Congratulations to Terri Schulz on "Wildest Women of the Range" award!

Terri Schulz, Senior Conservation Ecologist at The Nature Conservancy and Co-PI with the North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center, is known for many things...

2026 NC CASC Rapid Climate Assessment Program (RCAP) Applications are Open!

We are hiring 4 summer GRAs for our 2026 Rapid Climate Assessment Program (RCAP). Broadly, these RCAP projects seek to support state, federal, and Tribal land and natural resource managers to adapt to a changing climate through interdisciplinary research and actionable science.

NC CASC Webinar Series - Thursday, March 12, 2026 at 11 AM

Join us for our next webinar, "Practical Guidance for Using Climate Projections in Adaptation Planning", given by Nels Bjarke of the Western Water Assessment on March 12, 2026.

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A persistent challenge in long-term land management and resource planning is how to effectively utilize the large amount of climate model projection data and tools available. Approaching this challenge requires a combination of (1) operational assessment from the planners of their needs, capacity, and goals and (2) scientific assessment of which data products would support decision making for the specific region and domain (ecology, hydrology, agriculture, etc.). In this presentation, we will present a web-based guidance document developed with CASC scientists to describe the dimensions of using climate model projection data for future planning and how planners and scientists can jointly navigate the challenges that arise in the process. The guidance includes both practical considerations that should be discussed at the onset of a project followed by descriptions of how different downscaled data products and model ensemble selection processes can influence the analysis of future climate risk. The goal of this guidance is to provide an understandable and shareable resource to allow teams of planners and scientists to effectively and efficiently navigate climate planning analyses, informed by a team of expertise from the climate services field.

Bringing Clarity and Order to the Climate Adaptation Toolkit

Climate adaptation science has matured rapidly over the past two decades. In that time, scientists, agencies and practitioners have developed an impressive array of planning processes and guides, decision tools and conceptual models. Read more about how these resources fit together.

Grassland Management Priorities in a Changing Climate

A new report from the U.S. Geological Survey, edited by Christy Miller Hesed and Heather Yocum of the North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center, synthesizes decades of management plans, scientific literature, and stakeholder input to identify shared goals, challenges, and information needs for grassland conservation across seven states.

RCAP Report Available: Canyons of the Ancients National Monument Climate Change Impact Assessment

This report is the product of our 2025 Rapid Climate Assessment Program (RCAP) project, "Risk Assessment for Canyons of the Ancients National Monument in Colorado."

Managing Climate Change in Wilderness: Scenario-Based Approaches for an Uncertain Future

How do you manage for change in places meant to remain wild? That is the central question facing land managers across the American West as climate change accelerates ecological transformation, even in federally protected wilderness areas. A new NC CASC-supported case study, “RAD Decisions in Rad Landscapes: Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness”, tackles this challenge head-on.