October 2017 Newsletter
October 2017 Newsletter
Welcome to the Southeast Climate Science Center’s October 2017 Newsletter.
In this newsletter you will find:
SE CSC News
Resources
Notable Publications
Tribal News
Partner News
Webinars
Upcoming Events
Opportunities
For news and upcoming events related to the Southeast Climate Science Center subscribe to our monthly newsletter.
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Southeast Climate Science Center News
SE CSC Research Scientist Mitch Eaton was a facilitator at a workshop supporting the 2018 update of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan. He helped to lead participants through a process to assess the waterfowl management community’s combined strengths and weaknesses to confront future threats and opportunities to sustain healthy wetlands and waterfowl populations, increase the relevancy of waterfowl conservation for a broader public, and integrate institutional structures and activities to better meet Plan objectives.
Global Change Fellow alumnus Michael Just recently published a paper, Invasibility of a fire-maintained savanna–wetland gradient by non-native, woody plant species, in Forest Ecology and Management. An early online version is available.
Consortium PI Paul Armsworth seeks to recruit a cohort of excellent conservation-centric graduate students for a fully funded studentship with a new research initiative in Conservation Science. Learn more.
The Southeast Climate Science Center 2011-16 Center Report is now available on our website. The report summarizes research projects over the first phase of the SE CSC, and highlights recent publications, resources, and capacity building activities. Read the report.
Assistant University Director Aranzazu Lascurain joined with new Tribal Climate Liaison Casey Thornbrugh at a recent meeting of the Natural Resources Committee of United South and Eastern Tribes.
A new paper from research funded by SE CSC, co-authored by PI Michael Osland, Linear and nonlinear effects of temperature and precipitation on ecosystem properties in tidal saline wetlands, has been published in Ecosphere. Read the article.
NCSU Faculty Affiliate Rebecca Irwin published a paper, Interannual bumble bee abundance is driven by indirect climate effects on floral resource phenology in Ecology Letters. DOI: 10.1111/ele.12854. See NCSU News Release.
Conservation Corridor: To help managers and scientists produce actionable connectivity plans, we are starting a systematic review of connectivity conservation plans. See detail in Opportunities section.
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Resources
FEATURED RESOURCE
Total Water Level and Coastal Change Forecast Viewer
The USGS National Assessment of Coastal Change Hazards project is working in collaboration with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) / National Weather Service and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction to make total water level and coastal change forecasts. This operational model combines NOAA wave and water level predictions and a USGS wave runup model with beach slope observations to provide regional weather offices with detailed forecasts of total water levels. The USGS compares these total water levels to the protective dunes along sandy coastlines to forecast the probability of coastal change. Investigate the tool.
Hurricane-related Resources
USGS storm surge monitoring. USGS hurricane response crews were featured in a news story describing work collecting data about the height of storm surge caused by Hurricane Irma in Florida; storm surges are increases in ocean water levels generated at sea by extreme storms. High water marks measured after the storm are used to assess storm damage and inform flood zone mapping. The data are made publicly available through Flood Event Viewer, a map-based online data portal. Data from monitoring equipment installed before Irma and other large, short-term storm events, such as storm tide sensors, barometers, and rapid deployment gauges, can also be accessed there. View the video
USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Flooding Maps. These maps were created to help assess impacts on nonindigenous aquatic species distributions due to flooding associated with storms. Storm surge and flood events can assist expansion and distribution of nonindigenous aquatic species through connection of adjacent watersheds, backflow of water upstream of impoundments, increased downstream flow, and/or creation of freshwater bridges along coastal regions. These maps will help natural resource managers determine potential new locations for individual species, or to develop a watchlist of potential new species within a watershed. View the maps.
What We Know about the Climate Change–Hurricane Connection. Some links are indisputable; others are more subtle, but the science is improving all the time. Learn more.
Other Resources
Climate Impact Map. Climate Impact Lab, a collaboration of university and consultant scientists, has developed a mapping tool to allow users to explore climate change impacts in US states. Starting with changes in temperature, the map will expand to include projected social and economic impacts in the weeks and months ahead. Learn more.
