News & Blog | Program on Climate Change

Jun 1, 2026 |

Blog Post, Events, Outreach, PGraSC

Building Climate Community One Coffee Chat at a Time

This past spring, P-GraSC launched a Coffee Chat matching program for graduate students and postdocs to help foster one-on-one conversations, build a stronger sense of PCC community, and encourage climate-focused collaboration across the natural and social sciences. Despite shared interests in broader climate-related questions, many grad students and postdocs rarely have opportunities for informal conversations outside the academic and social circles of their department.

May 28, 2026 |

Blog Post, Gifts, Outreach, Research

What’s Wet Doesn’t Burn: Reflections on Wildfire Planning in River and Forest Management

When asked to picture a wildfire, most people imagine a forest—trees burning, smoke billowing, and flames casting shadows. Images of wildfire are becoming more familiar as large fires make headlines across the US. But the effects of fire extend beyond forests. Streams and rivers flowing through burned areas are also impacted by wildfire and can carry those impacts to downstream communities and ecosystems.

May 28, 2026 |

Outreach, PGraSC

A new PCC initiative: The Peer Interdisciplinary Climate Lab (PICL) for the 2026-27 academic year

Beginning in autumn quarter 2026, the PCC Graduate Steering Committee (P-GraSC) is organizing a new initiative: the Peer Interdisciplinary Climate Lab (aka PICL). By recruiting a cohort of 20 graduate students and postdoctoral students who will meet regularly each quarter, P-GraSC intends to foster a low-stakes collaborative space where participants can comfortably share their research with their peers, while critically thinking about how interdisciplinary connections can be expanded throughout the PCC.

May 18, 2026 |

Blog Post, Gifts, Outreach

Salinity, Diesel, and Bears, Oh My! -- Fostering Collaborations in a Remote Subarctic Community

Through the Climate Solutions Fund, I was able fly to Churchill, Manitoba for outreach with the local school and field sampling. It was during the sea-ice algae spring bloom, a time of high productivity crucial to local ecosystems. Churchill is a small subarctic community on Hudson Bay with polar bears, belugas, and the northern lights that can only be accessed by airplane or train.

Apr 10, 2026 |

Blog Post, GCeCS Capstone, Outreach

Communicating the climate benefits through economics: A case study of presenting biochar to the farming community

by Hemalatha (Hema) Velappan Historically, climate communications mostly relied on strategies postulated by the knowledge-deficit model, which assumes that sharing the scientific and technical aspects of the problem will prompt people to be concerned about the issue and modify their behavior. While this approach enhanced knowledge about the issue, it proved ineffective in motivating people to take action. Whereas messages that were focused on audiences’ immediate concerns and socio-political contexts had a much greater impact on nudging their behavior towards more climate-friendly solutions [1].

Jan 29, 2026 |

Blog Post, Education, Outreach

A Graduate Student’s Experience as a PNW Climate Ambassador

My name is Amirah Casey, and I am a third-year graduate student in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Science. I am divided between two areas of research that are related: climate impacts and climate solutions. Along with these research interests, I am deeply committed to enhancing science communication. I do this through the usual forms of outreach, like presenting at conferences and working on publications, but I am also interested in broader public outreach.