Patricia Butler
| Organization | |
|---|---|
| State | Michigan |
| Title/Position | Climate Change Outreach Specialist |
| Department | Michigan Technological University School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science |
| Send e-mail | |
| US Eco Regions | Ozark/Ouachita-Appalachian Forests |
| Wildland Fires |
As a Climate Change Outreach Specialist for the Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science, I am responsible for supporting many components of the Climate Change Response Framework projects. My activities include building and strengthening partnerships, synthesizing research into non-technical language for a variety of audiences, developing tools for forest managers, and promoting the use of tools in adaptive forest management.
I coordinate Climate Change Response Framework projects in the Central Appalachians and Mid-Atlantic regions. The Central Appalachians region spans Ecological Provinces 221 and M221 in portions of Ohio, West Virginia, and Maryland. The Mid-Atlantic region spans Ecological Provinces 211, 221, 222, 232, M211 and M221 across Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New York. This integrated approach to climate change response will ultimately build science-management partnerships, produce a forest ecosystem vulnerability assessment, devise climate change adaptation strategies relevant to the unique forests of this region, and support implementation of climate change adaptation actions in forest management. A climate change vulnerability assessment for nine common forest ecosystems in the Central Appalachians is in publication (contact Patricia Butler for a draft copy). This information is being used in adaptation projects within the Central Appalachians. Contact Patricia if you would like more information on incorporating climate change adaptation into on-the-ground management.
A vulnerability assessment is now underway for the Mid-Atlantic region, and will be complete in October 2015. Please contact Patricia Butler if you would like to become involved.
Expertise
Early successional forest Lowland/mesic forests Upland/mixed forest High altitude forest Disturbance-dependent communities (e.g., fire-dependent forests, etc.) Forest/natural cover management, restoration Terrestrial Modeling (incl. Down-scale climate, Coupled, Niche-envelope modeling) Adaptation (management response and facilitation) Ozark/Ouachita-Appalachian ForestsDocument Actions
