USGS Climate Change Centers
The Department of Interior operates the National Climate Change and Wildlife Center (NCCWSC; https://nccwsc.usgs.gov/) at the National Headquarters of the U.S. Geological Survey. Under Secretarial Order No. 3289, DOI has expanded the scope and geographic reach of climate-science efforts by establishing eight additional regional Climate Science Centers (CSCs; http://www.doi.gov/csc/index.cfm). These centers will provide scientific information, tools and techniques that land, water, wildlife and cultural resource managers and other interested parties can apply to anticipate, monitor and adapt to climate and ecologically-driven responses at regional-to-local scales.
USGS has been the lead on the selection of host institutions for these Centers and a list of CSC partners is provided here https://nccwsc.usgs.gov/climateScienceCenterPartners. The NCCWSC is providing initial staffing and start-up capabilities. The science agenda will focus on the linkage of global climate information with fundamental ecological knowledge, and the application of this understanding to the particular species, habitats, and ecosystems present in each region. The science conducted at these Centers will be identified through a partnership steering committee in which LCCs and other management and science entities identify and prioritize key science needs to implement and monitor actions to adapt to climate change.
Host institutions for Climate Science Centers were chosen competitively, with one exception. The exception to this selection process was for the Alaska Climate Science Center. A current list of consortia for all USGS Climate Science Centers is located at http://www.doi.gov/csc/images/CSC_consortia_and_regions_2012.png. Strong candidate institutions or consortia had established links with natural resource management issues and entities, within the Department of the Interior and more broadly. Thus, institutions with elements such as Fish and Wildlife Cooperative Units, Cooperative Ecosystem Study Units, Regional Integrated Science and Assessments, Forest Service research offices, and similar science-to-management efforts were favorably considered. USGS sought partners that could bring together appropriate scientific capabilities, space and facilities, outreach or extension services, data management, networks, computational services, or super-computing capacity from the organization or collaborating partners.
