Announcing the Florida Climate Institute (FCI)

Jim Jones, UF & Eric Chassignet, FSU

Announcing the Florida Climate Institute (FCI)
www.FloridaClimateInstitute.org

We are pleased to announce the Florida Climate Institute (FCI), a newly approved joint venture between the University of Florida and the Florida State University.  We are fortunate to have a relatively large number of faculty conducting research on climate variability, climate change, and sea level rise topics at our universities, and we have more than 10 years of successful experience working together on climate-related research and extension projects. The establishment of the FCI will increase the visibility of our current collaborations and promote additional cooperation and recognition in new areas of climate research, teaching, and outreach that will help us better understand and respond to climate challenges. The FCI was developed by faculty at both universities in a grassroots effort that has been in process for about two years. It was approved by both universities in late June 2010 and, prior to that time, we had a number of planning meetings with an interim Steering Committee made up of faculty from both universities.

The Directors of FCI are Dr. James W. Jones of UF and Dr. Eric Chassignet of FSU. The Steering Committee members are:

Jane Southworth, Chair	Department of Geography	UF
Vasu Misra, Co-Chair	Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies	FSU
Jeff Chanton	Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Science	FSU
Robin Craig	College of Law	FSU
Wendy D. Graham	UF Water Institute	UF
Julie Harrington	Center for Economic Forecasting and Analysis	FSU
Ellen E. Martin	Department of Geological Sciences	UF
Timothy A. Martin	School of Forest Resources and Conservation	UF
John Glenn Morris	Emerging Pathogens Institute	UF
James J. O’Brien	Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies	FSU

Now that the FCI has been approved, we will seek out effective ways for faculty from all disciplines to participate.

Linked here is a brochure that summarizes the mission, goals and projects supported by FCI . We encourage you to visit our web site (FloridaClimateInstitute.org), to become an affiliate member, and to take part in upcoming activities and initiatives. We will first offer a seminar series starting in the fall semester so that we can all become more acquainted with the climate-related initiatives being conducted at both universities. We will also have a kickoff meeting in Tallahassee on November 16th to announce the FCI more broadly to our state officials and stakeholders.

We are looking forward to making the FCI an asset to our faculty, our universities, and the state of Florida. We welcome your ideas and comments.

Jim Jones, UF, jimj@uf.edu
Eric Chassignet, FSU, echassignet@coaps.fsu.edu
July 29, 2010