April 2015 Newsletter

News and upcoming events related to the Southeast Climate Science Center. Subscribe to the monthly newsletter here.

—— SE CSC NEWS: ——————————————————
Meet Our New Cohort of 2015-2016 Global Change Fellows: This year the SE CSC will be funding 12 Global Change Fellows representing four colleges and seven departments across NCSU. Read about our stellar new fellows here!
North Carolina Tribes Share Concerns about Climate Change: The Southeast Regional Climate Hub (SERCH) and the SE CSC gave a joint presentation on “Tribes and Climate Adaptation” at the NC Indian Unity Conference in Raleigh, NC. The presentation at the conference, hosted by the United Tribes of North Carolina, was a part of an Environmental Justice session, in which we asked tribes what their needs and concerns were related to climate change, as well as related impacts on tribal natural and cultural resources. Read more.
SE CSC is a co-sponsor of Naomi Oreskes’ visit to NCSU, April 16-18:  She is Professor of History and Science at Harvard and is the keynote speaker for History Week-end at NCSU. Her talk is titled: Climate Science: Whom do you trust? Read more.
Don’t Miss WRAL’s Greg Fishel Town Hall: A Conversation with Dr. Kerry Emanuel, April 16, 7 pm – 9 pm. One of the world’s leading authorities (MIT) on severe weather, he conducts research on hurricanes, climate change, and the effects that climate change may have on severe weather. This event will take place at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, 11 West Jones Street, Raleigh, NC. Read more.
Ryan Boyles, SE CSC University Director, Interviewed for The Climate Listening Project: State Climatologist and Extension Associate Professor Ryan Boyles was interviewded for The Climate Listening Project. The Climate Listening Project is a new collaborative storytelling project connecting conversations about climate change impacts and resilience. Watch the trailer here.
New Important Publication on Fragmentation and Connectivity of Landscapes: SE CSC affiliated PI, Nick Haddad, has recently published Habitat fragmentation and its lasting impact on Earth’s ecosystems in the journal Science Advances. The results of this research showed that the effects are greatest in the smallest and most isolated fragments, and that they magnify with time. The paper illustrates an urgent need for conservation and restoration measures to improve landscape connectivity. Read more.
New Paper: US protected lands mismatch biodiversity priorities, in PNAS, by Clinton Jenkins, former NCSU researcher. Most protected lands are in the west, while the most vulnerable species are in the Southeast. He will be giving a webinar on this paper on May 7, 12 noon EST. Read more.
Global Change Fellow Presents to USGS Office: One of this year’s Global Change Fellows, Marketa Zimova, a PhD student in Forestry and Environmental Resources at NCSU was taped last month by the Office of Acquisition and Grants (OAG) of the USGS headquarters office to give an overview of her research. View her presentation, Seasonal camouflage confronts decreasing snowpack: Will color molting species adapt to climate change? Here.
TEDx Talk – Communicating about Climate: SE CSC’s collaborator, Susan Hassol, of ClimateCommunication.org shares her recent TED talk on communicating about climate. Watch it here.
—— NEWS FROM SERCH/USDA CLIMATE HUB PARTNER: —-
SERCH LIGHTS: A subscription-based alert system that provides drought information to subscribers based on their location. Read more.
A Year of Learning: SERCH is officially a year old! Read about all of the progress and education that has been developed in one wonderful year here.
Climate Hubs Tools Database Seeking Beta Testers: SERCH, in collaboration with the other Regional Climate Hus, has been hard at work developing an online Tools Database, making decision support tools readily available to those in the land management community. The Beta testing period is March 20 – May 29. Read more.
—— FEATURED RESOURCE: ——————————————
Public Opinion on Energy Development: the Interplay of Issue Framing, Top-of-Mind Associations, and Political Ideology: The George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication has just released this new article. In the study they examine how the framing of the issues of oil and gas development – specifically, describing it as either fracking or shale oil/gas development – influences public perceptions. Read more.
—— RESOURCES: ——————————————————–
Climate Change in the American Christian Mind: The first report from this survey done by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication has now been released. Many Americans draw, at least in part, upon their religious beliefs to guide their understanding and interpretation of climate change causes, impacts, and solutions. This report examines the global warming beliefs, risk perceptions, policy preferences, and related moral values of three major groups of American Christians. Read more.
New Interactive Education Module on Climate Change Effects: The Climate Change Resource Center (CCRC) has released a new interactive online education module on climate change effects on forests and grasslands. The module gives a brief overview of climate change effects on water resources, vegetation growth, wildlife, and disturbances.Read more.
SOCAN: The Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association (SECOORA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Ocean Acidification Program are facilitating the formation of the Southeast Ocean and Coastal Acidification Network (SOCAN) to support and encourage discussions on ocean and coastal acidification. SOCAN will enhance collaborations and communications throughout the region on acidification regional drivers; approaches to monitoring; state-of-the-science; and vulnerable species and ecosystems. Read more.
A 20 Year Dive Into Climate Change History: Science Friday is a website that has been listening to scientists discuss scientific ideas for more than 20 years. They have now created a collection of media resources discussing climate changes. In addition to this wealth of interviews and reports, they’ve pulled together a note organizer, some activities, interview transcripts, and links to recent climatological data. Read more.
Explore a New Collection of Thousands of Coastal and Seafloor Images: Thousands of photos and videos of the seafloor and coastline in most areas never seen before – are now available and easily accessible online. Imagery is available through the US Geological Survey (USGS) Coastal and Marine Geology Video and Photo Portal. Read more.
