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Sea Grant Climate Network
Long before communicating about climate change became a national priority, one government-university partnership has been actively working to help coastal communities understand and prepare for climate change. Since the early 1990s, NOAA’s National Sea Grant College Program (NSGCP) and its network of 32 university-based programs in every coastal and Great Lakes state and territory have engaged with local stakeholders, initially raising awareness of the upward trend in global temperature and its potential implications. Today, Sea Grant emphasizes preparing U.S. communities for climate change. Established by Congress in the late 1960s, the NSGCP has a reputation as trusted brokers of scientific information, which places the outreach professionals in an excellent position to assist coastal decision-makers with climate change adaptation. The NSGCP built its early success in climate change adaptation by collaborating with other NOAA offices and numerous state and local partners. An effective and highly-appreciated cadre of extension, education and science-communication professionals now provides practical assistance and education programming in climate adaptation to coastal constituents. In 2009, approximately 90 of these professionals established a community of practice-- a grassroots, informal organization of Sea Grant outreach professionals-- the Sea Grant Climate Network (SGCN). Its mission is to enhance Sea Grant climate programming and outreach nationwide by coordinating Sea Grant climate-related activities, sharing talent and resources, and collaborating with federal agencies and the communities served in the various states and territories. Currently, the SGCN is furthering this goal by increasing outreach professionals' coordination through an electronic social network http://sgccnetwork.ning.com/ Members of the SGCN have led the way and, in 2010, NOAA Sea Grant provided funding for the Community Climate Change Adaptation Initiative. The funding enabled each of the 32 Sea Grant programs to develop projects to enhance climate adaptation opportunities in their states. Project descriptions and early accomplishments can be found at: www.seagrant.noaa.gov/whatwedo/climate In addition, several SGCN members are working to improve climate engagement regionally and nationally. Funding from the NOAA Climate Program Office for regional climate engagement has enabled Sea Grant outreach professionals in eight regions to research and share effective community engagement strategies with others. Surveys of coastal professionals have already occurred in Oregon and Maine, where they guide constructive climate engagement. http://seagrant.oregonstate.edu/research/ClimateChange/index.html. A similar national survey will be conducted this year using NOAA Sea Grant funding. Hundreds have downloaded interviews from “Communicating Climate Change,” a series of podcasts with eminent social scientists, which have provided timely communication research insights since 2008 for those on the front lines communicating about climate. (http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/communicatingclimatechange/). A collaborative website was created in 2009 to help link climate scientists with the Sea Grant Climate Network. http://coastalclimatewiki.org/. The wiki provides crucial resources for an online training module for climate extension personnel that is nearing completion and is being developed by Wisconsin Sea Grant and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR.) It will be freely available for use by outreach professionals worldwide.
I am thus pleased to nominate the Sea Grant Climate Network for its work in 2010 to communicate and engage the public in the issue of climate change adaptation.
Nominated by: Michael Liffmann
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