The University of Washington is the new host for the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Northwest Climate Science Center. Boise State University, the University of Montana, Washington State University and Western Washington University are also new partners in the Northwest CSC university consortium.

These five universities were selected as the CSC host and consortium partners after an open competition and extensive review by scientific experts. They will work as part of the collaborative network that defines the Northwest CSC. This includes working closely with federal, state and tribal entities, including those responsible for managing and protecting the land, water and natural resources of the Northwest, to develop actionable climate science and decision support tools.

On the academic side, the center will be led by university director Amy Snover of the Climate Impacts Group in the UW College of the Environment. The Northwest CSC will also be a member organization of EarthLab, a new College of the Environment initiative. Snover will work closely with the U.S. Geological Survey center director, Gustavo Bisbal, and partners at each of the consortium universities.

“Our new Northwest CSC consortium will focus on helping our region better understand the changes that lie ahead and develop sound resource management strategies in light of those changes,” Snover said.