Headline News Archive
January 29, 2014 - There are approximately 1 billion biodiversity research specimens in US collections alone, but it is estimated that information from just 10% of them is currently digitized and online. Digitization of the specimens grants researchers access to vast quantities of information in their investigations of timely subjects such as climate change, invasive species, and the extinction crisis. About 20,000 specimen images from Florida State University's Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium and Valdosta State University's Herbarium are currently featured on a new crowdsourcing site called Notes From Nature (http://www.notesfromnature.org/). Notes from Nature is part of the Zooniverse suite of projects (https://www.zooniverse.org/), which have previously focused on astronomy but which has expanded to include climate, humanities, and life sciences research. Another climate-related crowdsourcing project in Zooniverse is the popular Old Weather project (http://www.oldweather.org/).
If you have a moment to check out Notes from Nature and transcribe label data from a few specimens, it'd be great (it's fun!). To learn more about the herbarium at FSU, you can visit herbarium.bio.fsu.edu or read the blog post about the Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium at http://blog.notesfromnature.org/2013/04/28/featured-collection-fsus-robert-k-godfrey-herbarium/. To learn more about the herbarium at Valdosta, you can visit http://ww2.valdosta.edu/~rcarter/herbintro.htm; Richard Carter at Valdosta will post to the Notes from Nature blog soon.
The Director of FSU's Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium, Austin Mast (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), is a member of the steering committee of Notes from Nature. He would be very pleased to receive constructive comments on the interface.
January 23, 2014 - A new paper co-authored by Drs. Thomas Wahl, Francisco Calafat, and Mark Luther and accepted in the Geophysical Research Letters journal finds evidence of rapid changes in seasonal sea level cycles along the US Gulf coast, which in turn increases the risk of hurricane-induced flooding in certain areas. Geophysical Research Letters Journal Article
Nature News Article
American Geophysical Union Press Release
Tampa Bay Times News Article
December 19, 2013 - We are pleased to announce that Florida International University (FIU) has joined the FCI! FIU is located in the Greater Miami area and is part of the State University System of Florida. The primary FCI contacts from FIU are Dr. Richard Olson, Director of Extreme Events Research and Professor in the Department of Politics & International Relations, and Dr. Michael Sukop, Associate Professor in the Department of Earth and Environment.
December 19, 2013 - The Southeast Archeological Center (SEAC) of the National Park Service (NPS) has partnered with the Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies (COAPS) at the Florida State University to conduct an assessment of the risks posed by ongoing climate change to cultural resources at national parks in the Southeast. Preliminary studies have identified modern, colonial, and pre-colonial atmospheric and oceanographic data that can be used to assess the risks to irreplaceable cultural resource sites within Canaveral National Seashore and Everglades National Park. At these sites, rising sea level combined with the exposure of the Florida Peninsula to hurricanes are the most prominent risks to cultural resources. A new website provides users access to a wide range of atmospheric and oceanographic data resources. The data will support NPS as they develop strategies for adaptation or mitigation of future climate impacts on cultural resources.
December 18, 2013 - Teaching materials are now available online from a NASA-funded project conducted by the University of South Florida and Florida State University to advance middle-school student knowledge of climate change through teacher education. Content and methods were built on current standards and best practice, including K-12 climate literacy standards, national science standards, Florida’s state standards, national PD standards, and content-specific pedagogy, such as inquiry learning and targeting to specific assessment results. The content related local, Florida, and Southeastern U.S. topics to global topics. The major climate change topic areas are Climate Fundamentals, Energy Transfer and Climate, Weather and Climate, Causes of Climate Change, Humans and Climate Change, Hurricanes, Sea Level, and Sinkholes. Effective teaching methods were embedded throughout.
