Reflections on the 2024 Climate Adaptation Retreat and Field Intensive

The Global Change Field Intensive kicked off the year with the 2024-25 Global Change Research Fellows in the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont. The six-day retreat included learning through lectures and field activities and relationship building with partners and each other. Fellows learned from 15 speakers across consortium institutions, partners at the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and staff from the National Parks Service.

The week started at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville where Paul Armsworth introduced the concepts of co-production and actionable science. Then, Xingli Giam and his student Caleb Moses lectured on their work with aquatic connectivity and hosted a tour of their lab. Fellows were introduced to the available team science project topics that they will take on throughout their year and engaged in a tower-building activity to understand how teams work.

Next, the Fellows headed to the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont, a beautiful educational center nestled within the park. There, Krishna Pacifici introduced the basics of decision science and Kasia Nikiel gave a lecture on climate science and modeling. 

Steph Courtney offered a lesson on the principles and ethics of tribal engagement before the Fellows traveled to Cherokee to spend the day with Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians staff and learn about local climate impacts and adaptation efforts. This included a stop at the Cherokee Boys Club with Katie Tiger and Donnie Owle to learn about the new electric bus fleet, and to the Ela dam with Rainee Tetreault to hear about their plans for decommissioning and removing the dam.

The Fellows were guided by natural resources staff, Mike LaVoie and Josh Parris, through the forest areas where they spotted sochan, an important cultural and natural resource for the Tribe. The Fellows would later that evening get to eat prepared sochan as part of a traditional dinner.

Todd Schenk led the Fellows in a collaborative governance game where they had to take on different roles to protect an endangered salamander. At lunch, Katherine Smith led a conversation on orienting future career goals and federal opportunities that are available to students. Fellows were then split into their team science groups and met with their mentors, Kasia Nikiel and Brett Scheffers. Nikiel also gave a presentation on climate data applications. 

On the last full day, the Fellows joined National Parks Services staff to talk about the climate impacts and adaptation challenges they face while managing a growing population of park visitors. Fellows joined Matt Kulp and field technicians in electrofishing to monitor brook trout streams. Then the Fellows went to an overlook with Paul Super to learn more about the impacts of the 2016 Chimney Tops fire before rounding out the day talking about air quality monitoring with Jim Renfro at Look Rock.

Throughout the week, the Fellows convened at night around a fire in the friendship circle, and were joined by storytellers and musicians to take in more Appalachian culture. They also got to share their own stories and visions for the future.

On the last day, the Fellows shared their creative projects that they had been finding quiet moments to work on throughout the week. These projects were a culmination of all they had learned and experienced and were made of foraged materials, old magazines, and even trash to tell their stories. After an intensive week, these projects showcased the myriad takeaways and opportunities for bonding and relationship building! 

We want to extend a massive thank you to the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont for hosting us throughout the week. We’d also like to thank all of our incredible speakers and partners for sharing their valuable time by taking us into the field.