In early 2011, the Alaska Climate Science Center (AK CSC) opened as the first of eight regional Climate Science Centers. The Alaska CSC provides scientific information,tools, and techniques that managers and other parties interested in land, water, wildlife and cultural resources can use to anticipate, monitor, and adapt to climate change. The AK CSC is hosted by the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) and physically housed within the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA). There are numerous program partners.

In addition to its relationship with UAF and UAA, the Alaska CSC has also developed strong partnerships with faculty from the University of Alaska Southeast, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the USDA Forest Service, and the National Park Service. Together these partners provide expertise in climate science, ecology, environmental impacts assessment, modeling, cultural impacts, and advanced information technology. These partnerships are essential for addressing climate issues in Alaska, where changes in temperature and precipitation are already having significant impacts on terrestrial and marine ecosystems.

Priority science activities of CSCs include:
 

• Use and creation of high-resolution climate models and derivative products to help forecast ecological and population responses at national, regional, and local scales
• Integration of physical climate models with ecological, habitat, and population response models
• Development of methods to assess vulnerability of species, habitats, and human communities
• Development of standardized approaches to modeling, monitoring, data management and decision support

 

The research direction taken by the Alaska CSC is guided by the Center's science agenda or Strategic Plan. The development of this Strategic Plan was guided by the Alaska Climate Change Executive Roundtable (ACCER), a group comprised of senior-level executives from federal and non-federal agencies that addresses natural and cultural resource issues. With the help of its Climate Change Coordinating Committee (C4), ACCER also directs the annual implementation of this agenda. The C4, Alaska Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, USGS Alaska Science Center, and various Federal agencies assist with independent scientific review of the Alaska CSC's program activities.

Alaska Climate Science Center-Funded Research Projects

Research projects supported by the Alaska Climate Science Center often cross several disciplines in order to broadly address ecosystem responses to climate change. The research direction of the Alaska Climate Science Center is determined collaboratively by representatives of federal, state, tribal, and regional organizations. The Alaska Climate Science Center aims to meet high-level climate science priorities while ensuring this science also is pertinent to and addresses management needs. Their main research projects are:
 

• Integrated Ecosystem Model (IEM) for Alaska and Northwest Canada
• Impacts of Changing Permafrost on Existing and Future Infrastructure
• Alaskan Coastal Forest Watersheds
• Climate Change Impacts on Moose and Caribou Habitat
• Climate Impacts on Waterfowl
• Gulf of Alaska Glacier Workshop
• Snow Data for the Arctic
• Gulf of Alaska Runoff
• Western Alaska Coastal Hazards
• Storm Impacts on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta