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| Midwest Climate Hub | |
|---|---|
| Name | Midwest Climate Hub |
| Established | 2014 |
| Headquarters | Ames, Iowa |
| Region served | Midwestern United States |
| Parent organization | United States Department of Agriculture |
Midwest Climate Hub is a regional center focused on delivering climate science, technical assistance, and decision-support tools to stakeholders across the Midwestern United States. It operates as part of a network of federal climate hubs created to translate research from institutions such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the United States Geological Survey into actionable guidance for producers, resource managers, and policymakers in states including Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin, and parts of Nebraska and South Dakota. The hub engages with universities, extension services, and nongovernmental organizations including Iowa State University, University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, Purdue University, University of Minnesota, Michigan State University, Ohio State University, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Lincoln University (Missouri), and University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
The Midwest hub synthesizes information from federal agencies such as the United States Department of Agriculture, United States Forest Service, Environmental Protection Agency, National Weather Service, Department of Energy, Smithsonian Institution, and United States Fish and Wildlife Service to provide climate-informed tools for sectors tied to the Mississippi River basin, the Great Lakes, and prairie ecosystems. It works with extension networks like the Cooperative Extension Service and land-grant institutions including Iowa State University, University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, and Ohio State University. Stakeholders include producers affiliated with organizations such as the National Farmers Union, American Farm Bureau Federation, Commodity Classic, and commodity boards like the Corn Marketing Program of Iowa and Missouri Corn Merchandising Council.
Established following planning among entities including the United States Department of Agriculture and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the hub emerged in the aftermath of policy dialogues involving the National Climate Assessment, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and legislative initiatives discussed in venues like the United States Congress and committees such as the House Committee on Agriculture and the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. Early partners included Iowa State University, University of Minnesota, Purdue University, Michigan State University, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Ohio State University, University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, and federal research labs like the Ames Laboratory. Collaborative projects drew on datasets from NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, USGS National Water Information System, NASA Earth Observing System, and the National Ecological Observatory Network.
The hub's mission connects to initiatives led by United States Department of Agriculture secretaries and strategic plans aligned with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration climate services agenda and the Department of Energy clean energy transition. Objectives include integrating science from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, informing adaptation strategies used by state agencies such as the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, and coordinating with regional planning bodies like the Great Lakes Commission and the Upper Mississippi River Basin Association.
Programs span agricultural resilience, watershed management, forestry adaptation, and urban climate planning. Research draws on models and tools from the Climate Prediction Center, the National Water Model, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool, and university labs at Iowa State University, University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, Purdue University, University of Minnesota, and Ohio State University. Topics include responses to extreme events examined in case studies similar to the 2012 United States drought, the Great Flood of 1993, and Hurricane Sandy impacts on freshwater systems. The hub supports pilot projects with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Forest Service, Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, and programs like the Conservation Reserve Program.
Partnerships include federal agencies such as the United States Department of Agriculture, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, and United States Geological Survey; academic partners like Iowa State University, University of Minnesota, Michigan State University, Ohio State University, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Purdue University, University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, and University of Nebraska–Lincoln; nongovernmental organizations including The Nature Conservancy, National Audubon Society, Sierra Club, World Wildlife Fund, American Farmland Trust, and regional entities like the Great Lakes Commission and Upper Mississippi River Basin Association. The hub collaborates with extension services such as the Cooperative Extension Service and producer groups like the National Corn Growers Association, American Soybean Association, and state commodity councils.
Outreach includes workshops, decision-support tools, webinars, and field demonstrations coordinated with county offices of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, state agencies, and universities. The hub advises responses to phenomena studied by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and monitored by NOAA, NASA, and USGS—for example, shifting planting zones mapped by the United States Department of Agriculture Plant Hardiness Zone Map and hydrologic changes in the Mississippi River and Great Lakes. Stakeholder engagement involves producers, tribal governments such as the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska and Iowa and the Oneida Nation, and municipal partners like the City of Chicago, City of Milwaukee, City of Detroit, and Minneapolis–Saint Paul regional authorities.
Funding streams include appropriations through the United States Department of Agriculture, grants from agencies like NOAA and the National Science Foundation, cooperative agreements with universities including Iowa State University, Purdue University, University of Minnesota, Michigan State University, and project funding from foundations such as the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and programmatic support from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Governance involves federal oversight by the United States Department of Agriculture leadership and coordination with regional research directors at partnering institutions and advisory input from stakeholders including state agencies, tribal governments, and producer organizations like the National Farmers Union and American Farm Bureau Federation.
Category:United States climate change organizations