To learn more about the Grasslands Training events, and to see past event recordings, please see this page.

North American grasslands are a regional priority of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). The South Central CASC, in partnership with the US FWS Science Applications Program, the Northwest CASC, and the North Central CASC, will be implementing a training series for grasslands conservation practitioners starting in May 2022. Through our training series, we will introduce practitioners to the science of climate change, explore the impacts, and discuss adaptation options available.

To this end, we have created several pieces of training to facilitate grasslands conservation practitioners’ knowledge both online and in-person.

May 16-27, 2022 – Introduction to the Basics of Climate Change. Designed for grasslands managers (online course). There will be a live group activity on May 27th at 2:30 pm central.

June 13, 2022 (11:00 am central) – Overview of Climate Change Impacts to Grasslands Ecology (Webinar)

July 20^th at 2pm Central Time / 1pm Mountain Time / 12pm Pacific Time – Understanding and Using Future Projections for Landcover Changes (Webinar) Register Here

Central North American grassland ecosystems are projected to experience transitions at fine and coarse scales resulting from climate change and human land uses. Following the first two sessions of this series (climate change fundamentals, grassland climate projections, and phenology), this session will focus on landcover/vegetation responses to future climates. Themes include drought impacts, changes in water availability, and woody plant encroachment. Three summary presentations by climate scientists will be followed by grassland manager dialogs (via breakout rooms) that build knowledge among grassland conservation practitioners. Participants will be rewarded with information on cutting-edge grassland-climate science and the opportunity to engage peers in solution-finding.

August 31^st at 1pm Central Time / 12pm Mountain Time / 11am Pacific Time – Understanding and Using Future Projections for Trust Species (Webinar) Register Here

For the past half-century, grassland birds have been declining faster than any other group of birds. Habitat loss and degradation are driving many of these declines, but the emerging threat of climate change and associated increases in extreme events pose even more challenges. Using grassland birds as a case study, we will discuss new research on how climate change impacts grassland birds, from range shifts to demographic consequences. We will also explore ongoing efforts to identify how climate adaptation strategies can increase the resilience of grassland birds to future climate change.

Fall 2022 – In-person Climate Adaptation Workshop (Invitation only)

Please check back for further information and registration details.