April 2024 Newsletter

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Acting Deputy Secretary of the Interior, Laura Daniel-Davis, was hosted by the University of Puerto Rico to announce $2.75 million investment in Puerto Rico’s climate workforce with SE CASC and PR-DNER. Read the DOI press release or local coverage of the announcement in Spanish.

SE CASC Research Ecologist Adam Terando’s work on urbanization models in the Southeast was featured in the USGS highlight, “Working together towards a conservation landscape of the future.”

Don’t miss the May 16 science seminar, “Priorities and Opportunities for Enhancing Collaborative Wildlife Conservation in the Southeast” hosted by Kaitlyn Tiffany & Nils Peterson.

Our Global Change Research Fellows hosted, “Becoming Better Climate Educators” with Small Island Big Song. Participants explored alternative forms of science communication through art. Read their reflection here. 

Yoichiro Kanno co-authored a data release about brook trout population variance between streams. Read our blog about it. 

Watch the recording of our latest science seminar, “Projecting Habitat for Imperiled Bird Species in the Southern Appalachians” with Samuel Flake.

Southeast RISCC is conducting a survey of their members to identify their strengths and knowledge gaps as a network. Take the survey.

Sparrow Loves Birds is a STEM picture book authored by 2022-23 Global Change Research Fellow, Murry Burgess. Preorder it here. 

Marcelo Ardón is featured in what the removal of DC’s cherry blossoms could mean for coastal forests. 

Gregory Guannel hosts community climate adaptation fellows whose survey supplies new information on climate change effects at the University of the Virgin Islands. Learn more.

Research Affiliate Spotlight

View a searchable list of all SE CASC Research Affiliates and find your next collaborator!

Community News from the Southeast

Partners

Emerging Leaders offer reflections on the Southeast Landscape of the Future Summit, co-hosted by SECAS. Read them here.

The DOI announces the expansion of four national wildlife refuges in New Mexico, North Carolina and Texas. Learn more.

The entire Fifth National Climate Assessment has been translated into Spanish. 

The North Carolina Bird Atlas is calling on experienced birders to contribute time and skills to count breeding and overwintering birds. Learn more. 

Tribal

Visit USET Climate Change Headlines for updates and highlights from across the USET region.  

National Indian Health Board Tribal Environmental Justice Technical Assistance Center is now accepting requests for technical assistance and support for Tribes to apply for federal funding. Learn more. 

53rd Annual Trail of Tears Art Show. John Henry Gloyne of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians was recognized as this year’s Best of Show for, “Burial Ceremony: The Four Souls of the Cherokee Being.” Learn more.

How Indigenous People Historically Marked Eclipses. Robin Young speaks with Erin Fehr, Sequoyah National Research Center at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and Dakota Brown, director of education at the Museum of the Cherokee People. Learn more.

Gatherings

Webinars

• Apr 25 | 1PM ET | SE RISCC April Webinar with Dr. Cleo Bertelsmeier
• Apr 26 | 12PM ET | Methane Matters: Strategic Communications For Climate Action 
• May 7 | 11AM ET | NCA5 Key Message 4: Agriculture Faces Growing Threats, but Innovations Offer Help
• May 9 | 3PM ET | NTC/EPA Tribal Climate Town Hall: EPA’s Climate Adaptation Plan and Leveraging Grants for Climate Action
• May 16 | 12PM PT | Advancing Ecology and Environmental Data Science for a More Just and Equitable Future 
• May 16 | 1PM ET | SE CASC Science Seminar: Priorities and Opportunities for Enhancing Collaborative Wildlife Conservation in the Southeast
• May 28 | 11AM ET | Triple Threat: Addressing Climate Justice, Food Insecurity & Health Disparity in African American Rural SC

Events

• April 23 3PM ET | Alt-Academic Science Career Panel | NC State University

Resources and Publications

Resources

Conservation.gov. This is an information hub supporting locally led efforts to conserve and restore our nation’s lands, waters, and wildlife.

Adaptive Forest Stewardship Forest Climate Adaptation Toolkit. This interactive map presents real-world examples of place-based stewardship, strategies, and tools for forest climate adaptation that are rooted in Indigenous Knowledge (IK) and Western Science (WS).

What do Americans want to know about climate change? The Yale Program for Climate Change Communication conducted an analysis investigating how the questions people would ask an expert vary across different subgroups, including demographic and political groups and Global Warming’s Six Americas.

New Actionable Science Toolkit. This toolkit is for federal resource managers seeking guidance to co-produce actionable science to support public land management.

Publications

• Redesign of a Life Cycle Figure Improves Student Conceptions of Ecology and Evolution. Education Sciences. 
• The Potential for Coral Reef Restoration to Mitigate Coastal Flooding as Sea Levels Rise. Nature Communications.
• Disease- smart climate adaptation for wildlife management and conservation.Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.

Opportunities

Student Announcements

The Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) is now accepting applications for the HBCU Environmental Justice and Climate Corps Internship. Applications are due May 3.

The World Wildlife Fund is hiring a Media & External Affairs Intern, Hispanic Outreach.

Colleagues at Duke are hiring an Intern to support a meta-analysis on the effects of timber harvest and marine fishing on biodiversity and ecosystem carbon. Learn more.

Hiring Announcements

The Hensel Lab at the University of Florida is hiring a biological scientist for a summer position in Gulf Coast field ecology. Applications close April 26.

The National Ocean Service, Stewardship, Ecosystems Program at NOAA is hiring a Management and Program Analyst based out of St. Petersburg, FL, San Juan, PR, or Charleston, SC. Applications close April 26.

USGS National Climate Adaptation Science Center has a data informatics fellowship opportunity through ORISE for a current or recently graduated Masters or PhD. Applications due by May 10.

The Department of the Interior is seeking a Director-Bureau of Indian Affairs. Applications accepted until May 10.

The University of Alabama, as part of the Cooperative Institute for Research to Operations in Hydrology, and in collaboration with the NOAA National Weather Service Office of Water Prediction, and the NOAA National Integrated Drought Information System, is hiring a Water and Drought Resource Specialist. Apply by May 15.

The Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability at Duke is looking for a Research Associate. Applications are accepted until June 30.

Audubon North Carolina is hiring a Policy Director. 

Duke University is looking for a Program Director – Oceans.

The EPA has a research opportunity for a Fellowship in Regional Global Change Research at Research Triangle Park, NC. Applications are being reviewed on a rolling basis and officially close on August 2.

Funding Announcements

NFWF has opened their Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley 2024 RFP for projects to restore, enhance and conserve bottomland hardwood forest and wetland habitats to benefit wildlife and improve water quality within the Mississippi Alluvial Valley region of AR, IL, KY, LA, MS, MO, and TN. Apply by April 25.

NSF is soliciting project proposals for the Civic Innovation Challenge (CIVIC). Apply by May 1.

The EPA is soliciting applications from eligible applicants to manage the Healthy Watersheds Consortium Grant Program through a cooperative agreement and subsequent subawards. Applications due May 10.

The National Endowment for the Humanities Cultural and Community Resilience Program is accepting grant applications. Due May 21.

The NASEM Gulf Research Program is now accepting applications for Early Career Research Fellowships. Apply by May 22.

NOAA RESTORE Science Program is seeking applications for the Long-Term Trends in the Gulf of Mexico Ecosystem funding opportunity. LOI due May 23. 

Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies is soliciting full proposals for the 2025 Multistate Conservation Grant Program. Due June 7.

EPA has announced a notice of funding opportunity for their Community Change Grants Program. Apply by November 21.