Program Description
Lisa Green
2020-01-27T08:29:19-07:00
The Climate Adaptation Science program closely integrates research, instruction, work-place experience, and collaborations among scientists, federal, state, and local land and resource managers, policy-makers, trainees, and citizen stakeholders. The program emphasizes interdisciplinary research and includes training in informatics, modeling, communication, leadership, project management, risk assessment, decision-making under uncertainty, and interdisciplinary teamwork.
Trainees acquire primary disciplinary expertise in their departmental major degree fields. All trainees acquire facility in working on problems that span and in teams that include the full range of climate-adaptation-related disciplines.
Trainees complete a 9-credit specialization that includes two experiential elements. The required courses are two Interdisciplinary Research Colloquia (1 credit each) and the two-semester Studio course (5 credits), accompanied by 1 credit of short course electives. Trainees complete an internship (1 credit) with a government, industry, or NGO partner that precedes the year-long research studio with the opportunity for second internship the following summer. Each trainee also designs and completes an Individual Communication Plan , with Capstone. Details are given below in the Program Timetable.
Please note, all Utah State University graduate students in participating programs are eligible for consideration for the traineeship program, but only U.S. citizens, nationals, and permanent residents are eligible for fellowships.
Purpose
The Climate Adaptation Sciences specialization prepares trainees for research-based careers that will integrate science, management, and policy to understand and adapt to a changing climate. The program includes interdisciplinary training in data management, informatics and modeling, communication, project management, and leadership skills.
Faculty Involvement
We encourage faculty to join our education and research activities. Faculty are encouraged to discuss their research and serve as mentors for trainee research groups in the Interdisciplinary Research Colloquium and Studio, to suggest new internship partners and opportunities, to join with other faculty to develop new integrative Climate Adaptation research, and to enhance the curriculum by offering short-courses that are of interest to trainees as well as other USU graduate students. The Climate Adaptation Science program uses short courses (especially 0.25-, 0.5-, and 1-credit courses or workshops) to make the curriculum more flexible and readily individualized. We suggest faculty consider using this approach in their teaching, where appropriate, including conversion of 3- or 4-credit courses to modular sets of 1-credit units that can be elected separately by students and increase flexibility for both students and faculty.
If you are interested in joining the CAS program faculty, contact Thad Nicholls at thad.nicholls@usu.edu
The Interdisciplinary Research Colloquium will introduce trainees to the resources and expectations of the Climate Adaptation Science program and immerse them in on-going research. Trainees will discuss on-going research and will work in interdisciplinary teams to formulate research proposals.
Each trainee creates and completes a Communication Plan, which becomes part of the trainee’s graduate program of study, guides learning of communication skills, and provides a framework for regular adaptive feedback. Through the plan, each trainee will develop an individualized communication skill set and meet the minimum competencies of a) ability to present research ideas and results effectively in writing, in oral presentation, and via use of one other medium such as radio, internet, social media, or informal outreach venue, and b) ability to distill the societal relevance of research for conversation with a variety of audiences, including policy-makers, general public, K-12 students and teachers, and specific stakeholder groups.
Studio I is the first of a two-part sequence, beginning following summer internships. The course emphasizes training in informatics, interdisciplinary research methods, risk assessment and decision-making under risk, a variety of modeling and analytical approaches from climate, ecology, and social sciences, and project management. Trainees will work in small interdisciplinary groups, and larger teams, to define and execute climate adaptation research on a topic that integrates the science needs of end-users and stakeholders. Research topics will relate broadly to climate adaptation science, but specificity will be identified each year as emerging from the collective experience and interests of participants.
Each trainee will intern with an agency, NGO, or industry. During this internship, each trainee will gain experience through work-place projects and activities, as directed by the host, and have opportunities to learn the culture, climate adaptation challenges, and science needs of the host.
Studio II is the second of a two-part sequence. Learning is expected to be driven by the trainees, consisting of group discussion and activities to complete interdisciplinary research projects, including written and oral presentations of results for scientist and non-scientist audiences.
Trainees have the option of returning to their internship host for a second workplace experience, though this second internship is optional, not credited, and not required. Each trainee will bring scientific results or tools from their Studio experience and aid in their employment by the host.
The Climate Adaptation Science program hosts an annual competition for funding for research projects. After completing the 9-credit course sequence and internships, PhD trainees may self-organize into interdisciplinary teams to propose collaborative projects that extend their climate adaptation research. The teams may collaborate with and mentor undergraduate students in these interdisciplinary research experiences.
