04/15/2009: "Planning for Climate Change"

Presentations will be made Thursday (16-09 12:00 to 3:45pm) on local climate change impacts and planning to minimize their effects. The event will take place at the UW Labs in the Commons.

Dr. Eric Salathé and Lara Whitely Binder of the UW Climate Impacts Group (CIG), Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean, will give the presentations & this will followed by a question period.

The CIG is an interdisciplinary research group, funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Washington, that is studying the impacts of natural climate variability and global climate change on the Pacific Northwest. The CIG works to increase the resilience of the Pacific NW to fluctuations in climate.

Refreshments will be served but participants are asked to provide their own lunch. This will be a ZERO WASTE event; please bring only reusable or recyclable containers. The workshop is sponsored by the UW Friday Harbor Labs and San Juan County Public Works. Please call Helen Venada at 370-0503 for more information.

AGENDA
12:00 to 12:15 Opening Remarks by Dr. Ken Sebens, FHL

12:15 to 12:30 Purpose of Workshop by Sandy Wyllie-Echeverria and Jon Shannon

12:30 to 1:15 Presentation on Pacific Northwest Climate Impacts by Eric Salathé

1:15 to 1:30 Brief Q&A session

1:30 to 2:15 Presentation on Local Planning for Climate Change by Lara Whitely Binder

2:15 to 3:30 Extended Q & A session

3:30 to 3:45 Next steps discussion, facilitated by Jon Shannon

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PRESENTERS’ BIOGRAPHIES

Eric Salathé conducts research on regional climate change and climate impacts, with a primary focus on the Pacific NW. Simulations of global climate change and variability are the foundation for developing adaptation strategies to respond to local climate change. Dr. Salathé’s research interests also include upper tropospheric moisture and its relationship to climate. He has worked at the Climate and Radiation Branch of Goddard Space Flight Center and at Yale University’s Geology and Geophysics Department.

Lara Whitely Binder is an outreach specialist at CIG where she helps to disseminate information to decision makers on the impacts of climate variability and climate change on the Pacific NW and to support decision makers in the use of this information. She has served as the Groundwater Protection Coordinator for a consortium of public and private groundwater suppliers in Cincinnati Ohio where she developed a multi-jurisdictional groundwater protection program.