Establishing a Scientific Consortium
…Notes from the CIRMOUNT Diary
Connie Millar
USDA Forest Service
Sierra Nevada Research Center
Berkeley, California, USA
cmillar@fs.fed.us
Bottom-Up Approaches – “Grass Roots”
Absent:
Present:
Dedicated budget
Pressing scientific or societal
problems
Mandated charge or
charter
Institutional infrastructure
Significant scientific gaps
(knowledge, discipline, or
integration)
Governance & oversight
Opportunity, incentive, flexibility
Obligations
Freedom to risk
Top-Down Approaches
Present:
Absent or Limited:
Dedicated budget
Independence
Mandated charge or
charter
Flexibility, spontaneity
Institutional infrastructure
Option to fail (low risk-taking)
Governance & oversight
Obligations & expectations
View from the Trenches…
Yes!
Integrated Climate and Ecosystem-Response
Sciences in Temperate Mountains
of Western North America
The CIRMOUNT Initiative
WHAT?
CIRMOUNT Aspires to be a Consortium that is:
• Collaborative, transparent, & open
• Interdisciplinary
• Responsive to society
• Research clearinghouse
• Emphasis on mountain climate
& ecosystem- effect sciences
• Regional focus (w NA), globally aware
WHY?
CIRMOUNT responds to four urgent
situations in western NA mountains
1. Mountain regions are vastly under-instrumented for
measuring climate & long-term changes
Of 404 Weather Stations in California
only 6 are >2500 m and only 3 > 2750 m
A Huggins
2. Research on western mountain climates & ecosystems is
intensive, but scattered & poorly integrated
Dettinger, Cayan, Lundquist
USGS, UC Scripps
Vertebrate Studies
Moritz, Patton
UCB
A Bytnerowicz, USFS
Basagic & Fountain, PSU
3. Demands on western mountain ecosystems are escalating,
placing new & cumulative stresses on communities, natural
resources, & goods demanded by society
Photos A Hansen
4. Climate change has been widely ignored in mountain landuse planning and natural-resource policy
SPECIFIC CIRMOUNT GOALS
1. Implement coordinated high-elevation climate, hydrologic, and
ecosystem monitoring
GLORIA Alpine Plant Monitoring
2. Promote integrated research within and among
mountain regions
Hamlet et al 2004
Change in Peak
Streamflow
Stewart et al
Change in Date of Peak Snowpack
3. Communicate research findings among disciplines and
provide sound science for resource planning & management
Climate change is routinely ignored in resource management
4. Develop long-term, policy-relevant mountain climate and
ecosystem databases for public information and decisionsupport
K Redmond
5. Develop CIRMOUNT as a pilot regional model at the
international scale (MRI) and engage CIRMOUNT projects and
scientists in global mountain-climate science and assessments
WHO?
CIRMOUNT Core Group
2 Co-Chairs:
Henry Diaz (NOAA), Connie Millar (USFS)
15 “Elders” from 14 universities, research
institutions & resource agencies
CIRMOUNT Distribution List
455 scientists, resource managers, and
decision-makers
WHAT HAS CIRMOUNT DONE?
Host Email Group-List
Maintain Website
Sponsor Conferences, Workshops, Special Sessions
Technical
- Ongoing: MTNCLIM Conferences,
AGU special sessions
- Opportunistic: e.g., MRI Open Sci Mtg,
Scotland, CCSP, IGFA
Resource Managers: Workshops on tour
Develop & Coordinate Technical Work Groups
- Mountain Climate Network
- Hydrologic Observatories
- International Relations
- North American GLORIA
- Paleoclimatic Archives for Resource Managers
- Ecosystem Responses to Climate
Publish Reports, Articles, & Web Presentations
Coordinate with Mountain Climate Research &
Management Efforts
WMI, USFS, MRI, GLOCHAMORE, MAB-MBR
The Path to CIRMOUNT
2001: Colleagues talking among each other about need & opportunity
2002: ‘Mountain Climate & Landscape Change Over Time’
Sierra Nevada Science Sympsium, Lake Tahoe, CA
Proceedings:
http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/publications/documents/psw_gtr193/psw_gtr
193_fm.pdf
2003: ‘Western Mountain Climates’, 20th Anniversary
Pacific Climate (PACLIM) Workshop, Asilomar, CA
Proceedings: http://tenaya.ucsd.edu/~dettinge/proc_2003.html
MRI/MAB Mountain Biosphere Reserve Workshop
Entlebuch Switzerland,
Millar, C.I. 2004. The Consortium for Integrated Climate Research in Western Mountains. In Lee, C.
