Desert Research Institute

Data Access. DRI co-PIs are supporting data access and visualization by improving the Southwest Climate and Environment Information Collaborative (SCENIC) tool, providing training sessions with partners, and helping to build adaptive management capacity by training future scientists and resource managers. The technical team is primarily focused on optimization, improving data access, and working collaboratively with partners, end-users, and evaluators to improve the capacity and usability of SCENIC. 

Evaluation. With UArizona co-PI Alison Meadow and other researchers, DRI co-PI Tamara Wall is developing an evaluation design utilizing a developmental evaluation approach to understand the impacts of SW CASC activities and provide guidance to SW CASC co-PIs and researchers. The team is also evaluating SCENIC to better understand what impact the tool has on SW CASC partners.  

Wildfire Science. With recent extended drought events followed by extreme participation, understanding the implications on fire regimes, fire fuels, and fire behavior is timely and important for DOI land managers. SW CASC co-PI Tim Brown provides to the SW CASC wildfire science and management expertise. He serves as advisor to at least one graduate student working on wildfire related projects. Dr. Brown assists in performing analyses on relationships between climate, fire and vegetation under the terrestrial ecosystems research component. Additionally, co-PI Wall is working with the Global Learning Exchange Network to facilitate roundtable discussions with Southwest fire practitioners, to help inform policy and practice in the state of California.