The North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center is a partnership between the US Geological Survey, the University of Colorado Boulder and six other consortium partners. The NC CASC fosters innovative and applied research in support of Tribal, federal, state, and local natural resource management and decision-making. The North Central center is one of nine regional climate centers in the national CASC network created to help meet the changing needs of land and resource managers across the country. It serves Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas and Nebraska. 

Announcement

New RCAP Blog on Woody Plant Management

How are land managers working to keep grasslands from turning into woodlands? In a new NC CASC student blog, CU Boulder PhD student Em Wright explores the growing challenge of woody plant encroachment across the Great Plains.
Science Spotlight

The 2026 RCAP Wraps Up!

This summer, seven graduate students joined scientists and natural resource managers to tackle some of the most pressing climate adaptation challenges across the North Central region of the United States.
Science Byte

Bringing back bison to Colorado using plant functional traits

Bison (Bison bison) were the dominant, keystone grazer across the Great Plains, North America’s largest biome, for millennia and shaped prairie ecosystems. However, European settlement in the 1800s across this region led to widespread slaughter and near extinction of this once prolific species.