States at Risk is a Preparedness Report Card that evaluated how prepared each of the 50 U.S. states are for their current and future climate threats. The project focuses on five threats – extreme heat, drought, wildfires, coastal flooding, and inland flooding – that are linked to climate change. For each state, it identifies and scores the priority threats by assessing their relevance, significance, and projected magnitudes of change in the future and assesses whether states are taking a core set of actions to help them protect people and infrastructure from those threats. State actions are evaluated in five sectors critical to modern society: Transportation, Energy, Water, Health, and Communities, as well as states as a whole. Developed by Climate Central and ICF International. Learn more.
Climate Literacy: The Essential Principles of Climate Science presents information important for individuals and communities to know and understand about Earth’s climate, impacts of climate change, and approaches to adaptation or mitigation. The guide aims to promote greater climate science literacy by providing an educational framework of principles and concepts. Learn more.
Location-Specific Temperature Projections. Climate Central developed a new interactive tool that demonstrates future heat in specific towns across the U.S. Entering the name of a specific location displays how the number of days above summer temperature thresholds will change throughout the rest of the century. The interactive also shows how reducing greenhouse gas emissions can help reduce the heat. Learn more.
Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment Tool for Coastal Habitats. Created by staff of National Estuarine Research Reserve system, CCVATCH is a spreadsheet-based decision support tool that integrates local data and knowledge and current research with climate change predictions to provide an assessment of potential habitat vulnerabilities. It is designed to be used by land managers, decision makers, and researchers who are tasked with developing conservation, management, and restoration plans and policies for coastal habitats. Learn more.
Climate Resilience Evaluation and Awareness Tool. As part of Creating Resilient Water Utilities initiative, U.S. EPA developed a risk assessment application, to help utilities in adapting to extreme weather events through a better understanding of current and long-term weather conditions. Learn more.
Community-Driven Climate Resilience Planning: A Framework. National Association of Climate Resilience Planners released a new report that offers a range of innovative principles, practices, and models for multi-sectoral audiences. The framework: Advocates deepening democratic practices at the local and regional levels; Puts forth principles and practices defining the emergent field of climate resilience; Offers examples and resources for community-based institutions implementing community-driven planning processes; Is useful for a range of stakeholders, including community-based organizations, philanthropy, and the public sector. Learn more.
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Notable Publications
Nuisance Flooding and Relative Sea-Level Rise: the Importance of Present-Day Land Motion. Sea-level rise is causing increased inundation of many low-lying coastal areas. While most coastal areas are at risk, areas that will be affected first are characterized by several additional factors, such as regional oceanographic and meteorological effects and/or land subsidence that cause relative sea level to rise faster than the global average. For catastrophic coastal flooding, when wind-driven storm surge inundates large areas, the relative contribution of sea-level rise to the frequency of these events is difficult to evaluate. For small-scale “nuisance flooding,” often associated with high tides, recent increases in frequency are more clearly linked to sea-level rise and global warming. While both types of flooding are likely to increase in the future, nuisance flooding is an early indicator of areas that will eventually experience increased catastrophic flooding and land loss. Authors assessed the frequency and location of nuisance flooding along the eastern seaboard of North America. Vertical land motion induced by recent anthropogenic activity and glacial isostatic adjustment were shown to be contributing factors for increased nuisance flooding. Link to article.
Fine-resolution conservation planning with limited climate-change information. This study translates Markowitz’s risk-diversification strategy from finance to conservation settings, enabling conservation agents to use this diversification strategy for allocating conservation and restoration investments across space to minimize the risk associated with such uncertainty. The authors developed a technique for iterative, spatial portfolio analysis that can be used to allocate scarce conservation resources across a desired level of subregions in a planning landscape in the absence of a sufficient number of ecological forecasts. Using Prairie Pothole Region used as a case study, the difference in expected conservation returns between conservation planning with limited climate-change information and full climate-change information was as large as 30% for the area even when the most efficient iterative approach was used. However, the iterative approach allowed finer resolution portfolio allocation with limited climate-change forecasts such that the best possible risk-return combinations were obtained. Link to article.
