
I’m biased, of course, but it’s hard to argue that NIACS wasn’t impressively successful in FY18 as we:
- completed our ninth ecoregional vulnerability assessment
- helped our partners create dozens more adaptation demonstrations and maintain the largest collection of explicit adaptation projects of any organization in the country
- operated three of the most extensive, trafficked, and searched forest effects and adaptation websites on the internet
- published and presented extensively
- further integrated our carbon and climate teams to produce high-profile science publications and management tools
- won the National Adaptation Leadership award for the second time in three years, with Maria Janowiak’s individual award in 2018
That said, our stakeholders and our working environment continue to change, driving a continuing evolution in our description of success. We continue to expand our adaptation work as more organizations request our assistance and offer collaboration, but the reality is that we don’t have the capacity or expertise to meet all these demands on our own. This means that success has grown into NIACS sometimes “leading from behind” in supporting other federal, state, tribal, and private organizations as they re-tool our menus, trainings, and processes to better meet their needs. We also continue to expand the science services we provide related to carbon and climate. We are thrilled that the world-renowned NRS Landscape Change Research Group successfully petitioned NRS to join NIACS. We’ve enjoyed working with them for years, but this closer organizational relationship will amplify the response loop between science and application, benefiting all of us.
The experience, stature, and productivity of the NIACS staff continues to grow. I enjoy discussing what success looks like at multiple strategic and operational levels. But if you really want to see what NIACS success looks like, just look at the pictures of our people and partners throughout this report.
With kind regards,
Chris Swanston, NIACS Director