Climate Adaptation Science

We prepare graduate researchers for careers that integrate science with management and policy while advancing Climate Adaptation Science for the threatened landscape of the Interior West.

The Climate Adaptation Science (CAS) Program is a 9-credit interdisciplinary graduate specialization/minor that is available within MS and PhD programs in 10 departments at Utah State University. The program provides students with direct experience in actionable science through internships and research.

Skills emphasized in the CAS program align with many of the attributes of an “ideal, student-centered STEM graduate education system,” as described in the Consensus Study Report, “Graduate STEM Education for the 21st Century”, which was produced in 2018 by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine. Key attributes of revitalized graduate STEM education include the potential for students to: acquire broad technical literacy, encounter a variety of points of view about science, have multiple mentors including those from beyond academia, have opportunities to communicate their results to diverse audiences, think about broader impacts, work on projects in teams, and explore diverse career options in a context where nonacademic careers are not stigmatized.

Internships:

CAS students complete a mentored internship with a government agency, NGO, or industry partner organization. Internship experiences precede a year-long research studio, with the option of a second internship the following summer. Through the internships, and a series of Science-Management-Policy Exchange meetings, trainees learn the cultures, opportunities and constraints, and science needs of the many workplaces in which climate adaptation science is created and used.

Skills Acquired through CAS:

ability to Collaborate across Disciplinary and Workplace Boundaries
ability to Work in Diverse Teams, as a Leader or Follower, and to Manage Projects
understanding of Risk Assessment and Decision-making
facility in Communication with Scientist and Non-scientist Audiences
facility with Data and Modeling
ability to Think Comprehensively about climate, geophysical sciences, biology, and social sciences and the models, concepts, and analyses that integrate these

Team Research

CAS students collaborate to define and execute research that advances understanding of a student-team-defined problem in some area of climate adaptation science. Over the course of two years, students form interdisciplinary teams to define research problems, develop plans to address those problems, write and present formal proposals, and complete the research. The research results in a variety of outputs, including technical publications and presentations of new knowledge to scientist audiences and materials for other users of science, such as plans, brochures or reports, informational websites, publications in popular media, public conversations and briefings, etc.

Details are given in Program Timetable

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