A synthesis of thresholds for focal species along the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf Coasts: A review of research and applications. The impacts from climate change are increasing the possibility of vulnerable coastal species and habitats crossing critical thresholds that could spur rapid and possibly irreversible changes. For species of high conservation concern, improved knowledge of quantitative thresholds could greatly improve management. The authors synthesized sea level rise and coastal storm thresholds for 45 fish, wildlife, and plant species along the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf Coasts and Caribbean through a literature review and expert elicitation. Thirteen of the species (29%) are projected to lose at least 50% of their population or habitat (e.g., foraging, nesting, spawning, or resting habitat) in some areas with a 0.5 m or greater rise in sea levels by 2100. Two species (a bird and reptile) may gain habitat from projected SLR and be resilient to future impacts. Numeric thresholds were not available for the remaining 20 species. Coastal fishes, mammals, and amphibians represented a major information gap in this field of research. Link to article.
Beyond services: A process and framework to incorporate cultural, genealogical, place-based, and indigenous relationships in ecosystem service assessments. Cultural ecosystem services (CESs) highlight key socio-cultural factors and reciprocal human-environmental interactions, both of which are essential in sustainable natural resource management and land-use planning. Common CES categories such as recreation and scenic values do not adequately capture cultural values in place-based communities, or places where people have strong cultural, generational, and genealogical ties to land. Using multiple years of research in Hawaii, the authors conclude that eliciting CES through a place-based, participatory approach highlights the services that are most meaningful in a given location, which are conducive to long-term stewardship by the people of that place. Link to article.
Sensitivity of pine flatwoods hydrology to climate change and forest management in Florida, USA. This study used a physically based, distributed hydrologic modeling system to examine the sensitivity of pine flatwoods (a mixture of cypress wetlands and managed pine uplands) hydrology to climate change and forest management. Results of the model application suggest that forest removal and climate change (i.e., warming and drying) would have pronounced impacts on the groundwater table during dry periods, but these impacts are lessened under wet conditions in this typical flatwoods ecosystem. At the landscape scale, depressional wetlands would have higher responses to tree removal and climate change than surrounding uplands. Link to article.
Hazard-based regional loss estimation considering hurricane intensity, size and sea surface temperature change. This paper presents a methodology to probabilistically estimate regional hurricane loss considering both hurricane intensity and size, as well as projected sea surface temperature change as a function of climate change. Simulated events impacting the South Carolina coast study region were extracted from a synthetic hurricane database generated using event-based hurricane hazard simulation techniques. Using information in FEMA’s HAZUS database, regional losses were estimated at different (event) hazard levels. They concluded that hurricane-related financial loss could increase more than 70 percent by 2100 if oceans warm at the worst-case-scenario rate predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Link to article.
Tropical forests are a net carbon source based on aboveground measurements of gain and loss. The question of whether tropical forests are a net source or net sink of atmospheric carbon dioxide persists, with different studies suggesting that it may be a sizable sink to a modest source. In this study, investigators used 12 years of MODIS satellite data to determine how the aboveground carbon density of woody, live vegetation has changed throughout the entire tropics on an annual basis. They found that the tropics are a net carbon source, with losses owing to deforestation and reductions in carbon density within standing forests being double that of gains resulting from forest growth. Link to article.
The Value of Coastal Wetlands for Flood Damage Reduction in the Northeastern USA. As exposure to coastal hazards increases there is growing interest in nature-based solutions for risk reduction. This study uses high-resolution flood and loss models to quantify the impacts of coastal wetlands in 12 northeastern states of regional flood damages by Hurricane Sandy. Using an extensive database of property exposure, the regional study shows that wetlands avoided $625 million in direct flood damages during Hurricane Sandy. A local study based on a bay in New Jersey combines these models with a database of synthetic storms and estimates a 16% average decrease in annual flood losses by salt marshes with higher reductions at lower elevations. Together, the studies quantify the risk reduction ecosystem services of marsh wetlands. Link to article.