November 13, 2013 - People who live in the southeastern United States should begin to prepare for more drastically changing weather conditions — everything from heat waves to poorer air quality – caused by climate change, according to a new book, edited by a University of Florida researcher. The book, which the FCI's Keith Ingram helped write, is titled “Climate Change of the Southeast United States: Variability, Change, Impacts and Vulnerability.” Ingram was the book’s lead editor.Source: http://news.ufl.edu/2013/11/13/climate-change-book/
November 12, 2013 - This month’s Landscape Architecture Magazine features the Planning Matanzas project, led by the FCI's Kathryn Frank, in an article titled ”Think or Swim,” by Jonathan Lerner. Lerner attended the project's Spring 2013 professional stakeholder workshops. In his exposition, Lerner does a wonderful job of capturing the unique and vulnerable beauty of the Matanzas Basin as well as the complexity of the planning task at hand. Source: http://planningmatanzas.org/2013/11/12/project-in-the-news-think-or-swim/
November 12, 2013 - The Editorial Board of the journal Environment, Systems, and Decisions, published by Springer, announces a special Call for Papers addressing the challenges of climate and energy decision-making under uncertainty. Manuscripts are encouraged to be submitted prior to March 1, 2014. The special issue will be co-edited by the FCI's Greg Kiker. Full Announcement (PDF)
October 18, 2013 - Oceanographers from University of Miami, Duke University, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have received $16 million in grants from the National Science Foundation to deploy a new observing system in the subpolar region of the North Atlantic. The observing system will measure the ocean’s overturning circulation, a key component of the global climate system.Source: http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/news-events/press-releases/2013/changes-in-ocean-circulation
October 16, 2013 - A new project from AgroClimate focuses on the development of Smartphone apps for citrus, cotton, strawberry, and urban lawn to provide real-time and forecasting information that can then be used for more efficient irrigation and water conservation.Source: http://smartirrigationapps.org/
This document provides a brief overview of the observed changes in the climate of the Southeast United States as well as possible future climate conditions as simulated by climate models, based on two scenarios of future greenhouse gas emissions. It summarizes the detailed findings presented in one of nine regional and national climate descriptions created by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in support of the National Climate Assessment (NCA). It is also hoped that these findings are of direct benefit to decision makers and communities seeking to develop adaptation plans. The full Regional Climate Trends and Scenarios report is available at http://scenarios.globalchange.gov/regions/southeast-and-caribbean.
August 15, 2013 - A new special issue in the journal Regional Environmental Change (a Springer publication) entitled "Multi-disciplinary assessment of the Southeastern US climate" is a result of a vibrant interdisciplinary effort by several groups, including the Florida Climate Institute, the Southeast Climate Consortium, and the Florida Water and Climate Alliance. The authors come from a milieu of universities, government agencies and laboratories, and industry spread across the Southeastern US. Source: http://fsu.floridaclimateinstitute.org/resources/publications/regional-environmental-change
The special issue may be accessed online at http://link.springer.com/journal/10113/13/1/suppl/page/1
University of Florida Researchers have found, for the first time, that crop models predicting yields for one of the world’s most important crops begin to disagree under climate change scenarios. By knowing where those models break down, researchers will be better able to improve them. The computerized models predict crop yields for wheat, one of the world’s most-consumed foods. For full press release about the newly published study in Nature Climate Change, click here.
Understanding how climate change will affect crop yields in the future is vitally important to agricultural decision makers today. However the models we are using to predict potential impacts often disagree. AgMIP researchers have just published a letter online in the June issue of Nature Climate Change, “Uncertainty in simulating wheat yields under climate change” that proposes a new methodology to decrease uncertainty and improve predictions. For full story and link to article, click here.
The symposium held April 2-3 at the University of Florida drew 250 attendees and featured speakers from other academic institutions around the world, businesses, and agencies. The event helped to honor the 150th anniversary of the Morrill Act which helped to make higher education accessible to all in America. Please visit the event website for recorded presentations, program, poster abstracts, panel session notes, and photos.
The Florida Natural Resources Leadership Institute (NRLI) is now accepting applications for Class XIII, which begins August 6, 2013 and continues through April , 2014. The 8 month fellowship will focus on "The Future of Water in Florida."
The program meets once per month at a different community in Florida to explore the natural resource topic and participate in discussions and activities with stakeholders in that community.
