Dear Climate Impacts Group Community:

As summer comes to a close, I’ve been reflecting on growth and transformation — work and life move in cycles, just like nature. 

This summer, we hosted seven EarthLab interns who brought their passion and expertise to a variety of projects. One project with the Northwest Regional Invasive Species and Climate Change network (NW RISCC) resulted in a management brief that beautifully renders art and science to inform us about climate change impacts on ticks in the Northwest. As our interns move on to their next adventure, I continue to be grateful for CIG’s place at the university and our connection to the next generation of environmental leaders.

We also had an incredible turnout for our summer webinar on Wildfire in the West, presented by Dr. Crystal Raymond with the Western Fire and Forest Resilience Collaborative. It was a great reminder of the appetite for accessible, science-based information about the climate risks facing our region.

As we head into fall, I want to provide an update on temporary organizational changes at UW. The College of Environment dean appointed me as the interim director of EarthLab, which is the broader UW institute that hosts CIG. This is a synergistic move to support both organizations during a time of transition, and I will remain in my role as Director of Climate Impacts Group while also working closely with the dean’s office on next steps for EarthLab. 

Meanwhile, our work to build climate resilience continues: we are leading four projects through the UW College of Environment CRESST program to conduct applied research and build capacity to support the development of climate adaptation strategies; we just wrapped up a project led by the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community that updated flooding models in the Skagit watershed; we were just awarded funding from the Climate Smart Communities Initiative to work with the Kalispel Tribe to address critical water-related climate hazards such as flooding, drought, and stormwater infrastructure; and last week, the NW CASC hosted the annual all-CASC network meeting, bringing together 50 collaborators from the National CASC and nine regional CASCs.

We’re also looking ahead to a busy fall of sharing what we’re learning. Our upcoming webinars will take on drought in Washington and the 2026 Water Year, including what this year’s conditions can tell us as we look toward the future. We hope you can join us for these conversations!

Thank you, as always, for following our work, partnering with us, and helping make climate science useful beyond the university.

Onward!

Susan Dickerson-Lange
Director, UW Climate Impacts Group