NC State University and NOAA to establish climate research institute in Asheville

May 28, 2009

North Carolina State University will play a lead role in a new climate research partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the University of Maryland and a number of other institutions. The new Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites (CICS) will have sites in Asheville, N.C. and College Park, Md.

The North Carolina site is expected to generate up to 20 new positions for persons with advanced degrees during the first year of the program and will provide NC State with potential funding from NOAA of up to $32 million over the next five years.

The primary focus of the institute will be on collaborative research into the use of satellite observations in climate research and applications, and it will include numerous partners from academic institutions with specific expertise in the challenges of utilizing satellite observations in climate research and applications.

“This is an excellent step towards observing and documenting climate impacts on national and regional scales and a wonderful partnership between government and academia that will be a major player in climate research,” says Otis Brown, who will direct the institute for NC State.

Brown, currently professor and dean of the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Miami, will join the Department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences in NC State’s College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences this summer. Raised in Raleigh, Brown is an oceanographer who obtained his undergraduate degree from NC State and graduate degrees from the University of Miami in physics. He has a distinguished academic record and has served in many leadership roles that have helped shape the national research agenda in atmospheric sciences.

“We are most fortunate to attract Otis Brown to lead this new effort on behalf of NC State University,” said Terri Lomax, NC State vice chancellor for research and graduate studies. “Dr. Brown is a prominent scientist with a proven record of outstanding administrative leadership, and his long-term commitment to addressing climate change both through research and public outreach are a perfect fit to direct this important new NOAA institute.”

CICS is supported by an agreement between NOAA, NC State and the University of Maryland. The Asheville site (CICS-NC) is affiliated with the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) of NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service (NESDIS) and is an Inter-Institutional Research Institute of the UNC System. It is administered by NC State and affiliated with several of the UNC academic institutions as well as a number of other academic and community partners.

“The University of North Carolina is particularly pleased to partner with NOAA and NCDC to establish this institute,” said Steve Leath, vice president for research for the UNC System. “CICS-NC clearly establishes our state as a major contributor to the understanding of climate change and its impacts on our planet and the lives of our citizens. It also provides exciting opportunities for students in UNC universities.”

The new institute will focus on collaborative research into satellite observations and Earth System modeling conducted by scientists in the consortium institutions together with researchers in NOAA’s Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR) and in the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) of NOAA and the National Weather Service. Work to turn this data acquisition and modeling research into applications and services will be led by institute researchers working with those in the NCDC.

The CICS Consortium will be led by scientists from the University of Maryland and NC State University and will include researchers from Princeton University, Howard University, the University of California Irvine, Columbia University, the City University of New York, University of Miami, Colorado State University, Duke University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Oregon State University, Remote Sensing Systems, the Renaissance Computing Institute of the North Carolina University System, and the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Additional capability for public and community outreach and engagement will be provided to the institute by partnerships with Climate Central in Princeton, the North Carolina Arboretum and the Centers for Environmental and Climatic Interaction (CECI), a non-profit corporation representing Asheville community interests and organizations related to climate impacts on the environment.

“This NOAA Cooperative Institute represents many years of community and UNC collaboration toward supporting NCDC and NOAA, and building capacity behind Asheville and North Carolina as a leading national center for climate change information and related business development,” said George Briggs, president of CECI and executive director of the North Carolina Arboretum.