Consortium, Affiliates & Joint Stakeholder Committee
Affiliate Program
A South Central CASC Affiliate is a person whose professional activity, including research or education, contributes to our mission of collaboratively developing science and tools that address the impacts of climate change on natural and cultural resources.
Becoming an affiliate:
Opportunities to network with a multi-disciplinary group of regional climate adaptation leaders with an invitation to the annual South Central CASC Science Workshop.
A listing on our website with a description of research interests.
Potential for your work to be featured on our website, our social media outlets, and/or our monthly newsletter.
Joint Stakeholder Committee
The purpose of the Joint Stakeholder Committee (JSC) is to recommend projects for funding to the Director. The JSC has two Co-Chairs, one from the USDA and one from the USGS. For a complete list of the South Central CASC Joint Stakeholder Committee, click the link.
Our Consortium
The work of the South Central CASC is accomplished through a collaborative partnership among USGS scientists, resource management agencies, and a consortium of academic institutions from across the region. The South Central CASC is hosted by and physically housed at the University of Oklahoma (OU), where space is provided for university, tribal, and federal employees.
Our consortium has broad expertise in the physical, biological, natural, and social sciences to address impacts of climate change on land, water, fish and wildlife, ocean, coastal, and cultural resources. The academic consortium also includes six additional member institutions:
University of Oklahoma
Principal Investigator
Dr. Renee McPherson
Area of Expertise: University Director & Associate Professor; regional/applied climatology, land/air vegetation interactions, mesoscale meteorology, observing systems.
Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. Elinor Martin
Area of Expertise: Assistant Professor; precipitation variability, climate variability and change, climate model analysis.
Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. Mark Shafer
Area of Expertise: Assistant Professor & Director, Southern Climate Impacts Planning Program; science policy and climate services.
Co-Principal Investigator
Emma Kuster
Area of Expertise: Assistant Director; climate science and adaptation, stakeholder engagement.
Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. Berrien Moore III
Area of Expertise: Dean, College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences; global carbon cycle, satellite remote sensing.
Louisiana State University
Principal Investigator
Dr. Chris D’Elia
Area of Expertise: Dean, School of the Coast and Environment; nutrient dynamics of estuaries and coral reefs, science policy.
Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. Kristine DeLong
Area of Expertise: Associate Professor; paleooceanography and paleoclimatology, past ocean coral reconstruction, global circulation and sea surface temperature shifts, coastal research.
Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. Victor-Rivera Monroy
Area of Expertise: Assistant Professor; estuarine & coastal ecosystems, landscape/ecosystem models, coastal management and aquaculture.
Texas Tech University
Principal Investigator
Dr. John Zak
Area of Expertise: Professor & Interim Chair, Biological Sciences; microbial ecologies in arid & semi-arid landscapes.
Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. Natasja van Gestel
Area of Expertise: Assistant Professor; carbon cycle modeling, impact of climate change on mocrobial communities, citizen science.
Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. Venkatesh Uddameri
Area of Expertise: Professor; climate change, water resource management, water energy nexus, groundwater modeling.
Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. Katharine Hayhoe
Area of Expertise: Associate Professor; atmospheric science, global modeling, greenhouse gas emissions, regional climate impacts, policy.
Chickasaw Nation
Principal Investigator
Kara Berst
Area of Expertise: Executive Officer, Business Sustainability & Auxiliary Services; Tribal professional capacity building.
Co-Principal Investigator
April Taylor
Area of Expertise: Tribal Liaison; Tribal engagement, cultural resources, Indian education, trainings for Tribal staff, GIS.
Choctaw Nation
Principal Investigator
Ethan Schuth
Area of Expertise: Water Resource Manager; instream flow, groundwater resources, climate impacts on aquatic communities.
Co-Principal Investigator
Tye Baker
Area of Expertise: Sr. Director of Environmental Science; Tribal professional capacity building, water resources.
Oklahoma State University
Principal Investigator
Dr. Jim Ansley
Area of Expertise: Department Head of Natural Resource Ecology and Management; rangeland vegetation ecology, woody plant encroachment.
University of New Mexico
Principal Investigator
Dr. David Gutzler
Area of Expertise: Professor in the Earth & Planetary Sciences Department; climate variabilities, water resources, climate.
CO-Principal Investigator
Dr. Renia Ehrenfeucht
Area of Expertise: Department Chair & Professor of Community & Regional Planning; urban studies, adptation & planning, policy.
Co-Principal Investigator
John Fleck
Area of Expertise: Director of UNM Water Resource Program; water resource managment, planning and adaptation, science communications.