U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 2011–3025

March 2011

U.S. Department of the Interior 

Climate Science Centers

What is a Climate Science Center?

On September 14, 2009, the Secretary of the Interior signed a Secretarial Order (No. 3289) entitled, “Addressing the Impacts of Climate Change 

on America’s Water, Land, and Other Natural and Cultural Resources.” 

The Order effectively established the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) 

Climate Science Centers (CSCs), which will integrate DOI science and 

management expertise with similar contributions from our partners to 

provide information to support adaptation and mitigation efforts on both 

public and private lands, across the United States and internationally.

Planning for Climate Change Research

CSCs are research collaborations that will be guided by a U.S. Geological 

Survey (USGS) Center Director and hosted by a university or consortium of universities. Each CSC will bring together expertise from university and federal scientists 

to support climate change research and collaborations in a specific geographic area.

Priority science activities of the CSCs include the following:

• Use and creation of high resolution climate modeling information and 

derivative products in order to produce key information that is needed to forecast 

ecological and population responses at national, regional, and local levels;

• Integration of physical climate models with ecological-, habitat-, and 

population-response models;

• Development of models to forecast fish- and wildlife-population and 

habitat changes; 

• Development of methods to assess vulnerability of species and habitats; and 

• Development of standardized approaches to modeling, monitoring, data 

management, and decision support.

Boundaries of the CSCs are intended to be flexible depending on the science 

needs of a particular region. Because environmental science needs related to climate do 

not stop at political borders, science programs focused on these natural resources also 

should not be held to fixed borders. Likewise, the scientific capabilities of the CSCs 

will be directed toward meeting research needs, exclusive of geographic delineations.

About the Southeast Climate Science Center

The Southeast CSC, hosted by NC State University (NCSU), will collaborate 

with a number of other universities, State and Federal agencies, and nongovernmental 

organizations (NGOs) with interest and expertise in climate science. The primary 

partner for the Southeast CSC will be the Landscape Conservation Cooperatives 

(LCCs) in the Southeast, including the Appalachian, Gulf Coastal Plains and Ozarks, 

Gulf Coast Prairie, Peninsular Florida, and the South Atlantic. CSC collaborations are 

focused on common science priorities, addressing priority partner needs, minimizing 

redundancies in science, sharing scientific findings, and expanding understanding of 

climate change impacts in the Southeast.

One example of current research, funded in part by the Southeast CSC, includes 

the Southeast Regional Assessment Project (SERAP). Specific information about 

SERAP can be obtained at http://serap.er.usgs.gov/.

GuamWake Island

Papahanaumokuakea

Marine National Monument

Hawaii Johnston Atoll

Samoa

Jarvis

Island

Micronesia Marshall Islands

Howland

Island

14

12

1

9

8

SE CSC

NC State

Raleigh

NORTHWEST

SOUTHWEST

NORTH

CENTRAL

NORTHEAST

SOUTHEAST

SOUTH

CENTRAL

Landscape Conservation Cooperatives 

 in the Southeast CSC area

Southeast Regional 

 Assessment 

 Project (SERAP)

EXPLANATION

1 Appalachian

8 Gulf Coast Prairie

9 Gulf Coastal Plains 

 and Ozarks

12 Peninsular 

 Florida

14 South Atlantic

Approximate boundary

 of Climate Science 

 Center (CSC) 
North Carolina State University and Partners

NCSU will focus on recruiting and training graduate students, conducting climate 

change and impacts research, developing climate science and climate change educational programs, and providing infrastructure for the Southeast CSC. The NCSU faculty, 

staff, and graduate students will focus their work on climate-impacts science and 

addressing priority science needs of resource managers in the Southeast while striving 

to make fundamental advances that have important implications globally.

NCSU and its partners have capabilities in climate science, ecology, impacts 

assessment, cultural resources, and modeling. This expertise will be needed to identify 

and prioritize climate change vulnerabilities and to prepare for and respond to climate 

change issues in the Southeast, where changes in temperature, rain, and sea level could 

have significant impacts on aquatic and terrestrial systems and the diversity of species 

supported by these systems. 

NCSU will reach out across the Southeast and beyond for partners to help fulfill 

its mission and responsibilities as the host institution. 

Science and Stakeholder Processes

The science direction will be guided by the Southeast CSC Science Plan, which 

will establish high-level climate science priorities while ensuring that the science 

addresses priority management needs. This plan will be reviewed and updated in a 

transparent process at least once a year. In developing the science plan, the Southeast 

CSC will seek advice and guidance from scientists and stakeholders. The science plan 

will be used to make determinations about research funding through the Southeast CSC 

and graduate programs or projects that will be developed by the university. 

A Stakeholder Advisory Council (SAC) and a Science Implementation Panel (SIP), 

for the Southeast CSC, will be formed in 2011. The SAC will be composed of executives from Federal and State agencies and will help guide the science planning process 

and set priority science needs. The SIP will identify specific projects and research teams 

that will address the research priorities identified in the science plan. The SAC and 

SIP will include governmental representatives, to comply with the Federal Advisory 

Committee Act (FACA); however, the interests of NGOs and other private sector 

entities will be actively solicited. The Southeast CSC will explore a range of opportunities to gather input from public and private partners. 

Representatives from the associated LCCs will be viewed as key stakeholders and 

principal conduits for communication about management and scientific needs. It will 

be important for the Southeast CSC and associated LCCs to collaborate on science 

needs to ensure that the highest priorities are met, redundancies are minimized, and that 

significant opportunities are available for sharing resources and communicating climate 

science information and needs.

Contact Information Photographs by Alan M. Cressler, USGS

Sonya A. Jones Front page:

Acting Center Director Strix varia (barred owl) 

DOI Southeast Climate Science Center Pseudotriton ruber schencki (black-chinned red salamander) 

Telephone: 770-409-7705 Hibiscus coccineus (scarlet rosemallow)

e-mail: sajones@usgs.gov Elliptio complanata (eastern elliptio, freshwater mussel)

Cyprinella callistia (Alabama shiner)

Back page:

Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida

Cahaba River, Cahaba National Wildlife Refuge, Alabama

Mathews Brake National Wildlife Refuge, Mississippi

Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee

Thunderstorm, Meramec River Valley, Missouri