Pacific Northwest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU)

George Melendez Wright Climate Change Youth Initiative

Project ID: P12AC15026

Federal Agency: National Park Service

Partner Institution: University of Washington

Fiscal Year: 2012

Initial Funding: $349,000

Total Funding: $349,000

Project Type: Education

Project Disciplines: Interdisciplinary

National Park: National Projects

Principal Investigator: Graumlich, Lisa

Agreement Technical Representative: Wood, Melanie

Abstract: The National Park Service (NPS) has clearly identified the need for science, adaptive management, mitigation, and communication related to climate change. The NPS has also made it a priority to make parks more personally relevant to the American public, strengthen and publicize the role of parks in educating the public, manage parks in the context of landscape-scale networks of protected and resilient areas, and foster a more diverse professional workforce. The George Melendez Wright Climate Change Youth Initiative (CCYI) directly supports these goals by funding diverse climate change internship projects and graduate research fellowships. In doing so, the CCYI provides a continuous “pipeline” for professional development and hands-on education in the parks of undergraduate and graduate students. This is a collaborative project between the University of Washington (UW) and NPS to administer and fund the CCYI. The following activities will occur: proposals for internship projects will be solicited from parks and NPS programs and reviewed/selected by a NPS committee; fellowship proposals will be received from graduate students, reviewed by professional scientists, and selected by a NPS/UW panel; internship applications will be received from undergraduate and beginning graduate students, screened by UW, and candidates interviewed and selected by park and NPS program staff; graduate fellows will conduct their research in parks and possibly in Canada and Mexico with involvement by NPS (via training, field logistics support, and feedback on proposals and reports); interns will be hired by UW and conduct their work in parks and program offices with supervision, mentoring, and training provided by NPS staff; fellow and intern work products will be compiled and made available to parks and other interested parties throughout the NPS. There are many public benefits to this project, including hands-on work experience, education, and training for young people; increased knowledge and information for the NPS and the general public about protecting park resources in a changing climate; and enrichment of interpretive programs, school outreach, park facilities and operations, and other aspects of public visitor experiences.

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