The Purdue Climate Change Research Center (PCCRC) facilitates interdisciplinary climate change research and education. From its inception in 2004, the PCCRC assembled a community of scholars who shared the perspective that human and natural systems should be studied as an integrated whole. They bring together faculty, postdocs, students and professional staff from 12 departments across 8 of Purdue’s academic units to address the challenges and complexities of climate and related global change. Research teams are exploring the causes and impacts of climate change, improving predictive models to project future climate conditions, and pursuing novel ideas for mitigation and adaptation. The PCCRC supports the ambitious, innovative ideas of their researchers by breaking down disciplinary and administrative barriers to help ideas take shape which they do in a variety of ways that include consulting with individual faculty members about opportunities, providing seed funding to explore high-risk interdisciplinary research, offering experienced guidance to support and develop a project or program, and by convening as many opportunities for cross-disciplinary conversations as possible—this is where new ideas are sparked, and take shape.