Institute graduates will be better able to help the people, industries, and institutions of Florida collaborate in achieving the often conflicting goals of protecting the environment and the people while fostering economic development. For more information and for the full schedule, please visit http://nrli.ifas.ufl.edu/.
Dr. Clyde Fraisse is recognized internationally as a leader in climate variability and change adaptation research and extension and in the development of climate-based decision support systems. The AgroClimate system developed by Dr. Fraisse for the southeastern U.S. is now an open source platform being replicated in Africa and Latin America. Educated in the U.S., Belgium, and Brazil, he is naturally comfortable in multiple cultures as he collaborates on research projects and co-publishes with international colleagues. Dr. Fraisse is a member of the World Meteorological Organization Expert Team on “User response to climate variability and change”. He is currently implementing an AgroClimate system for Cooperatives in Paraguay and was selected by the Government of Jordan to help develop synergetic approaches for complying with the Rio convention protocols. Dr. Fraisse is also collaborating with the World Bank in the development of climate smart tools for farmers in Kenya and Ethiopia and is the principal investigator for a project funded by the Department of Education and CAPES for the exchange of students between the University of Florida and universities in Brazil. His accomplishments have had a worldwide impact and greatly contributed to the internationalization of IFAS.
We are pleased to announce that the Florida Climate Institute is expanding to increase the effectiveness of collaborations among universities and state and local agencies in Florida. The FCI will include Florida Atlantic University, the University of Central Florida, the University of Miami, and the University of South Florida (including the Patel School of Global Sustainability), in addition to the University of Florida and Florida State University. By bringing together even more outstanding scientists from across the state, we are able to increase both the breadth and the depth of our research and better inform Floridians about the economic and environmental opportunities and risks our state faces due to climate variability, climate change, and sea level rise.
The Florida Climate Institute, along with the Patel College of Global Sustainability, hosted the National Climate Assessment Southeast Town Hall Meeting in Tampa.
The event featured speakers from academic institutions, federal agencies, water utility and management, as well as authors of various chapters. These talks were streamed and can be viewed at (need link from UCAR).
The U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) released the National Climate Assessment (NCA) draft report last month to be reviewed by scientists and experts from inside and outside the federal government, the National Academy of Sciences, and the public. The report analyzes the effects of global changes on the natural environment, agriculture, energy production and use, land and water resources, transportation, human health and welfare, human social systems, and biological diversity; and analyzes current trends in global changes, both human-induced and natural, and projects major trends for the subsequent 25 to 100 years. The report includes a chapter on the southeastern USA and key messages for this region. More information about the National Climate Assessment can be found online at http://assessment.globalchange.gov.
Both the FCI and Southeast Climate Consortium (SECC) played major leadership and writing roles in this assessment for the southeastern states. Keith Ingram of UF (Director of the SECC) was the lead author on the SE technical report and Jim Jones (UF Director of the Florida Climate Institute) was co-lead author on the SE Assessment chapter in this report. At the meeting, a summary of the SE Assessment Report was presented.
All videos of the Southeast Regional Town Hall Meeting can be accessed directly from the YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/NCAengagement.
Dr. Jim Jones, FCI director at the University of Florida, is co-leading an international research initiative aimed at assessing climate impacts on regional and global food security now and in the future. Also part of this AgMIP (Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project) team at UF are Ken Boote, Senthold Asseng, and Cheryl Porter. The project was featured in the August issue of Nature Climate Change and brings together experts who use computer models to understand how the world's major economic crops are vulnerable to changing climate. Within this program, a Modeling Group on Livestock and Grasslands was launched. The aim is to intercompare and further develop a range of models to be applied internationally, especially for climate change impact projections. Dr. Jim Jones’s team is part of the Grassland & Rangeland modeling sub-group. Activities and meetings are starting now; results will be discussed in the Fall 2013. For more information, download the press release.
The Florida Climate Institute (FCI) is a multi-disciplinary network of national and international research and public organizations, scientists, and individuals concerned with achieving a better understanding of climate variability and change.