Wyoming Climate Change Science Center

Wyoming Climate Change Science Center
Name	Wyoming Climate Change Science Center
Established	2010s
Location	Laramie, University of Wyoming
Type	Climate research center
Parent	United States Geological Survey

Wyoming Climate Change Science Center The Wyoming Climate Change Science Center is a federal-academic research consortium based in Laramie and affiliated with the University of Wyoming, the United States Geological Survey, and regional stakeholders. The center provides applied climate change science for decision makers across Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Colorado, and adjoining Great Basin and Rocky Mountains regions, integrating field studies, modeling, and stakeholder-driven syntheses.

Overview and Mission

The mission emphasizes producing actionable science for managers of Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, Bureau of Land Management, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and Wyoming Game and Fish Department to address impacts on sagebrush ecosystem, greater sage-grouse, aspen dynamics, and riparian systems. Core goals include improving projections used by National Park Service planners, informing Interstate water compacts and Wyoming State Engineer's Office water management, and supporting adaptation for infrastructure overseen by the Federal Highway Administration. The center prioritizes translational research that connects hypotheses tested by teams from Colorado State University, Montana State University, Idaho State University, Oregon State University, and Utah State University to resource managers at agencies such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the United States Department of Agriculture.

Organization and Governance

Governance combines federal oversight from the United States Geological Survey with academic leadership from the University of Wyoming and steering input from regional partners including the Western Governors' Association, Nature Conservancy, and state agencies like the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality. Advisory committees often include representatives from National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, US Forest Service, and tribal governments such as the Shoshone Tribe and Northern Arapaho Tribe. Administrative structures mirror models used by centers funded through the Department of the Interior and coordinate with programs like the National Climate Assessment and the Landscape Conservation Cooperative network.

Research Areas and Programs

Research programs target climate-driven changes to hydrology in basins like the Yellowstone River and Wind River, vegetation dynamics affecting sagebrush steppe and pinyon-juniper woodlands, wildfire regimes relevant to the Beartooth Mountains and Bighorn Mountains, and wildlife responses including studies on elk, mule deer, and greater sage-grouse. Modeling initiatives use tools from Coupled Model Intercomparison Project outputs, downscaling methods linked to NOAA datasets, and landscape simulation frameworks employed by groups at Cornell University, University of California, Berkeley, and Princeton University. Programs include paleoclimate reconstructions using proxies championed by researchers associated with the Smithsonian Institution and dendrochronology teams collaborating with the US Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station.

Collaborations and Partnerships

Partnerships extend to federal labs such as Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory, university partners including Yale University, Stanford University, University of Colorado Boulder, and conservation NGOs like The Nature Conservancy and World Wildlife Fund. Regional collaborations engage state agencies—Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, Idaho Department of Fish and Game—and municipal planners in cities such as Cheyenne and Casper. International science links include researchers from University of British Columbia and initiatives aligned with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Funding and Grants

Primary funding streams originate from the United States Geological Survey through competitive awards, supplemental grants from the National Science Foundation, targeted projects supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and cooperative agreements with the Department of the Interior. Additional sponsored research has been secured via partnerships with foundations such as the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and federal programs administered by the Environmental Protection Agency. Grant mechanisms include multi-year cooperative agreements, small business innovation research contracts tied to National Institute of Standards and Technology partnerships, and donor-funded endowments administered through the University of Wyoming.

Outreach, Education, and Stakeholder Engagement

Outreach programs deploy workshops with managers from Yellowstone National Park, training modules co-developed with National Park Service staff, and extension-style materials distributed via University of Wyoming Extension and county offices in Teton County. Education initiatives include graduate fellowships tied to the Wyoming INBRE network, postdoctoral appointments collaborating with Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory, and K–12 curricula co-created with Wyoming Department of Education and tribal education offices. Stakeholder engagement uses scenario planning workshops modeled after efforts by the Nature Conservancy and decision support tools aligned with the National Integrated Drought Information System.

Facilities and Data Resources

Facilities exploit field stations such as the Joseph H. Williams Tall Timbers-style sites, mountain observatories in the Wind River Range, and collaborative labs at the University of Wyoming and partner campuses including Montana State University and Idaho State University. Data resources integrate long-term observational datasets from the National Climatic Data Center, streamflow records from the United States Geological Survey Water Data, remote-sensing products from Landsat and MODIS, and biodiversity records linked to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Tools for data dissemination draw on platforms used by the OpenTopography consortium and web services compatible with the Federal Geographic Data Committee clearinghouse.

Category:Climate change research organizations