On Thursday May 2, 2024, the NOAA CAP program participated in NOAA’s Learning Series with a congressional briefing hosted by Jainey Bavishi, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Deputy NOAA Administrator, on how the CAP program builds localized capacity to inform on the ground adaptation solutions and better meet community goals when addressing complex climate hazards. Complex climate hazards include compounding risks such as those posed by wildfire, smoke, and heat; unexpected and overwhelming flooding, changes in disease vectors and impacts to human health and food sources, etc.
The briefing introduced the newest CAP teams in the Central Midwest and U.S. Caribbean region, discussed CAP activities that expand the program’s reach in the Northeast, Southeast and Appalachia, and included a moderated panel of regional CAP team members and partners who highlighted on-the-ground work with communities by CAP-funded entities:
- Radley Horton, Columbia University, New York, Lead for the Urban Northeast CAP team
- Jen Runkle, North Carolina Institute for Climate Studies, Raleigh, NC, Co-lead for the Carolinas CAP team
- Tamara Wall, Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV, Lead for the West CAP team
- Ladd Keith, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, Co-Investigator of the Southwest CAP team
- Brandi Janssen, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, Lead for the Central Midwest CAP team (funded by IRA)
- Lily Cheng, Flood Resilience Planner, DC Department of Energy and Environment, partner with the Mid-Atlantic CAP team
For more information, contact Jessica Garrison.
Image credit: Ariela Zycherman
