Earlier this year, over 100 attendees participated in the kickoff webinar for a new drought-focused project led by San Diego State University researchers in collaboration with the Climate Science Alliance, Desert Research Institute, UC Santa Barbara Climate Hazards Center, and Western Regional Climate Center.
Webinar Recap
The webinar, held on February 28th, 2023, gave an introduction to the project and the research team and, most importantly, gathered feedback from more than 100 attendees. This feedback will help shape the project and be used to ensure that the work from this project best supports current climate resilience planning efforts in southern California.
View & download webinar slide deck here.
Stay tuned for the webinar recording and attendee feedback!
Technical Advisory Group
The project is convening a Technical Advisory Group to help guide this research. Advisors are asked to attend 4-6 meetings (approx. 1.5-2 hours each) over the next 18 months.
If you'd like to volunteer to serve as a technical advisory, please fill out this form.
Project Overview
Southern California is an ecologically diverse region threatened by urbanization, water scarcity, and shifting wildfire frequency. As a biodiversity hotspot with a population of more than 21 million people and an economy of nearly $1.3 trillion GDP, a comprehensive drought preparedness and response strategy that considers the interrelated nature of these threats is needed.
This project will help build regional understanding of the vulnerabilities and effects of ecological drought for conservation and natural resource management. By leveraging robust science-management partnerships, San Diego State University’s Institute for Ecological Monitoring and Management and the Desert Research Institute will develop regionally specific information on ecological drought and a framework that supports responsive and adaptive management to drought-related climate impacts. In collaboration with the Climate Science Alliance, which will support outreach and engagement efforts, this partnership will support local and regional decision making to promote healthy, climate-resilient ecosystems and the well-being of local communities in southern California.
Learn more about the project here: https://www.climatesciencealliance.org/drought
This research is funded by NIDIS through the FY 2022 Coping with Drought Competition – Ecological Drought.