A typology of loss and damage perspectives. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCCC, is encouraging creation and implementation of actions to address loss and damage from climate change, but ‘loss and damage’ (L&D) is a phrase that is not officially or clearly defined. In this in-depth empirical study of actor perspectives, drawn from interviews with 38 key stakeholders in research, practice, and policy, the authors describe points of agreement and also important distinctions. A typology of four perspectives is identified, with different implications for research priorities and actions to address L&D. This typology enables improved understanding of existing perspectives and so has potential to facilitate more transparent discussion of the options available to address L&D. Link to article.
Tribal News
Dec 6 – 8 | Cultures Under Water: Climate Impacts on Tribal Cultural Heritage | Tempe, AZ
Indigenous peoples have used traditional knowledge to mitigate climate disruptions and to adapt to the changing environment. However, policy discussions have failed to adequately address climate impacts on cultural heritage, and the rapid rate of climate disruptions continues to threaten indigenous cultures and communities with alarming speed. This conference will build on the discussions of climate change, adaptation, and traditional knowledge by focusing specifically on climate impacts on tribal cultural heritage. Learn more.
Dec 13 – 14 | Tribes & First Nations Climate Summit | Marysville, WA
Tribes and First Nations in the Pacific Northwest have made great progress in observing and documenting environmental change on their homelands, but climate change is increasing at a pace that challenges important ways of life. So Tribes and First Nations across the region are coming together to learn from past work and to discuss how to continue climate change studies to provide the support communities need to adapt and thrive for generations to come. This summit is being led by Tribes and First Nations for Tribal leadership and their staff. Learn more.
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Partner News
LCC News
Appalachian LCC
Synthesis of Science Investments. Learn more.
Stream Impacts from Water Withdrawals in the Marcellus Shale Region. Learn more.
Gulf Coast Prairie LCC
GCP Science Team: Projects, data, science plan & membership. Learn more.
Impacts of Hurricane Harvey to Natural Areas. Learn more.
Gulf Coastal Plains & Ozarks LCC
An Aquatic Connectivity Assessment that Includes Culverts. Learn more.
Turning “Bad” High Water into “Good”: A private floodplain reconnection project along the lower Mississippi. Learn more.
Peninsular Florida LCC
New Recovery Plan Review Focuses on Actions for Listed Threatened and Endangered Species. Learn more.
Collaborative study offers insight on protecting valuable coastal resources based on “tipping points” for indicator species. Learn more.
South Atlantic LCC
South Atlantic LCC participates in LCC Network data management effort. Learn more.
Blueprint 2.2 and implementation strategy release next month. Learn more.
Partner News
A letter from Para la Naturaleza, our conservation partners in Puerto Rico.
Dear Para la Naturaleza collaborators:
We hope your family and co-workers are safe after the pass of hurricanes Irma and María through the islands of Puerto Rico. In less than two weeks, these atmospheric events affected all aspects of our society and the stability of Puerto Rico’s natural resources.
Our evaluation of the damages suffered in our natural protected areas indicates they had substantial losses. Fortunately, our historic sites did not undergo major damages, but the recovery of forests in natural areas such as Hacienda Buena Vista in Ponce and Cañón San Cristóbal in Aibonito and Barranquitas will take a long time.
We are currently directing our efforts on cleaning our visitor centers and at addressing the impacts of Hurricane María on communities close to our protected areas. The destruction in these communities is serious and many of our neighbors were left with nothing. In view of this reality, we have created the Para la Naturaleza Community Fund aimed at supporting the recovery of communities around our natural areas. Through this initiative, we will bring direct aid to sectors severely impacted by the hurricane and support efforts in sustainable agriculture, reforestation and habitat restoration.
For the next few months our programming, projects, and volunteer programs will be modified to respond to urgent issues and current needs. We will be contacting you in the upcoming weeks to discuss the status and future of our collaborations and projects.
