Program

Anticipated Workshop Outcomes

Identification of important partners, collaborators, users and possible funding agencies for Nevada’s new climate change capabilities. The workshop will serve as a platform to launch collaborations on multiple tracks.
Engage stakeholders to frame important questions for investigations, pooling information and development of a plan for on-going dialogue among scientists, stakeholders and decision makers.
Clear understanding of how EPSCoR infrastructure can be highly beneficial for stakeholders and be incorporated in regional and national research and monitoring programs.
New research collaborations and better coordination among the Tri-State EPSCoR and other scientists
Vision document, identification of key issues and how to address them in a collaborative manner in future proposals.
A workshop summary that will highlight outcomes and serve as a directory for future stakeholder engagement and collaboration.

Sheep Range Tour

The tour will visit the NevCAN Sheep Mojave Desert Shrub monitoring station north of Las Vegas within the FWS Desert National Wildlife Refuge. During the tour, you will be provided information about the NevCAN goals and instrumentation as well as webcam access to all NevCAN station locations. Participants are asked to wear comfortable clothing. Sunscreen, hats, sunglasses and stable, closed-toe walking shoes are highly recommended. Water will be provided. The tour involves an approximate ½ mile easy walk (one way) from the parking lot to the station along a desert trail with a very mild slope. March 26, 2013 Sheep Range Tour

Click here to view pictures from the Sheep Range Tour

AGENDA

Provisional Agenda (Download PDF)

Climate Change Science for Effective Resource Management and Public Policy in the Western United States
Provisional Agenda

March 27-28, 2013
University of Nevada Las Vegas

Day 1 – March 27, 2013

8:00 am - 4 pm	Poster installation
7:30 – 8:30 am	Registration
8:30 - 9:00 am	Welcome Gayle Dana – Nevada NSF EPSCoR Project Director Thomas Piechota – NSF EPSCoR Co-PI; Interim Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate College, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
9:00 – 9:45 am	Plenary Session #1 What is climate change and how is it manifested in the western USA? Kelly Redmond, Deputy Director and Regional Climatologist, Western Regional Climate Center
9:45 - 10:15 am	Break
10:15 – 11:00 am	Plenary Session #2 Frameworks for decision making - how does climate change fit into the equation? Patricia Mulroy, General Manager, Southern Nevada Water Authority and Las Vegas Valley Water District
11:00 am – 11:45 pm	Plenary Session #3 Engaging Stakeholders in Research Henry Gholz, Program Director, National Science Foundation Division of Environmental Biology
11:45 am ‐ Noon	Plenary Session #4 Introduction to Topical Areas andGoalsforDiscussionGroups Participants – Topical Area Conveners(Scott Mensing,Helen Neill,Donica Mensing) Questionsto participants: 1) Do you consider climate change when performing your job? (show of hands) 2) How do you define climate change? (show of hands and ask a few fortheir definitions)
Noon – 1:00 pm	Lunch (Participants sign up for Topical Sessions)

1:00 – 2:30 pm Topical Area Session A: 1’st Round of Questions Assessing the effects of climate change: informing adaptation strategies	Are you developing strategies for adaptation? Given the uncertainty of the direction and magnitude of potential future climate change, what is important to be doing now? What information (data, instrumentation) do you most need to reduce uncertainty in planning for potential future climate change?
1:00 – 2:30 pm Topical Area Session B: 1’st Round of Questions Adaptation Planning: Evaluating options and their associated economic, environmental or social cost	Have you identified climate change impacts for your organization or community? What are your plans for adaptation to climate change in your organization? What are the benefits of plans? What are the challenges for making plans? What info would help you make or revise plans to promote organization or community resilience?
1:00 – 2:30 pm Topical Area Session C: 1’st Round of Questions Communicating climate change science for education, management, and policy	What are you doing to communicate the effects of climate change? Who are your audiences? What messages about climate change do you hear from others? What strategies for communicating climate change are most effective?
2:30 – 2:45 pm	Break
2:45 – 4:15 pm Topical Area Session A: 2’nd Round of Questions Assessing the effects of climate change: informing adaptation strategies	What is your highest priority in planning for potential future climate change? What are the barriers that prevent you from fully planning for potential future climate change? (money/information/data/intellectual capital/public support)? How can these barriers be overcome? Who do you collaborate with in working on/thinking about/planning for potential future climate change?
2:45 – 4:15 pm Topical Area Session B: 2’nd Round of Questions Adaptation Planning: Evaluating options and their associated economic, environmental or social cost	What are the different audiences for climate science? How can we make climate science findings more accessible to alternative audiences? What are ways to improve potential collaborations between scientists and decision makers? What are potential collaborations that would help your organization or community to become more resilient to climate change effects?
2:45 – 4:15 pm Topical Area Session C: 2’nd Round of Questions Communicating climate change science for education, management, and policy	What barriers are preventing you from communicating effectively about future climate change? What do you need to reduce these barriers? What collaborations might help you improve your communications about climate change?
4:15 – 4:40 pm	Break
4:40 – 5:15 pm	Plenary Session #5 Report back from Topical Area discussions General discussion
5:15 – 5:30 pm	Break
5:30 – 7:00 pm	Poster Session

Day 2 – March 28, 2013

8:30 - 9:30 am	Plenary Session #6 Convene workshop for day 2 Plenary Speaker: Climate adaptation through collaborative modeling: Examples from acequia communities, Rio Grande and the Western Interconnection Vincent Tidwell, Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff, Sandia National Laboratories
9:30 – 9:45 am	Poster Session Awards & Session Breakout Instructions
9:45 – 10:30 am	Break
10:30 am – noon Topical Area Session A: Final Round of Questions Assessing the effects of climate change: informing adaptation strategies	(Questions will be developed during Day 1)
10:30 am – noon Topical Area Session B: Final Round of Questions Adaptation Planning: Evaluating options and their associated economic, environmental or social cost	(Questions will be developed during Day 1)
10:30 am – noon Topical Area Session C: Final Round of Questions Communicating climate change science for education, management, and policy	(Questions will be developed during Day 1)
12:00 pm – 1:15 pm	Lunch
1:15 – 3:15 pm	Plenary Session #7 Panel Discussion to review all topical area discussions and develop action items Voluntary statements of collaboration commitments by participants
3:15 – 3:30 pm	Closing

Climate Change Science for Effective Resource Management and Public Policy in the Western United States

A workshop for scientists and decision makers March 27-28, 2013 at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas