NASA Logo, National Aeronautics and Space Administration

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NASA's Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment

ABoVE

Western Canada Site Visits Overview

Between 30 August and 10 September 2013, a delegation from the ABoVE SDT and the Carbon Cycle & Ecosystems Office visited the Northwest Territories, Yukon, and Edmonton to: (a) provide information on ABoVE; (b) learn more about ongoing research in this region; and (c) listen to researchers, land managers, and decision makers to learn more on the need for information on the impacts of climate and environmental change in order to determine how information generated through ABoVE and other research activities would be used.  Members of the ABoVE delegation included SDT Co-Chairs Eric Kasischke and Dan Hayes, SDT members Peter Griffith and Libby Larson, and Dan Hodkinson and Leanne Kendig who provide logistical support to ABoVE through the Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems Office. During this tour, we met and talked with well over 100 researchers, decision makers, and members of local communities. 
Some impressions include:
•There is substantial ongoing research on the impacts of climate change and resource development being carried out by researchers in academia, government (at all levels), and NGOs across the region. This research includes a number of long-term studies landscapes unique to Yukon, the NWT, and northern Alberta and British Columbia.
• Research stations exist that can provide logistical support in a number of unique landscapes and settings. Managers of the stations we visited all expressed a high level of interest in ABoVE.  These managers can provide an excellent connection to researchers working out of their individual units.
•Follow-up with all parties will be necessary.  There remain other regions of the potential geographical domain for ABoVE that still need to be investigated through email, discussion, and direct site visits in 2014.

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