In the meantime, we urge you to contribute to the Para la Naturaleza Community Fund by visiting our website www.paralanaturaleza.org, and to help us spread the word about this opportunity to contribute to the recovery of both our people and the ecosystems that sustain us.
We send our warmest regards and solidarity on behalf of all of us at Para la Naturaleza.
Fernando Lloveras San Miguel, Esq., President
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Webinars
Find more webinar information in our calendar.
Oct 24 | 2:00 PM-3:00 PM | Food Sovereignty & Climate Resilience
Nov 3 | 11:00 AM-12:00 PM | Considering forest and grassland carbon in land management
Nov 3 | 1:30 PM-2:30 PM | Solving Stochastic Dynamic Programming Models without Transition Matrices
Nov 16 | 10:00 AM-11:00 AM | Third Thursday Web Forum: Intersections between coastal protection and fisheries
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Upcoming Events
Find more upcoming events in our calendar.
Oct 27 | North Carolina Workshop | Morehead City, NC
Ocean and coastal acidification are changing the chemistry of seawater with potential effects for economically important marine life and coastal communities. Runoff pollution, land-use change, and a vibrant shellfish industry render North Carolina among the most socioeconomically vulnerable states to future acidification impacts, but an understanding of these changes can provide the tools necessary for coastal industries and ecosystems to mitigate and adapt to these changes. The Southeast Ocean and Coastal Acidification Network (SOCAN), in partnership with the Ocean Conservancy and NC Sea Grant, is hosting an interactive 1-day workshop. The goal is to bring together North Carolina stakeholders to inform them of acidification, listen to their concerns and understand their research and data needs. Register.
Nov 2 – 30 | Gulf TREE Beta Workshops | Various locations in Gulf states
Gulf TREE is a decision-support tree helping end-users identify which climate tool is the best fit for their needs. This round of workshops will provide an opportunity to test drive the new website and provide feedback. Workshops are scheduled at following locations and dates:
Baton Rouge, LA: November 2
Ocean Springs, MS: November 8
Port Aransas, TX: November 29
Houston, TX: November 29
Corpus Christi, TX: November 30
More information and to register or email mheming@disl.org.
Nov 13 – 15 | Gulf of Mexico Alliance Coastal Resilience Team Fall Meeting | Pensacola, FL
GOMA’s Coastal Resilience Team focuses on risk communication, resilience assessment, and coastal adaptation, and planning. Team members will get updates on current and ongoing projects that are team specific and Gulf Star related. In addition members will participate in discussions for the National Academies’ Gulf Research Program in the Capacity-Building Grant “Building industry engagement within GOMA to increase impacts to regional efforts”. More information or email daphne.viverette@dmr.ms.gov.
Jan 23 – 25, 2018 | National Conference and Global Forum on Science, Policy, and the Environment | Washington, DC
National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) will hold its 18th National Conference and Global Forum: The Science, Business, and Education of Sustainable Infrastructure: Building Resilience in a Changing World. The conference will explore how systems thinking and a sustainability framework can serve society through education about an investment in natural, built, cyber, and social infrastructure. Information and registration.
Jan 24 – 25 | Climate Adaptation Workshop | Live Oak, FL
This Climate Adaptation Workshop (ALC3914) class will be hosted by the Peninsular Florida Landscape Conservation Cooperative and the National Conservation Training Center. More details about applying can be found in Opportunities.
Feb 5 – 8 | 2018 Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill & Ecosystem Science Conference | New Orleans, LA
The 2018 theme, “Response, Restoration, and Resiliency in the Gulf,” will explore how fundamental science can help restore and maintain Gulf ecosystem integrity, inform response strategies, and strengthen resilience. This year’s program will also emphasize cross-cutting discussions among academics, industry, government agencies, and public interest organizations. To further facilitate interdisciplinary and inter-sectoral collaboration, the conference planners are employing a different approach to build the program. Abstract submissions will be accepted for topical tracks; teams of topical experts will develop mini-sessions and concurrent sessions based on the abstracts received. These teams will then moderate the resulting sessions as session organizers. Information and registration.