and Schaaf, T. (eds) Global Change Research in Mountain Biosphere Reserves. Proceedings of the
International Launching Workshop held in Entlebuch Biosphere Reserve, 10-13 November 2003. Pg
154-158.
The Path, cont…
2004:
Mountain Climate Sciences Symposium
CIRMOUNT’s “Coming Out”, Lake Tahoe, CA
Presentations: http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/mcss/
Diaz, H.F. & Millar, C.I. 2004. Discussing the future of U.S. mountains, climate
change and ecosystems. EOS 85: 330-331
Special Session, American Geophysics Union Annual Mtg, SF, CA
“Climate Challenges to Mountain Ecosystems & Resources”
Presentations: http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/mtnclim/agu.html
2005:
MRD Article
Greenwood, G. 2005. The Consortium for Integrated Climate Research;
The role of regional integration in global studies. Mountain Research &
Development 25(1): 80-81
MTNCLIM 2005 Conference, Pray, MT (1st)
Presentation pdfs: http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/mtnclim/talks.html
The Path, cont…
2005:
-6 CIRMOUNT Working Groups formed & active
-CIRMOUNT Website launched
http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/cirmount/
-Open Science Conference, Mountain Research Initiative,
Perth, Scotland
-Climate Change Science Program Meeting,
Washington, DC
-International Group of Funding Agencies Meeting, MRI
-Special Session, American Geophysics Union Mtg,
San Francisco, CA & Working Group Meetings
“Extreme Events in Western Mountain Climate, Resources,
and Ecosystems”
The Path, cont…
2006: -Publish “Mapping New Terrain”
-MTNCLIM 2006 Conference,
Mt Hood, OR
-CONCORD Meeting, Mendoza
Argentina
-Concentrate efforts to seek dedicated funds for
CIRMOUNT Program Office
,
Focus on MTNCLIM Conferences
Focus on Website Communications
Focus on Work Groups
Between the Lines… the Human side
Æ Leaders & Leadership Styles
diversity
capacity
communication
Æ Leaders & Leadership Styles
persistence
resilience - crisis comfort
passion
Æ Ownership & Engagement
-open & transparent
-exploit central icons
Æ Tone & Timing
Æ Promise & Productivity
Low hanging fruit
Æ Relevance
Disabling Actions & Distractions…
￫ Paranoia over budget & organizational structure
￫ Promises & over-expectation
￫ Ignoring goals & people
￫ Limited communication or excess
communication (…spam)
￫ Lust for exclusive occupancy
Hints for MIREN…
￫ Start modestly; mimic unabashedly
￫ Allow leaders to emerge naturally but seek out
and woo desired colleagues
￫ Develop mailing list and website (presentation
pdfs rapidly available; hold off on newsletters)
￫ Sponsor meetings/sessions whenever possible
(…just say YES!)
￫ Develop Working Groups, Task Forces, or
Subcommittees
Hints for MIREN, cont…
￫ Target (only) a few achievable early goals &
achieve them
￫ Consider chapterizing (e.g., GLORIA, MRI)
￫ Seek and welcome opportunities for
endorsement & exposure : technical (EOS
meeting articles), media, NGO newsletters,
collaborators websites, etc
And most of all..
Enjoy the process and the people!