North Central Climate Science Center Quality of Service Survey

OMB Control No. 1090-0011

Expires 10/31/2021

North Central CSC Quality of Service

Q1

The North Central Climate Science Center (NC CSC) is one of eight regional centers created by the US Department of Interior, under the USGS National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center (NCCWSC), to help meet the changing needs of land and resource managers. The Center was designed to provide resource managers with the latest data, tools, and knowledge to support management in the face of changing conditions.

The Center was stood up in 2011 and developed an initial science agenda for the years 2012-2017. This agenda, as well as NC CSC annual and five-year progress reports, and a report from an external evaluation team commissioned by NCCWSC are available URL TO COME. We are now beginning a multi-stage science strategic planning process to cover the period of 2018 and beyond. As this process unfolds, we will post additional information, summaries of progress, etc. on the site linked above. At this time, we are soliciting your input on the strategic land and resource management issues and problems your agency currently faces in the north-central US. Your guidance will help us tailor our future activities and help us provide the highest quality of service to you as possible.

Q2

To best support your work in the next 1-5 years, the NC CSC should allocate its resources to (rank in order of importance?):

______ Understand variability and changes in weather and climate in the places that you work (1)

______ Link variability and changes in weather and climate to impacts to resources or places that you manage (2)

______ Identify, evaluate, and provide guidance on potential adaptation strategies to cope with these impacts (3)

Q3

In order to accomplish these tasks, the NC CSC should invest its resources to (rank in order of importance?):

______ Conduct new scientific research (1)

______ Synthesize, translate, and communicate existing science (2)

______ Hold regionally-based trainings for resource managers (3)

______ Develop decision support tools/systems in collaboration with users (4)

______ Convene opportunities for regional science-management dialogue (5)

______ Provide staff for technical assistance and consulting (6)

Q4

In 2014, the NC CSC identified drought and its consequences as its primary focal area. Which of the following should be the NC CSC’s primary focal area(s) for 2018-2022?  Check drought if you recommend retaining this topic, and check additional boxes if you recommend adding those topics.

• Drought (and other hydrologic extremes): consequences, planning, adaptation, etc. (1)

• Fire impacts and management options (2)

• Impacts on species or habitats of conservation concern and management options (3)

• Invasive species impacts and management (4)

• Other (5) ____________________

Q5

When holding trainings, please prioritize the kinds of topics that the NC CSC should focus on to support your agency’s management decisions and planning processes over the next 1-10 years

	Extremely important (1)	Very important (2)	Moderately important (3)	Slightly important (4)	Not at all important (5)
Climate 101 (basics of climate science) (1)
Climate 201 (understanding models and data) (2)
Communications about resilience and adaptation (3)
Scenario planning (4)
Vulnerability assessments (5)
Adaptation planning (design, implementation, evaluation) (6)
Ecological impacts modeling (habit and/or species distribution) (7)
Other (8)

Q6

When providing technical assistance, which would be more valuable to you and your agency?

• Engaging with NC CSC staff consistently over a long-term decision or planning process (1)

• Calling on NC CSC staff for short-term consulting or to accomplish a one-off task (2)

Q7

In which of our region's states do you primarily work? (select all that apply)

• Montana (1)

• Wyoming (2)

• Colorado (3)

• North Dakota (4)

• South Dakota (5)

• Nebraska (6)

• Kansas (7)

• Other (8) ____________________

Q8

What type of organization do you work for? (select one)

• Local government (1)

• State agency (2)

• Tribal government (3)

• Federal agency (4)

• University or college (5)

• Nongovernment organization (NGO/nonprofit) (6)

• Private/for profit/landowner (7)

• Other (8) ____________________

Q9

If you would like to discuss issues related to this survey, provide additional feedback not covered here, or contribute to the NC CSC science and strategic planning process, please contact Aparna Bamzai, North Central CSC Deputy Director, via email: [email protected].