Apr 30 – May 1 | 2018 Local Solutions: Eastern Climate Preparedness Conference | Manchester, NH
Antioch University New England and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are hosting a conference designed to cover a range of climate preparedness and resiliency issues such as: sea level rise, urban heat, and both coastal and inland flooding issues. The conference is geared for small government planners and decision-makers striving to create healthy resilient communities with how to better handle severe weather and climate impacts and to make climate resilience an aspect of their daily operations. Learn more.
At NC State
Oct 25 | EcoTourism: Helping or Hurting Conservation? | 3214 Jordan Hall Addition
Students in Conservation Biology in Practice are leading a public forum discussion of current issues in conservation biology, 9:50-11:05 am. Ecotourism is intended to allow local communities to benefit economically from their natural resources while promoting – and indeed paying for – the conservation of those resources, without exploiting the resources or the communities. Yet, questions persist. So, what is ecotourism and how can we evaluate its net conservation benefits, locally and globally? Please join us to learn and share your knowledge about ecotourism and be part of the conversation. Learn more.
Oct 26 | Climate change and coastal wetlands: ecological transitions along the Gulf of Mexico coast | 101 David Clark Labs
Sponsored by the Dept of Applied Ecology, Southeast Climate Science Center, and Dept of Biological Sciences, this Ecology and Evolution Seminar features Dr. Michael Osland, a USGS Research Ecologist and PI on SE CSC project, Enhancing the Adaptive Capacity of Coastal Wetlands in the Face of Sea-level Rise and Coastal Development. 3:30 – 4:30 pm. Learn more.
Oct 30 | Biogeochemical consequences of hydroclimatic change in tropical streams and temperate coastal wetlands | 1216 Jordan Hall Addition
Forestry and Environmental Resources Seminar by Faculty Affiliate Dr. Marcelo Ardon, Assistant Professor. 12:50 PM-1:40 PM. Learn more.
Oct 30 | Climate Change – Wine Production and International Relations | 121 Kilgore Hall
Horticultural Science Seminar by Professor Chard Ludington, NC State History Department. 3:00 PM-5:00 PM. Learn more.
Nov 1 | Albemarle-Pamlico 2017 Ecosystem Symposium | McKimmon Center
The one-day event will encourage stakeholder collaboration to develop more effective approaches to identifying, protecting, and restoring the significant resources of the Albemarle-Pamlico region. Its focus will be on emerging issues related to the human communities, water quality and quantity, and natural systems within watersheds that flow into our sounds. Join us in keeping our “Eyes on the Horizon” as we continue to work together to develop strategies to implement our region’s Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan. Register.
Nov 16 | Global Change Seminar | 101 David Clark Labs
Organized by our SE CSC Global Change Fellows, this visually rich seminar will feature Sean Graesser, a biologist, conservation photographer, and storyteller from New Jersey. In his scientific research, he specializes in birds, particularly hummingbirds, studying their habitats and migration patterns. Sean has had the opportunity to work on projects with the Audubon Society, National Geographic and the Smithsonian Tropical Research program. He has spent the past ten years in Costa Rica and Panama collecting research data and teaching tropical rainforest field techniques courses. 3:30 PM – 5 PM. Learn more.
Mar 14 – 15 | 2018 Water Resources Research Institute Annual Conference | McKimmon Center
This is the 20th year highlighting diverse topics in water research, management, and policy in North Carolina. Please consider submitting an abstract as a speaker or session organizer to showcase the great work you’re doing in water resources. Abstract submission is now open; deadline is December 8, 2017. Learn more.
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Opportunities
Student Announcements
NCSU Center for Geospatial Analytics is recruiting students to the center’s new Ph.D. in Geospatial Analytics for Fall 2018. Learn more.
Consortium PI Paul Armsworth seeks to recruit a cohort of excellent conservation-centric graduate students for a fully funded studentship with a new research initiative in Conservation Science at University of TN. Learn more.
