Nevada Infrastructure for Climate Change Science, Education, and Outreach

Nevada System Of Higher Education, Reno NV

Investigators

Abstract

Abstract Proposal: EPS-08114372 Proposal Title: Nevada Infrastructure for Climate Change Science, Education, and Outreach Institution: Nevada System of Higher Education This Nevada EPSCoR Rll project seeks to create a statewide interdisciplinary program that stimulates research, education, and outreach centered on the effects of regional climate change on ecosystem resources. The six focus areas in this project are: climate modeling; ecological change; water resources; cyberinfrastructure; education; and policy, including related decision-making and public outreach. The goal is to build capacity to model regional climate change, evaluate methods to downscale model output, understand and quantify key ecological and hydrological processes, translate climate change science into formats usable by decision-makers, integrate models and data, and improve how students learn about climate change. Intellectual Merit: Ongoing climate changes in Nevada are resulting in complex interactions among climate, biophysical, and human systems. To date, most efforts to address these issues have been directed at the global scale. There is limited understanding of regional processes and their impacts. This project will take an integrated approach to learning how climate change will affect water resources, linked ecosystem services, and human systems. The primary questions to be addressed are (1) How will climate change affect water resources and linked ecosystem services and human systems? and (2) How will climate change affect disturbance regimes and linked systems? Related questions include identification of forcing factors underlying recent climate changes; feedback mechanisms between climate and vegetation; impact of locally generated aerosols on climate; and effects of change in precipitation type on hydrology. This project in the unique natural laboratory of the Great Basin has the potential to transform climate change studies at regional and sub-regional scales. Broader Impacts: Strategies to increase diversity are woven throughout the six components that will drive the research. A key strategy is to make results from the research easily available via an accessible, on-line data portal. Outreach to diverse stakeholders will be accomplished by identifying important needs in climate change research as well as informing and involving the public in climate change science. Nevada has a strong history of involvement in K-12 outreach as well as undergraduate and graduate research. This outreach will continue with summer research programs, academic year scholarships, mentorship programs for graduate students, and training for teachers in climate change science. Recruitment of new faculty and graduate students will target underrepresented groups. A statewide virtual information center for climate change will be created to focus on outreach, and visualization strategies will be employed to communicate findings to the public and policy makers.