Ten Ways SE CASC is Strengthening the Southeast

Since its founding in 2011, the Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center (SE CASC) has been advancing climate adaptation through strong partnerships, actionable science, and capacity building across the Southeast and U.S. Caribbean. Working alongside Tribal Nations, natural and cultural resource managers, scientists, and students, SE CASC helps ensure that fish, wildlife, water, land, and people are equipped to navigate a changing climate.

Here, we celebrate the impact of this work by highlighting ten accomplishments that reflect the strength of our collaborations and the real-world difference our science makes.

Explore the below Ten Accomplishments and celebrate with us the continued impact of SE CASC.

1. Contributing to a Hazard‑Ready Nation

SE CASC leads applied preparedness initiatives from drought workshops to floodplain modeling and fire management.

• Drought: Read the reports from the Southeast regional drought and aquatic ecosystem workshops from 2025 and 2016
• Flooding: Adapting Water Control Operations and Floodplain Conservation Planning to Global Change
• Fire: Understanding Prescribed Fire Management in the Context of Climate Change and Landscape Transformation

2. Boosting Government Efficiency

SE CASC enhances natural resource governance across its entire footprint by funding projects requested by state and federal colleagues that directly address research and science needs.

• State Wildlife Action Plans: Review of Southeast State Wildlife Actions Plans 
• DOI: Nature-based Solutions Roadmap updates and rollout
• National Parks Service: Developing the Opti-Pres model
• U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service: CAnVas data visualization tool for managers.
• SE-AFWA: Improving Support for Regional Conservation Efforts in the Region Managed by the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies

3. Supporting Natural Resource Sectors

SE CASC’s science supports economic resilience across natural resource sectors like forestry, tourism, and fisheries – all vital to the livelihoods of citizens across the Southeast.

• Forestry: Responses of Red Oak Species Differing in their Flood Tolerance to Extreme Climatic Events
• Hunting: Assessing the Climate Vulnerability of Wild Turkeys Across the Southeastern U.S.
• Hunting: Informing Management of Waterfowl Harvest in a Changing Climate
• Recreation & Wildlife: Brook Trout Population Responses to Climate Variation Across the Southeast
• Fisheries & Water Quality: Clarifying Science Needs for Determining the Impact of Climate Change on Harmful Algal Blooms in the Southeastern United States

4. Simplifying Regulatory Burdens

SE CASC supports USFWS Species Status Assessments (SSA) and State Wildlife Action Plans (SWAPs) to inform regulation decisions and prevent species from becoming listed.

• Visualizing Species Status Assessments: Analysis and Visualization of Climate Information to Support USFWS Species Status Assessments
• Species Vulnerability Assessments: Characterizing Climate Change Impacts on Species Ecology to Support Species Status Assessments

5. Mapping Future Changes in the Southeast

SE CASC science helps forecast future land-use and habitat change for resource, land, and city managers across the Southeast. These tools help shape resilient choices in infrastructure and urban planning. 

• Urban Lands: Improving Scenarios of Future Patterns of Urbanization, Climate Adaptation, and Landscape Change in the Southeast
• Coastal Communities: Integrating Sea Level Rise Scenarios into Everglades Restoration Planning

6. Supporting an Interdisciplinary Workforce 

Each year, SE CASC selects a diverse cohort of graduate student Global Change Research Fellows and has supported 150+ fellows since 2011. These programs immerse early-career scientists in ground-truthed interdisciplinary adaptation efforts. 

• Program Overview: The SE CASC Global Change Research Fellows Program.
• Meet the Current Fellows: Announcing the 2025-26 Global Change Research Fellows

7. Enhancing Caribbean Baseline Datasets

SE CASC has dramatically improved baseline climate data for the U.S. Caribbean with downscaled projections at local scales. This foundational work feeds directly into regional scenario planning and adaptation strategies. 

• Caribbean: Puerto Rico & US Virgin Islands Dynamical Downscaled Climate Change Projections
• Puerto Rico: Advancing Climate Change Adaptation Strategies for High Elevation and Endangered Lowland Coquí Frogs in the U.S. Caribbean
• U.S. Virgin Islands: Synthesis of Hydrologic, Water Quality, and Ecosystem Data for Climate Adaptation Planning

8. Upholding Trust and Treaty Obligations to SE Tribal Nations

SE CASC actively collaborates with Tribal Nations to integrate traditional ecological knowledge into climate adaptation efforts. This includes participatory mapping and strategies for archaeological preservation.

• Partnership Commitments to Tribal Nations
• The Long View: Developing a 500-year Climate Adaptation Plan with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians
• Evaluating the Vulnerability of Indigenous Shell Middens and Marsh Habitat Diversity to Sea Level Rise

9. Preserving the Southeast’s Heritage

SE CASC projects involve communities whose heritage is being impacted by environmental threats to best preserve them for future generations. Interdisciplinary work with communities members makes sure adaptation solutions are not just effective, but actionable.

• Culture: Examining Diverse Management Objectives and Broadening Stakeholder Engagement for Climate Adaptation Planning of Historic Structures Within the National Park System
• Endemic Species: Climate Impact Summaries for Rare-Plant Biodiversity in the Southeastern U.S.
• Refuges and Parks: Communicating Future Sea-Level Rise Scenarios for Gulf Coast National Wildlife Refuge and National Park Lands

10. Defending Species from Invasive Threats

The Southeast is the first line of defence for the continental United States to invasive species moving north. SE CASC work recognizes this threat and supports science to defend our native species.

• Building Networks: Accelerating the Scale and Impact of the Southeast Regional Invasive Species and Climate Change Management Network
• Defending Fish: Predicting Climate-Driven Invasive Fish Spread to Support Indigenous and State Freshwater Management in Florida
• Defending Agriculture: Predicting Invasive Vine Spread in the Southeast Using Remote Sensing and Species Distribution Models