These University of Arizona-based programs focused on climate-change adaptation and mitigation are close collaborators with CCASS; many are led by CCASS Associates and Advisors.
AQUASEC
Since 2012, the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy at the University of Arizona has hosted AQUASEC, a Center of Excellence for Water Security created by IAI, the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. Water security is defined as "availability of adequate quantities and qualities of water for societal needs and resilient ecosystems, in the context of current and future global change."
AQUASEC represents a partnership among universities in Mexico, Chile, Argentina, and Brazil. The Center also is a partner in a similar enterprise, the International Water Security Network, supported by Lloyd’s Register Foundation of the United Kingdom.
(Image: AQUASEC's study site river basins of the Arid Americas)
aquasec.org/udall-center-for-studies-in-public-policy/
IRAP: Integrating Climate Information and Decision Processes for Regional Climate Resilience
The NOAA International Research Applications Program (IRAP) is a collaboration involving climate, sectoral, and social scientists at the Institute of the Environment at the University of Arizona and the International Research Institute for Climate and Society at Columbia University and regional and national partners in the Caribbean, Asia, and West Africa, which seeks to build resilience to impacts from climate variability and change, using strategies in the sectors of water resources, hazard risk management and coastal planning and management.
The three focus regions are extremely vulnerable to climate variability, particularly extreme events and stresses on food production, water resources, and coastal hazards. Their continued economic development is threatened by today’s climate, and those threats are likely to worsen with future climate change. The effective provision of climate services may help sustain hard-won development gains and engender climate-resilient societies. The aim is to develop hydroclimate information at multiple timescales that can meet identified user needs.
(Photo: Caribbean sunset by Lara Erman)
The Institute for Energy Solutions (formerly REN)
The Institute for Energy Solutions is a university-wide initiative designed to support the expanded regional, national, and global use of abundant, clean, and economical renewable energy by connecting community and industry to the UA’s research and educational programs.
The Institute works to:
- Reduce our reliance on carbon-emitting energy sources
- Increase access to energy services and economic development potential
- Effectively integrate renewable energy into a complex electric grid system
- Develop pathways for advanced energy innovation
- Understand the link between energy and water and improve access to these services
- Promote sustainable approaches for urban and rural energy delivery systems
(Photo: NREL workers install PV panels on the roof of the RSF at NREL in Golden CO; photo by Dennis Schroeder)
Climate Assessment for the Southwest
The mission of the Climate Assessment for the Southwest (CLIMAS) program is to improve the region’s ability to respond sufficiently and appropriately to climatic events and climate changes. The program promotes participatory, iterative research involving scientists, decision makers, resource users, educators, and others who need more and better information about climate and its impacts. CLIMAS investigators conduct research on the nature, causes, and consequences of climate change and variability in the southwestern United States.
Housed at the University of Arizona's Institute of the Environment and in partnership with New Mexico State University, CLIMAS was established in 1998 as part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments (RISA) program. The CLIMAS program brings together researchers who study the processes and effects of climate on the Southwest with individuals and organizations that need climate information to make informed decisions.The program promotes the exchange of ideas and information among members of the public, private, nonprofit, and academic communities.