Forging Climate Change Partnerships

UNL professor Shashi Verma (foreground) explains carbon sequestration research to Tom Armstrong (left), USGS senior adviser for global change, and others touring the Agricultural Research and Development Center.

This article was written by the UNL Office of Research. It is reprinted here with their permission.

Discovering how best to cope with climate change requires a truly integrated, multidisciplinary approach. The U.S. Geological Survey and UNL took steps toward forging such research collaborations during a joint Partnerships in Climate Change Science workshop this fall.

Climate change presents scientific opportunities as well as challenges, Tom Armstrong, USGS senior adviser on global change, said in his opening remarks. Providing integrated science-based information in formats policymakers can use is important.

USGS and the UNL Office of Research jointly sponsored the October workshop, which drew about 80 USGS staff and UNL faculty and graduate students. The session gave participants a chance to learn more about federal research priorities, identify overarching themes for research and explore future collaborations. USGS officials saw UNL natural resources research during tours of the Agricultural Research and Development Center near Mead, the Water Sciences Laboratory and Hardin Hall.

As a result of this workshop, six collaborative proposals involving UNL faculty and USGS scientists were developed and submitted to an internal USGS call for proposals. Discussions are continuing on next steps, including a follow-up workshop on a potentially large project as part of the agency's climate change initiative. The longer term goal is to develop a model integrated, intensive research partnership for the central U.S. Officials think UNL is well positioned to partner with USGS thanks to its broad faculty expertise, location and commitment to interdisciplinary research.

USGS officials presenting at the workshop were: Tom Armstrong, senior adviser, global change; Elizabeth Brouwers, science officer, Office of North Central Regional Executive; Patricia Jellison, program coordinator for earth-surface dynamics; Bob Swanson, director, Nebraska Water Science Center; and DeWayne Cecil, chief of science applications.