5.3
Connecting people and climate science through Cooperative Extension
Michael A. Crimmins, Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
University of Arizona Cooperative Extension has a long history of successfully converting research generated in an academic setting into practical information and applications. The traditional role of Extension has been to deliver this research to the agricultural sector. Extension has grown to serve many different sectors beyond agriculture. An example of this change is in the area of climate science at the University of Arizona. A new partnership between several climate research groups on campus and Arizona Cooperative Extension has led to the creation of a Climate Science Extension Specialist position and the Climate Science Applications Program (CSAP). This program uses the extension model to deliver climate information to many different user groups in Arizona and the broader southwest United States. It also works to integrate stakeholders into the development of new climate science applications through outreach programs and informal community level interactions. CSAP is currently working with several different federal and state agencies to address climate science needs in the area of decision support for natural resource management. Other programmatic areas include drought planning and water management, fire climatology applications, environmental monitoring, climate variability-invasive species research, and providing basic climate science support to county level extension agents. This presentation will highlight successes and challenges during the first year of program development. .
Session 5, Climate Services (Joint with AASC)
Wednesday, 22 June 2005, 8:00 AM-10:00 AM, North & Center Ballroom
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