Research Grants
Gulf of Mexico Alliance | Hurricane Mini-Grants
Supported by private and public funds, the Gulf of Mexico Alliance is offering small grants ($5,000-$10,000) to selected applicants that were affected by the recent hurricanes in Texas and Florida. Qualified applicants are non-traditional audiences who do not qualify for the larger Federal assistance. It does not include state or Federal agencies, individuals, universities, or non-profits that receive operational or disaster funding assistance from a parent organization. A simple 2-page application is all that is required, due October 31.
NOAA Marine Debris Program | Marine Debris Removal grant
This opportunity provides funding to support projects that will create long-term, quantifiable ecological habitat improvements for NOAA trust resources through on-the-ground marine debris removal activities, with priority for those targeting derelict fishing gear and other medium- and large-scale debris. The deadline is November 1, 2017.
NOAA Fisheries | Gulf of Mexico Bay-Watershed Education and Training (Gulf B-WET) Program
The B-WET program is an environmental education program that promotes locally relevant, experiential learning in the K-12 environment. Funded projects provide meaningful watershed educational experiences (MWEEs) for students, related professional development for teachers, and help to support regional education and environmental priorities in the Gulf of Mexico. The deadline is November 3, 2017.
Water Research Foundation | Mapping Climate Exposure and Climate Information Needs to Utility Business Functions
The proposed project would develop a framework that utilities can use to create an enterprise-wide understanding of the exposure and sensitivity of utility business functions to a continuously changing climate, and the associated challenges and opportunities. Proposals are due November 9, 2017.
DHS FEMA | FY17 Flood Mitigation Assistance
Funds are to reduce or eliminate the risk of repetitive flood damage to buildings and structures insured under the National Flood Insurance Program. Applications from Local, State, and Tribal Governments must be submitted through the FEMA grants portal https://portal.fema.gov. The deadline is November 14, 2017.
Miscellaneous
Call for Applications for Climate Adaptation Workshop. Have you ever wondered how to address climate change in your conservation practice? Do you have an existing natural resource management plan or project that needs to address climate change? Would you like hands-on training for applying climate-smart principles to your plan or project? This short course provides hands-on training for applying climate-smart principles to real natural resource management plans and projects that are local or regional in scope. The training and coaching session is based on the guide Climate-Smart Conservation: Putting Adaptation Principles into Practice. Teams, consisting of two or more people, will be coached using the climate-smart conservation framework and will develop climate-informed conservation goals and integrate adaptation planning into ongoing work. Teams will document their project at the end of the workshop with a short summary. If you are a non-profit organization, this is a perfect opportunity for your team to prepare to apply for the WCS Adaptation Fund. This workshop is being hosted by Peninsular Florida Landscape Conservation Cooperative and National Conservation Training Center. Applications for the workshop are due on November 3, 2017.
Call for Conservation Connectivity Plans. To help managers and scientists produce actionable connectivity plans, we are starting a systematic review of connectivity conservation plans. Would you help us? To help, please:
- Email connectivity.study@gmail.com with a document (e.g., pdf), citation, or hyperlink for each connectivity conservation plan you are aware of.
- Forward this request to other persons likely to have connectivity conservation plans (and CC connectivity.study@gmail.com so that we can follow up with them).
- Let us know if you are willing to serve as a collaborator who can extract information from connectivity conservation plans and help us understand the regulatory and cultural context for connectivity conservation plans outside North America.
By connectivity conservation plan, we mean a document that was written to guide land use decisions, acquisition of conservation lands, construction of highway crossing structures, and other management actions to conserve or improve animal movement, gene flow, or other types of ecological connectivity.
The connectivity conservation plan does not need to be a peer-reviewed paper (indeed most will not be); it can address one connection between a particular pair of protected areas, or many connections within a region; it can aim to conserve corridors, stepping stones, or a permeable matrix; its design can be driven by one species, many species, naturalness, or other criteria; it can be written in any language. After we extract information from the plans, we will send a questionnaire to the authors and users of the plan, asking how the plan has guided land acquisitions, land use plans, transportation plans, new highway crossing structures, or other conservation actions. Contact: Annika Keeley, University of California at Berkeley, 1-530-220-4324.
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