Beyond Downscaling – A bottom up approach for climate change adaptation for WRM: World Bank strives to mainstream climate change considerations into its operations to inform investment and water resources management decisions. Rather than design for an uncertain situation selected a priori, the so-called “bottom-um” approaches explore the sensitivity of a chosen project to the effects of the uncertainties of climate change. This bottom up publication is supported by the book, The Water Partnership Program.Read more.
—— WEBINARS: ———————————————————-
Understanding Risk and Exposure in an Urban Case Study: April 8, 2015. 12:00-1:00 pm Guest lecturers Patricia Winter and Pamela Padgett of the USDA Forest Service will be discussing how climate change poses both environmental and sociostructural challenges. They will present findings from a case study comparing two disadvantaged and two affluent communities in a large urban area. When the data from this study is paired with neighborhood and community data we are able to gain insights into the complexities of vulnerability and resilience. Read more.
Effects of Elevated CO2 on the Early Life-Stages of Marine Fishes and Potential Consequences of Ocean Acidification: April 21, 2015. Beginning at noon this webinar will be presented by R. Christopher Chambers, NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center. Read more.
A GIS Approach to Assessing Population Vulnerability to Smoke in the Southeastern US: April 29, 2015. 12:00-1:00 pm. This discussion will be hosted by guest speakers, Cassandra Johnson Gaither, Bryn Elise Murphy, and Scott Goodrick. Read more.
Crumbling Coral: Cold-water Reefs in the Acidic Northeast Pacific and their Implications for Other Regions of the USA: May 5, 2015. Beginning at noon this discussion will be presented by Leslie Wilkes and Peter Etnoyer, NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean and Science Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research. Read more.
Integrating Social Vulnerability into Planning and Decision-Making: May 6, 2015. 12:00-1:00 pm This webinar will include insight from guest lecturers Laurie Yung, Dan Williams, Carina Wyborn, and Daniel Murphy. Read more.
—— SEMINARS at NC State, unless otherwise noted: ———
April is Earth Month at NC State: This month is packed with more than 25 sustainability-related events. In addition to the annual Earth Fair expo in the Brickyard, this Earth Month events include a film screening, high-profile seminars, lunch-and-learns, a local foods picnic, an online “30 days, 30 ways” sustainability challenge, and so much more! See the events list here!
April 17, 1 pm – 5 pm. 1216 Jordan Hall Addition. Investment and International Land Deals in the Tropics: Who Owns the Forest? Read more.
April 20, 3:30 pm – 4:3 0 pm.  1216 Jordan Hall Addition. New Crisis: Recent Dramatic Changes of Global River Discharge to the Ocean – The Physical and Biogeochemical Implications. Read more.
April 30, 12 -1 pm. Talley Student Union Room 3285. Water Resources from a Humanities and Social Science Perspective. Read more.
—— UPCOMING EVENTS: ———————————————–
Upcoming Climate Change Adaptation Planning Course: The Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals will be offering a Climate Change Adaptation Planning Course June 16-18, 2015, in Bishop, CA. The course is intended for tribal environmental and natural resource professionals who expect to be involved in climate change adaptation planning. Read more.
Registration Open for 2015 Rising Voices Workshop: Rising Voices will be at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, CO, June 29 – July 1, 2015. Limited travel funding may be available for those who could not otherwise attend. If you plan to apply for funding, please indicate that you will need full or partial funding when you register. The registration deadline for those requesting funding is April 24. Read more.
—— LCC NEWS: ————————————————————
Appalachian:
* Endangered Species Act Protections Proposed for Two Appalachian Crayfishes. Read more.
* A Complex Appalachian Forest Landscape has both Vulnerabilities and Resistance to Climate Change. Read more.
Gulf Coastal Plains and Ozark:
* Conservation Planning Atlases – Getting the Word Out. Read more.
* Strategic Planning for Resilience and Looking Ahead. Read more.
Peninsular Florida:
* New Study Shows Protected Lands in the US Mismatch Priorities for Biodiversity with Southeast the Area Most in Need. Read more.
* Updates from the Atlantic Coast Joint Venture. Read more.
South Atlantic:
* The State of the South Atlantic is Now Available!!: This assessment measures all of the Cooperative’s natural and cultural resource indicators and scores them on an A/B/C/D/F scale. It’s a snapshot in time and tells how the lands and waters are doing today. Read more.
* A New Interactive Education Module on Climate Change Effects. Read more.
—— OTHER NEWS: ——————————————————–
Climate Change, Art Quilts, & National Parks: A traveling exhibit of art quilts highlights climate challenges in the national parks. This audio presentation by Gary Bremen explains that the goals of the art quilt exhibit is to get people thinking about how climate change is affecting these national treasures. To counter the effects of climate change, the quilters hope a stitch in time saves nine. Read more.
Software Tool Allows Scientist to Correct Climate ‘Misinformation’ from Major Media Outlets: After so much misinformation on climate change and climate sciences having been spread through the media scientists are developing a web plugin to right the wrongs in climate reporting. The plugin is called Climate Feedback. Read more.
—— OPPORTUNITIES: —————————————————–
NC Coastal Resources Commission Science Panel Allows Public Comment on Sea Level Report Draft: The Coastal Resources Commission’s Science Panel is working to update its 2010 report on sea-level rise in NC. The last stage of drafting this report was made available for public comment beginning on March 31, 2015. Comments may be submitted through December 31, 2015. Read more.
Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs Job Opening: Physical Scientist needed full time in the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs. Job opening period: Thursday March 26 – Monday April 27, 2015. The position is located in Washington DC. View details here.
Call for Symposium Proposals: Deadline for proposals is April 24, 2015. The AAAS Annual Meeting is the most important general science venue for a growing segment of scientists and engineers who are interested in the latest advances as well as multidisciplinary topics and the influence of science and technology on how we live today. The 2016 theme is Global Science Engagement. Read more.
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