the project shift. Using this framework to document restoration projects through collecting both qualitative and quantitative data can help inform actions during the project as well as identify patterns that can inform future research and restoration efforts.
Funding Opportunity: Call for Statements of Interest for NW CASC Research
The Climate Adaptation Science Center Network, made up of nine regional Climate Adaptation Science Centers serving all US states, territories and affiliated Pacific Islands, is coming together to advance climate adaptation science through its Federal Fiscal Year 2022 funding opportunity. Through this funding opportunity, an estimated $10 million may be available across the network for research to support natural and cultural resource managers making science-based, climate adaptation decisions!
As part of this effort, the NW CASC is seeking proposals for Northwest climate adaptation research. Proposed projects should focus on developing scientific information and products that can be directly applied to the following resource management priorities, either locally or broadly across landscapes in Idaho, Oregon, Washington and western Montana:
- Management of Invasive Species and Diseases under Future Climate Scenarios
- Management of Shrubland Ecosystems under Future Climate Scenarios
- Managing Climate-driven, Post-fire Ecological Transformation
Individuals from the following eligible organizations may submit proposals as the lead Principal Investigator:
- Members of the NW CASC Consortium (Boise State University, Oregon State University, University of Montana, University of Washington, Washington State University, Western Washington University)
- USGS centers, field stations, laboratories, Cooperative Research Units, etc.
Researchers from other organizations (federal, state, tribal, non-governmental and other) may participate in CASC-funded projects and receive funds via subawards, contracts or interagency agreements through an eligible organization.
An informational webinar about this opportunity will be held on Tuesday, February 16th at 3 PM (PT). You can find the Zoom information in the RFP linked below.
The deadline for Statements of Interest is: Friday, March 19, 2021 | 2 PM (PT)
NW CASC Seeks Postdoc Focused on Fire & Climate
Are you a researcher interested in the nexus of climate change and wildfire? The University of Washington, in partnership with the Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center (NW CASC) and the University of Montana, is searching for a talented scientist with an interest in climate-fire-ecosystem dynamics and associated natural resource management in the Northwestern US and a passion for delivering research that informs decision-making!
The postdoctoral fellow will join a national cohort as part of the National and Regional Climate Adaptation Postdoctoral Fellows (CAPF) Program. The NW CAP Fellow will lead regionally focused research projects related to climate-fire-vegetation dynamics. Additionally, the NW CAP Fellow will collaborate with other CAP Fellows from across the country on national-scale research and synthesis on climate-fire issues and participate in regular training and professional development opportunities, including training on translational ecology, co-production of actionable science with natural resource decision-makers and interdisciplinary collaboration. This two-year position will be based at the University of Montana, jointly supervised and mentored by Dr. Solomon Dobrowski at the University of Montana and Drs. Meade Krosby and Amy Snover at the NW CASC/Climate Impacts Group at the University of Washington.
Apply today to join our dedicated team working to apply science in service of climate-resilient natural and cultural resources in the Northwest! Applications received by February 28, 2021 will be prioritized.
UW Climate Impacts Group Seeking Artist for Commissioned Piece on Climate Resilience
The University of Washington Climate Impacts Group is seeking qualifications for a two-dimensional visual art piece celebrates climate resilience and imagines a future in which the Northwest is prepared for the effects of a changing climate. This call is open to emerging artists located in the Northwestern United States.
NW CASC Funding Opportunity! 2021-22 Research Fellowship Program
The NW CASC is accepting proposals for our 2021-22 Research Fellowship Program through March 15, 2021. This program supports research related to climate adaptation in Northwest natural and cultural resource management and training in the principles and practices of developing decision-relevant science during the 2021-2022 academic year. Explore your impact building climate resilience in the Northwest and apply today!
2021 Science to Action Fellowship Accepting Applications Through January 31st
The Science to Action Fellowship program supports graduate students in directly applying scientific research related to climate change impacts on fish, wildlife, or ecosystems to decision making about natural resources. During the fellowship year and beyond, Fellows benefit from collaborations with university and USGS mentors, from interactions with other colleagues and partners of USGS, and from exposure to high priority, real-world challenges in the natural resources policy arena.
UW Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program Accepting Applications Through February 1st
The Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program at the University of Washington is designed for students who want to pursue their passion for nature conservation and environmental justice and are at the beginning of their studies at a four-year college or university. Students from two-year colleges will be considered on a case-by-case basis. The application period closes at 11:59 PM PST February 1, 2021.