Student News
Elizabeth McNie to Co-Host Panel Session
Policy Center graduate student Elizabeth McNie and professor Maria Carmen-Lemos from the University of Michigan will be hosting a panel session at the 6th Open Meeting of the Human Dimension of Global Environmental Change Research Community to be held in Bonn, Germany October 9-13, 2005. The title of the panel session is “Climate Science Policy Assessment and Research”. The results of climate research play an important role in many climate-change policy decisions. But how do we know if ongoing research is meeting the needs of policy makers? The purpose of the panel session is to explore the following issues:
- How is climate science information used by decision makers and what can we learn from the nature of users’ information needs?
- How do scientists determine what climate information to produce and what consideration do they give to users’ needs in shaping climate science policies?
- What do we know about the ‘boundary’ between science and policy and the role of ‘boundary spanning organizations’ that facilitate the production of credible, legitimate and relevant climate science that is also useful to policy decisions?
Elizabeth will discuss her research on the ‘Supply and Demand of Scientific Information for Decision Making’ and Maria will present findings from her research on the use of climate forecasts by various governmental programs in Brazil. As part of the panel, Policy Center Director, Roger Pielke Jr., will present a talk titled “Shaping Science for Decision Makers: Lessons from the RISAs”. His talk will present initial findings of a comparative assessment of the Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments (RISA) projects of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The RISAs are designed to integrate climate science with research on end users and are thus well positioned at the boundary of climate science and policy to help shape priorities and objectives of climate science programs designed to provide useful information to decision makers. Assessment of the RISA programs is part of the Center’s $2.4 million SPARC research project. Eva Lövbrand (University of Kalmar, Sweden) will present a paper titled “Between laboratory practice and policy involvement. Ideals, expectations and every-day concerns for Swedish carbon cycle science”.
For a complete list of presenters at this panel session, or for more information, contact Elizabeth McNie at: mcnie@colorado.edu.
Elizabeth also had papers accepted at the American Academy of Science’s “International Conference on Environmental Science and Technology” and the “Science and Technology in Society Graduate Student Conference”. She also recently presented a poster at the AAAS conference in Washington DC.
Lightning Threat to Large Outdoor Stadiums Article in Weatherwise Magazine
Research about Lightning and Large Outdoor Stadiums by Center Graduate Students Joel Gratz and Erik Noble, and MBA student Ryan Church (’04) was published in the January/February 2005 issue of Weatherwise magazine. Joel also presented this research at the Lightning Conference at the AMS Annual meeting in San Diego in January.
Photo of Joel and Mary Ann Cooper - a leader in the medical aspects of lightning injuries – in front of Joel’s poster
Joel Gratz and Erik Noble Participate in AMS Student Conference
Center graduate students Joel Gratz and Erik Noble helped plan and coordinate the 4th Annual Student Conference at this year's AMS Annual Meeting. More than 350 junior and senior undergraduate and first-year graduate students attended the two-day event which featured speakers from industry, government, and academia, as well as time to interact in small groups with each other and invited professionals. Joel spoke to the students about broadening their perspectives on meteorology to include areas and occupations outside the norm, such as incorporating weather in business decision-making, transportation safety, and any other niche where one can add "M"eteorology to another field ("M" plus fill in the blank). The conference flowed smoothly and ended on time each day (what a feat!) thanks in large part to the efforts of Erik Noble who controlled the timing and audio/visual logistics. For more information visit the conference website.
Joel Gratz Gives Noontime Seminar talk: “Commercializing Research: My summer experience at the CU Technology Transfer Office”
Joel Gratz spoke at the Center’s February 7 noontime seminar about his summer experience working for the University of Colorado’s Technology Transfer Office (TTO). Joel worked largely with the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) technology and found the technology commercialization process interesting but also arduous at times and very lengthy. With the support of the TTO and CIRES, Joel is working to start a Technology Commercialization advisory group for CIRES made up of past and current CIRES employees with experience and/or an interest in technology commercialization. Joel’s presentation is available online on the Center’s speakers page.
Shep Ryen Vice President for UGGS
Center graduate student Tind Shepper Ryen is a vice president for the United Government of Graduate Students. UGGS serves as the primary advocate for graduate and professional students at the University of Colorado, a role that is particularly challenging and important given the financial difficulties faced by higher ed in the state of Colorado. UGGS leadership helps implement the policies of the assembly through state and campus lobbying, participation in campus boards and meetings, and leverage of a small UGGS budget. More information can be found at the UGGS website.
