The Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science (NIACS) develops synthesis products, fosters communication, and pursues science in climate change and carbon cycling and management.
The Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science (NIACS) has been designed as a collaborative effort among the Forest Service, universities, conservation organizations, and forest industry to provide information on managing forests for climate change adaptation and enhanced carbon sequestration. As a regional, multi-institutional entity, NIACS builds partnerships, facilitates research, and synthesizes information to bridge the gap between carbon and climate science research and the information and management needs of natural resource professionals, woodland owners, policymakers, and members of the public.
The mission of NIACS is to provide applied ecological, economic, social, and cultural information that can be used in climate adaptation and forest carbon management
US Climate Alliance Regional Learning Labs
The US Climate Alliance convened four Regional Learning Labs in the fall of 2019, focused on carbon mitigation on natural and working lands. American Forests led the organization of these events, bringing together 22 states and 278 attendees to four regional locations to help states identify opportunities for land-based mitigation and share best practices from successful programs.
NIACS and partners from Michigan State University provided critical support in designing, facilitating, and providing technical assistance for these hands-on workshops. A major NIACS contribution was the integration of climate adaptation and carbon mitigation concepts using our experience and resources, including use of the “Practitioner’s Menu of Adaptation Strategies and Approaches for Forest Carbon Management”.
States emerged with specific policy objectives for their own teams and a better understanding of regional and national opportunities for collaboration. This effort extended progress that was made during the 2018 National Learning Lab, and will be followed by a virtual web series in 2020 in lieu of an in-person national convening.
