Atmospheric Sciences Policy Education and Network

ASPEN focuses on weather policy research, education, and outreach.

Carbon Cycle Science: Reconciling Supply and Demand
By comparing the supply and demand sectors of carbon cycle science, Carbon Cycle Science will assess where linkages between the sectors are strong and where missed opportunities for linkage exist.

Climate Change Network
On April 4, 2006, the Western Water Assessment (WWA) sponsored a symposium titled "Coping with Climate Change: A Symposium Highlighting Activities at the University of Colorado to Help Decision Makers Prepare for the Future." The purpose of the symposium was to identify and highlight research and other activities at the University of Colorado designed to assist decision makers in responding to and coping with the coming impacts of climate change.

Climate Services Clearinghouse
The Climate Services Clearinghouse draws together climate services and products across sectors, from NOAA, non-NOAA government agencies, academia, and the private sector. As a result, it enables providers to identify and fix overlap and gaps in existing services. It also enables site visitors to locate any service of interest.

Flatirons Elementary Outdoor Classroom Project
The Flatirons Outdoor Classroom is a K-12 curricular project involving the Boulder Valley School District, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, and the University of Colorado. The Project consists of an interdisciplinary outdoor learning environment that combines elements of science, art, social studies, and the humanities, and a forthcoming suite of curricular materials designed to make effective use of the classroom.

Global Climage Change and Society
GCCS consists of three program leaders (a philosopher, an atmospheric scientist, and a policy scientist), several internship mentors, and twelve students, the latter drawn from the physical sciences, the social sciences, and the humanities. Students explore the nature of scientific knowledge--its epistemological character, and its social and philosophic implications--and the contribution that social scientific and humanistic perspectives play in public policy debates.

Humanities in the Parks
Humanities in the Parks proposes to place graduate students in the humanities (e.g., literature, history, philosophy, religious studies, fine arts) within various units of the National Park Service for periods of 12 to 14 weeks. Drawn from universities nationwide, student interns would:

Humanities Policy
Humanities policy can make significant contributions to areas such as nanotechnology, homeland security, and global environmental change--in fact, in any area where science and technology intersect with broader societal interests.

Hurricane risk pricing, catastrophe models, and data quality
In this project ENVS graduate student Edouard von Herberstein proposes a method to assess the sensitivity of insurance pricing methods to data quality and questions whether these pricing techniques efficiently use the information in hurricane loss models.

Hydro-Climate Research and Decision Making
The central theme of Hydro-Climate Research and Decision Making is to advance hydro-climate research to meet the decision-making needs of water managers in different parts of the country.

Klamath Basin Project
The Klamath Basin Project focuses on the use of science and its relation to policy conflicts regarding water and fish in the Klamath Basin since 2001.

Lessons in Technology Transfer Policy for the Atmospheric Sciences
The goal of this project is to evaluate the policy processes and outcomes related to the Public-Private-Academic Partnership on Level II Radar Data January-December 2005

Lightning, Outdoor Stadiums, and Spectator Safety
This research project by graduate students Joel Gratz and Erik Noble explores policy options for large outdoor stadiums to protect spectators from lightning strikes.

Our Science Their Science
"Our Science Their Science" aims to enhance the understanding of the interplay of science, culture, power and politics in international affairs through a focus on the Large-Scale Biosphere Atmosphere experiment.

Prediction in the Earth Sciences: Use and Misuse in Policy Making, 1997
The workshop was organized to bring together people who have expertise in both the scientific and policy aspects of relevant case histories, plus several discussants with general insight into the issue. The goal of the meeting was aptly reinforced by one participant who noted the contrast between the depth to which policy makers rely on predictions versus the lack of depth in society's understanding of the consequences of that reliance.

Prediction in the Earth Sciences: Use and Misuse in Policy Making, 1998
We are investigating the role of prediction in the making of environmental policies. Such policies relate to problems that include: planning for and responding to natural hazards (weather, floods, earthquakes, asteroids); planning for and responding to anthropogenic hazards (global climate change, acid rain, nuclear waste); managing natural resources (oil reserves, beaches); and regulating environmental impacts (mining).

Prometheus
Prometheus provides daily news and commentary on science policy issues.

RAA-CU-NCAR Joint Internship Program
RAA-CU-NCAR Joint Internship Program. The Reinsurance Association of America and the University of Colorado announce a summer internship program for graduate students in science, engineering or policy. The goal of this program is to give students an opportunity to learn about and gain experience in a major global industry that relies on scientific and engineering expertise.

Risk-Benefit Assessment of Observing System Decision Alternatives
The goal of the workshop was to provide a comprehensive assessment of the risks and benefits associated with the decision alternatives the agency faces with respect to TRMM.

Science and Technology Policy Decision Making Symposium
The Center hosted an all-day symposium on Science, Technology, and Decision Making on February 25, 2005. The symposium featured presentations by graduate students and faculty members about science and technology policy-related activities at the Center and on the CU campus.

Security Symposium Fall 2002
Organized by the CIRES Center for Science and Technology Policy Research, our Fall 2002 Symposium sought to foster new connections and dialogue among decision makers and scientists from institutions along the Colorado Front Range. The Symposium brought together national and local experts to discuss topics such as computer security, bioterrorism, water security, support for homeland defense and emergency management.

Thirty years After Hurricane Camille: Lessons Learned, Lessons Lost
The thirtieth anniversary of Camille's landfall presents an opportunity to raise the issue of a national hurricane policy and to assess what has been learned in the three decades since.

Western Water Assessment
The mission of the Western Water Assessment is to identify and characterize regional vulnerabilities to climate variability and change, and to develop information, products and processes to assist water-resource decision-makers throughout the Intermountain West.