Final Report: Technical assessment of climate science needs in the Midwest
Dates
Publication Date
2023-09-19
Summary
The Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center’s (MW CASC) Strategic Science Agenda will guide the CASC’s work for 2022-2026. At the beginning of the technical assessment, the Strategic Science Agenda was at an interim stage. In this project, our University of Minnesota-based research team worked with partner organizations from across the MW CASC Consortium to conduct a technical assessment (evaluation and review) of the interim science priorities. This included an assessment of science gaps that might exist in the region or emerge in the coming years, and the priorities most relevant for reducing uncertainty and improving management in the face of Midwest climate-related issues. In surveys and focus groups, we solicited data from experts [...]
Summary
The Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center’s (MW CASC) Strategic Science Agenda will guide the CASC’s work for 2022-2026. At the beginning of the technical assessment, the Strategic Science Agenda was at an interim stage. In this project, our University of Minnesota-based research team worked with partner organizations from across the MW CASC Consortium to conduct a technical assessment (evaluation and review) of the interim science priorities. This included an assessment of science gaps that might exist in the region or emerge in the coming years, and the priorities most relevant for reducing uncertainty and improving management in the face of Midwest climate-related issues. In surveys and focus groups, we solicited data from experts on gaps in the interim science agenda, the extent of existing knowledge, and the feasibility and importance of potential research. These methods identified topics that were missing from or underrepresented in the Interim Science Agenda, as well as emerging topics for future iterations of the Agenda, resulting in revision of the interim priority list by the USGS). It also evaluated priorities in the revised list according to 1) state of knowledge / amount of uncertainty, 2) feasibility of addressing the science priority, and 3) potential to impact management. This evaluation can inform the selection of priorities in future calls for funding and future atention by the MW CASC.
