Climate in Context

Adam Parris, M.S., is Executive Director of the Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay, a partnership between the City of New York, the National Park Service, and nine universities working in the New York-New Jersey Harbor, including his home institution the City University of New York - Brooklyn College.Gregg Garfin, Ph.D., is Associate Professor and Associate Extension Specialist in Climate Science, Policy & Natural Resources, in the School of Natural Resources and the Environment, and Deputy Director for Science Translation and Outreach in the Institute of the Environment at the University of Arizona.Kirstin Dow, Ph.D., is Professor of Geography in the University of South Carolina. She leads the Carolinas Integrated Sciences and Assessments (CISA), one of the eleven NOAA-sponsored RISA teams, helping to expand and build the nation’s capacity to prepare for and adapt to climate variability and change through building partnerships.Ryan Meyer is Senior Scientist at the California Ocean Science Trust, an organization that works across traditional boundaries between government, communities, and science to build trust and understanding in ocean and coastal science.Sarah L. Close, Ph.D., is a Program Specialist in the Climate and Societal Interactions division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Program Office where she helps manage the RISA program, in addition to working on climate adaptation in coastal ecosystems. Sarah is supported by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR).

• List of contributors viiForeword xiiiPreface xixAcknowledgments xxiiiBackground on RISA xxvSection I: Understanding context and risk1 Assessing needs and decision contexts: RISA approaches to engagement research 3Caitlin F. Simpson, Lisa Dilling, Kirstin Dow, Kirsten J. Lackstrom, Maria Carmen Lemos and Rachel E. Riley2 Understanding the user context: decision calendars as frameworks for linking climate to policy, planning, and decision-making 27Andrea J. Ray and Robert S. Webb3 Climate science for decision-making in the New York metropolitan region 51Radley Horton, Cynthia Rosenzweig, William Solecki, Daniel Bader and Linda SohlSection II: Managing knowledge-to-action networks4 Connecting climate information with practical uses: Extension and the NOAA RISA program 75John Stevenson, Michael Crimmins, Jessica Whitehead, Julie Brugger and Clyde Fraisse5 Participatory, dynamic models: a tool for dialogue 99Laura Schmitt Olabisi, Stuart Blythe, Ralph Levine, Lorraine Cameron and Michael Beaulac6 Not another webinar! Regional webinars as a platform for climate knowledge-to-action networking in Alaska 117Sarah F. Trainor, Nathan P. Kettle and J. Brook GambleSection III: Innovating services7 The making of national seasonal wildfire outlooks 143Gregg Garfin, Timothy J. Brown, Tom Wordell and Ed Delgado8 Challenges, pitfalls, and lessons learned in developing a drought decision-support tool 173Greg Carbone, Jinyoung Rhee, Kirstin Dow, Jay Fowler, Gregg Garfin, Holly Hartmann, Ellen Lay and Art DeGaetano9 Managing the 2011 drought: a climate services partnership 191Mark Shafer, David Brown and Chad McNuttSection IV: Advancing science policy10 Evaluation to advance science policy: lessons from Pacific RISA and CLIMAS 215Daniel B. Ferguson, Melissa L. Finucane, Victoria W. Keener and Gigi Owen11 Navigating scales of knowledge and decision-making in the Intermountain West: implications for science policy 235Eric S. Gordon, Lisa Dilling, Elizabeth McNie and Andrea J. Ray12 Evolving the practice of Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments 255Adam Parris, Sarah L. Close, Ryan Meyer, Kirstin Dow and Gregg GarfinAcronyms 263Index 267