U.S. Geological Survey Climate and Land Use Change Science Strategy—A Framework for Understanding and Responding to Global Change

Abstract

It provided a view of the future, establishing science goals that reflected the USGS's fundamental mission in areas of societal impact such as energy and minerals, climate and land use change, ecosystems, natural hazards, environmental health, and water. Intended to inform long-term program planning, the strategy emphasizes how USGS science can make substantial contributions to the well-being of the Nation and the world. In 2010, I realigned the USGS management and budget structure, changing it from a structure associated with scientific disciplines-Geography, Geology, Biology and Hydrology-to an issue-based organization along the lines of the Science Strategy. My aim was to align our management structure with our mission, our science priorities, our metrics for success, and our budget. An added benefit was that the USGS immediately appeared relevant to more Americans, and it became easier for those outside the agency to navigate our organizational structure to find where within the USGS they would find the solution to their problem. External partners rarely approached us with a problem in "geology," but they might need help with an issue in climate change or energy research. The new organization is focused on seven science mission areas: • Climate and Land Use Change • Core Science Systems • Ecosystems • Energy and Minerals • Environmental Health • Natural Hazards • Water The scope of each of these new mission areas is broader than the science directions outlined in the USGS Science Strategy and together cover the scope of USGS science activities. In 2010, I also commissioned seven Science Strategy Planning Teams (SSPTs) to draft science strategies for each USGS mission area. Although the existing Bureau Science Strategy could be a starting point for this exercise, the SSPTs had to go well beyond the scope of the existing document. What is of value and enduring from the work of the programs that existed under the former science disciplines needed to be reframed and reinterpreted under the new organization of the science mission areas. In addition, new opportunities for research directions have emerged in the five years since the Bureau Science Strategy was drafted, and exciting possibilities for cooperating and collaborating in new ways are enabled by the new mission focus of the organization. Scientists from across the Bureau were selected for these SSPTs for their experience in strategic planning, broad range of experience and expertise, and knowledge of stakeholder needs and relationships. Each SSPT was charged with developing a long-term (10-year) science strategy that encompasses the portfolio of USGS science in the respective mission area. Each science strategy will reinforce others because scientific knowledge inherently has significance to multiple issues. Leadership of the USGS and the Department of the Interior will use the science vision and priorities developed in these strategies for program guidance, implementation planning, accountability reporting, and resource allocation. These strategies will g...

The Pacific Islands Climate Science Center five-year science agenda, 2014-2018

“…These complex questions hold significance for societies, wildlife populations, and island ecosystems. 8 In addition, social, economic, cultural, biophysical, and logistical factors must be coupled with an understanding of how resource management paradigms will need to shift to accommodate climaterelated environmental change. For example, given that changing climate likely will cause changes in the spatial distribution of key species and habitat resources, current practices of defending and managing specific delineated spaces (for example, a wildlife refuge, a marine protected area, or cultural park) may or may not continue to remain effective and potentially inspire a new philosophy of reserve design.…”