Pre-Conference

All Climate is Local: Unlocking Climate Data

Tuesday, April 9, 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

We invite your participation in our innovative pre-conference workshop on how to creatively address climate risk and climate-related issues at the local level. This interactive session will revolve around climate-weather issues impacting agriculture and agricultural communities and how to help farmers and ranchers access, use and share climate data. Regional climate hub experts will discuss the most recent climate science and tools and curriculum resources will be shared that can be applied locally and/or incorporated into training and education efforts for your target audience.

Cost:

$50

Registration:

To register for the pre-conference ONLY, please email Katie at katiec@umn.edu.

Agenda:

1:00 – 1:10     Welcome and introductions (Vicki Hebb, UNR/Native Climate)
1:10 – 1:15    Workshop goal and plan for the day (Vicki Hebb/Maureen McCarthy, DRI)
1:15 – 2:00     Climate Outlook for the US (Kyle Bocinsky, UM/MCO)

– Climate projections and anticipated impacts for different regions around the country
– Alternate approach for understanding risks to agriculture from extreme climate events (e.g., droughts, floods, heatwaves)
2:00 – 2:15   Climate Survey 1 (What climate impacts concern you most for the agricultural producers and their families that you serve?)
2:15 – 2:30Roundtable discussion – You are not alone! How do your concerns compare with your counterparts across the country?
2:30 – 2:50  Lessons Learned from Indian Country – Learning from the past to protect the future (Vicki Hebb/Trent Teegerstrom)
2:50 – 3:00 Break
3:00 – 3:15Climate Survey 2 (What climate resources are most useful and trusted for you as Extension educators and in your communities?)
3:15 – 3:35USDA Climate Hubs – Who are they and how can they help (Dannele Peck, USDA Northern Plains Climate Hub)
3:35 – 4:00Roundtable discussion – How do you talk about climate impacts with your producers and communities?
4:00 – 4:15      Climate Survey 3 – What do you need to unlock climate data and communicate it to producers and communities to reduce agricultural risks?
4:15 – 4:30Facilitated discussion – Innovative approaches to risk management education that incorporate climate risks and climate data.
4:30 – 4:45Highlights of climate projects that you can visit during ERME National Conference (McCarthy/Jo Ann Warner)
4:45 – 5:00 Exercise: Matchmaking Extension faculty with climate services/data
5:00Workshop close

Speakers:

Maureen I. McCarthy, PhD, is a Research Professor in Environmental Sciences at the Desert Research Institute (DRI), Graduate Faculty in Hydrologic Sciences at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR), and Affiliate Faculty at the Montana Climate Office of the University of Montana. As director of the Native Climate program, she works with Tribes in the Intermountain West to enhance the resilience of Native agriculture to climate change. Her research portfolio also includes projects to quantify ecosystem carbon fluxes and build resilience to extreme storms and wildfires. Before moving west, Dr. McCarthy spent nearly fifteen years in Washington, DC, leading national security research, intelligence, and policy analysis programs for the Departments of Defense, Energy, and Homeland Security. Prior to her government service, Dr. McCarthy led the Interface Physics research group at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. She was a Lady Davis Postdoctoral Fellow at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel and holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Physics from the University of Colorado, and a B.Sc. in Chemistry from Boston College. She and her husband split their time between Reno, NV, and their home on the Flathead Reservation of the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes in Northwest Montana.

Vicki Hebb is a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe in South Dakota where her family ranches raising cow/calf pairs and bucking horses. Vicki is on faculty at University of Nevada, Reno, Cooperative Extension working as the Coordinator of Native Programs. She serves as the Native Climate Agriculture Fellow for the USDA-NIFA funded Native Climate Team. She has dedicated the last 24 years  of her career to assisting and educating Tribal farmers and ranchers. Vicki is the Secretary of her Tribal District and currently serves on two Community Advisory Boards for the Great Plains Tribal Chairman’s Health Board.

Kyle Bocinsky, PhD, RPA, is an assistant research professor in the Department of Society and Conservation in the WA Franke College of Forestry and Conservation at the University of Montana, and the Director of Climate Extension for the Montana Climate Office. He serves users of climate data and information in Montana and throughout the West, including outreach supporting agriculture, forestry, recreation, and urban and rural resilience planning. Kyle is a co-author of a recent USDA Economic Research Service special report on stocking impacts of and financial climate risk to the FSA Livestock Forage Disaster Program. Kyle is trained as an anthropological archaeologist and paleoclimatologist who specializes in cross-disciplinary, computational approaches to studying adaptation and resilience in socio-ecological systems, with a focus on high-elevation arid agricultural systems. In addition to his positions at the University of Montana, Kyle holds appointments at the Division of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences at the Desert Research Institute and the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center.

Lee Schmelzer joined the USDA Northern Plains Climate Hub (NPCH) in March of 2023 after nearly 27 years as an Extension Agent at Montana State University. As an Extension Agent, he designed and provided hands-on education to farmers, ranchers, youth, and community members. Lee has lived and worked in small communities in three states. What he finds most rewarding is providing farmers and ranchers with information and tools they can trust, which helps them to make everyday decisions and to better manage their resources.