A researcher wades into a mountain river to install a structure that creates deep, cold-water pools for sensitive fish in the heat of summer. Another hikes through remote terrain to set up trail cameras that will share secrets about where elusive, snow-dependent species are present and where they are not. Meanwhile, states away, another researcher treks into a burned forest to see what is growing back after the flames. The thread that connects these endeavors? These are Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center (NW CASC) research fellows, conducting projects to understand how species and ecosystems are being impacted by climate change, and what can be done to help them persist in our rapidly changing world.

For almost a decade, graduate students and postdocs across the Northwest have conducted climate adaptation research projects and received training in producing science that meets real-world needs through the NW CASC Research Fellowship Program. As the program enters its ninth year and welcomes its new fellows, the NW CASC looks back at its impact on advancing regional climate resilience, strengthening the climate adaptation workforce, and inspiring new and innovative programs.

The NW CASC delivers research that helps natural resource managers protect fish, wildlife and ecosystems as the climate changes

The NW CASC is one of nine Climate Adaptation Science Centers across the Nation, all with a mission to connect regionally-specific science about how climate change is affecting species and ecosystems with partners making on-the-ground climate adaptation decisions to reduce risks.

The Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center is a partnership between the U.S. Geological Survey and a group of Northwest university and non-university partners led by the University of Washington. Through its programs and the research projects it funds, it provides science to Northwest resource managers — foresters, fish and wildlife practitioners, and others stewarding our region’s species and ecosystems — that helps answer questions about how to best safeguard our natural resources as the climate changes. All of the research the NW CASC supports is conducted in partnership with resource managers at state and federal fish, wildlife and lands agencies, as well as Tribes and Tribal organizations, to ensure findings can be applied to the complex, real-world contexts that managers face. 

The NW CASC’s Research Fellowship Program funds one-year research projects while providing training in actionable science

One of the ways the NW CASC funds climate adaptation research is through its Research Fellowship Program. This program funds annual cohorts of 9-13 masters students, doctoral students and postdoctoral scholars from across its consortium, which includes University of Washington, Boise State University, Portland State University, Oregon State University, University of Montana, Washington State University and Western Washington University. The Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians and Northwest Indian College are also part of the NW CASC consortium, but do not have graduate students. To date, the NW CASC Research Fellowship Program has trained 89 research fellows, plus nine more whose fellowship is currently underway. 

Each fellow is funded to conduct a one-year research project — which is usually a portion of a larger research project they’re leading through their graduate degree or postdoc appointment — that must align with the NW CASC’s science priorities and involve natural resource management partners who will be able to use the findings in their work. When applying for the program, research fellows identify and connect with their partners, who help shape their project proposals based on the questions and research needs they’re encountering in their work managing species and ecosystems. 

In addition to building disciplinary expertise through their research, which is overseen by a faculty advisor at their university, each fellow participates in hands-on training in actionable science — science that informs decision-making and helps solve real-world problems — through monthly cohort calls and a seminar class focused on connecting science with action. They’re able to apply this training in their collaborations with partners throughout their research projects.

“This fellowship provided me with a framework to understand what actionable science means, that there are many different forms of knowledge and ways of knowing, and the importance of ethical collaborations with numerous stakeholders. The readings and discussions that I was exposed to as a result of this experience really opened my eyes to a new way of ‘doing science’ that feels much more inclusive, effective, and ethical. I am very grateful for these invaluable new perspectives.” – former NW CASC research fellow 

Partnerships are at the heart of the NW CASC Research Fellowship Program

Partnerships with regional resource managers form the foundation of the research and learning that arise from the NW CASC Research Fellowship Program. Of the 98 total research fellowship projects, 84 have included federal partners, 62 have had state partners, and 40 have had Tribal partners. 

Research fellows have provided numerous, useful research products to their partners, including workshops, maps, datasets, web tools and protocols, that help resource managers apply the research findings to their decision-making contexts. For example, a research fellow studying the Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly — an endangered species found only in rare, western prairies of the Pacific Northwest — provided her partners at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife with maps predicting vegetation change across the South Puget Sound to inform their understanding of the butterfly’s responses to climate change and target areas for restoration. Another research fellow studying the declining, native Cassia Crossbill — a bird found only in southern Idaho — provided partners at Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Intermountain Bird Observatory, Sawtooth National Forest, Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with a dataset of population and vegetation surveys that shed light on where birds are located and how they are using their lodgepole pine habitat.

The NW CASC Research Fellowship Program helps build the climate adaptation workforce our region needs 

“My CASC Fellowship was instrumental in my graduate school experience as well as my career post graduation. It has helped shape the way I view and approach my work. I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity.” – former NW CASC research fellow 

Research fellowship alumni are spread across the Northwest and beyond, many now working in the climate adaptation field in positions such as climate resilience planner, salmon policy advisor, and coastal resilience coordinator. The NW CASC continues to interact with alumni, many of whom are now colleagues at state and federal agencies, Tribal governments, and NGOs, through meetings, workshops and projects. Several research fellows have gone on to work for the Tribes they partnered with on their NW CASC research. One of these fellows notes, “My CASC fellowship was instrumental in helping me to form connections and network with people in my field. I feel so grateful for the people I met and my experiences as a fellow that undoubtedly helped me land my dream job.” 

The new NW CASC Faculty Fellowship Program builds on the lessons and success of the Research Fellowship Program 

In 2025, building on the successful model of the Research Fellowship Program, the NW CASC launched a brand new Faculty Fellowship Program. This annual program provides funding to small cohorts of faculty across the NW CASC consortium, along with a condensed version of the actionable science training provided in the Research Fellowship Program. Instead of funding new climate adaptation projects, this program provides funding to translate existing research that aligns with NW CASC science priorities into a format easily used by resource managers in their climate adaptation decisions. For this reason, it’s considered a “last mile” program, helping researchers take their science the last mile past publication to make sure findings are accessible and useful to decision makers. While researchers would ideally collaborate with partners from the beginning of a project to ensure findings are useful and easily applied to decision making, this program offers an on-ramp to actionable science for faculty in need of the collaborative skills required for this different approach to doing science.

From fungi to forests to frogs, NW CASC’s newest cohort of research and faculty fellows are advancing climate adaptation through 13 novel projects 

The NW CASC recently announced its new cohort of research fellows, whose fellowship training is already underway, and faculty fellows, who will start in the new year. From examining how fungi can help forests recover from wildfire, to understanding whether lakes can provide summer refuge for climate-sensitive bull trout, to exploring the role of sword ferns as microhabitat for a threatened frog, the NW CASC’s thirteen new fellows will collaborate with more than 30 regional partners on their projects in the coming year. 

The NW CASC will be hosting an event at the University of Washington on Thursday, January 22, featuring an overview of the center, lightning talks on NW CASC research, and a career panel with Research Fellowship alumni. We’d love to see you there! Learn more and register here.