2023 Climate Service Providers Academy Recap
Last year marked the return of ASAP’s Private Sector Climate Service Providers Academy, a virtual course providing participants with the tools to develop higher-quality climate services and help businesses succeed in the rapidly evolving climate services marketplace.
The inaugural academy started in 2019 with funding support from the Great Lakes Integrated Sciences and Assessments (GLISA). It covered the Great Lakes region and grew in 2021 to include the Great Lakes, Carolinas, and Southwest. The 2023 academy was sponsored by the NOAA Climate Adaptation Partnerships Program and held from October 17 to November 28. A milestone to celebrate from the 2023 academy is the expansion to include six regions (Midwest; North-Atlantic; Mid-Atlantic; Caribbean; South Central; California, and Nevada) over 6 weeks.
The 2023 academy kicked off with over 80 attendees, and participants gained the following knowledge in 8 curated sessions with experts in the field:
- New skills for accessing the best climate data and information for the North/Mid-Atlantic, Great Lakes, California and Nevada, South Central, South East, and the Caribbean.
- Sophisticated knowledge and relevant examples of the strategies and approaches constituting high-quality climate change adaptation and resilience practice across North America.
- Connections to complementary businesses and potential partners and collaborators.
A huge thank you goes out to our knowledgeable and robust lineup of speakers! Speakers by session included:
Opening Session – October 17
- Keynote Speaker: Dr. Julian Reyes, Assistant Director for Climate Services at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and Deputy Director for Services at the U.S. Global Change Research Program
Session Recording – Replay the session on demand!
Principles of Quality Adaptation – October 24
- Graham Knibbs, Geohazard Specialist at Stantec Consulting Ltd.
- Dr. Sue Kemball Cook, Vice President at WSP, Sustainability, Energy and Climate Change (SECC) Group Lead
Session Recording – Replay the session on demand!
Midwest – October 31
- Ariane Laxo, Director of Sustainability at HGA
- Amanda Farris, Associate Director of the University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership
- Dr. Heidi Roop, Director of the University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership (MCAP) and an Assistant Professor of Climate Science at the University of Minnesota
- Dr. Jenna Jorns, Co-Director at GLISA, University of Michigan
- Teal Harrison, Climate Resilience Specialist at Adaptation International
Session Recording – Replay the session on demand!
California and Nevada – November 2
- Ariel Choinard, California-Nevada Climate Applications Program (CNAP) Coordinator, Desert Research Institute
- Dr. Grace Di Cecco, Postdoctoral Researcher at Eagle Rock Analytics
- Kara Odegard, Founding Partner at Measure Meant
Session Recording – Replay the session on demand!
Caribbean – November 9
- Dr. Eric Harmsen, Professor at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez, Caribbean Climate Adaptation Network (CCAN)
- Dr. Mimi Sheller, Inaugural Dean of The Global School at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, CCAN
- Dr. Pablo Méndez-Lázaro, University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences, CCAN Director
- Dr. Patricia Chardon-Maldonado, Deputy and Technical Director at the Caribbean Coastal Ocean Observing System, CCAN
- Dr. Sarah Strauss, Professor at The Global School at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, CCAN
Session Recording – Replay the session on demand!
South Central – November 14
- Annie Vest, Mitigation and Disaster Planning Lead at Freese and Nichols, and the Vice President of the National Hazard Mitigation Association
- Dr. Barney Austin, Aqua Strategies Inc.
- Dr. Sharon Hausam, Climate Adaptation Planner and Research Scientist at the South Central Climate Adaptation Science Center
- Dr. Vincent Brown, Climate Research Director at the Southern Climate Impacts Planning Program (SCIPP), Louisiana State University
Session Recording – Replay the session on demand!
North/Mid-Atlantic – November 16
- Daniel Bader, Program Manager at the Consortium for Climate Risk in the Urban Northeast (CCRUN), Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University
- Dr. Krista Romita Grocholski, Physical Scientist at the RAND Corporation and Director at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments (MARISA)
- Lena Easton-Calabria, Policy Analyst at the RAND Corporation and Program Manager at MARISA
Session Recording – Replay the session on demand!
Closing Session Panel – November 28
- Jim Fox, Senior Resilience Associate at Fernleaf
- John Phillips, Director of Integrated Watershed Management at Parametrix
- Dr. Shalina Vajhala, Executive Director of PRE Collective and the Founder & CEO of re: focus partners
- Tory Grieves, Director, Strategic Initiatives at Sustainable1
Session Recording – Replay the session on demand!
Stay tuned for details on ASAP’s next Climate Service Providers Academy and resources available from the sessions. Sign up to receive updates here.