The Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and the Desert Research Institute of Reno will split a $3 million, five-year grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to improve the ability of decision-makers to plan for hazards and extreme events, Scripps announced Thursday.
The organizations will focus on water resources management, wildfires, drought and flooding, and sea level rise at coastal communities, according to NOAA.
Teams funded under NOAA's Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments program will work closely with communities, resource managers, land planners, public agencies, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector to advance new research on how weather and climate will impact the environment, economy and society, the federal agency said.
These recipients will also develop ways to integrate climate information into decision-making.
"The RISA program helps bridge the gap by partnering scientists and key decision-makers," said Dan Cayan, research meteorologist at Scripps and co-director of the team. "The goal is to have informed stakeholders who can use the latest research to anticipate, prepare for and respond to climate impacts, and for our researchers to be able to directly support on-the-ground decisions to improve climate resiliency and inform policy."
Scripps and the Desert Research Institute have been part of the RISA program since 1999.
Researchers with the University of Arizona and New Mexico State University were provided a separate RISA grant.
