SEARCH is a U.S. program with a mission to provide a foundation of Arctic change science through collaboration with the research community, funding agencies, and other stakeholders.
As the SEARCH SSC Chair, Dr. Ammann will lead the Science Steering Committee's efforts to ensure the program is achieving its vision, mission and long-term science goals by providing oversight and guidance to the SEARCH Project Office and Action Teams.
"Caspar's broad-ranging expertise, which includes work on paleoclimate, global and regional climate modeling, assessment of impacts of climate change and other endeavors, and his ability to work well across disciplines and agencies will serve the research community and SEARCH well," says outgoing SSC Chair Dr. Hajo Eicken.
As a climate scientist with the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, CO, Dr. Ammann is actively engaged in the study of global and regional climate variability and change. His efforts support science applications that advance the provision of regional and local information about the evolving climate and to accelerate its use in adaptation planning and decision-making. Over many years, he was involved in the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme's Past Global Challenges (IGBP-PAGES) effort to understand historical changes in the Earth system. In the past he has also served on a National Research Council evaluation panel on detection and attribution of solar effect on climate, served on the Scientific Advisory Committee for NASA's Living with a Star TR&T program, and was a member of numerous scientific organizing committee for national and international conferences in the fields of climate and statistical climatology. Ammann has a doctorate in geosciences from the University of Massachusetts, and a master's degree in geography, geology and mineralogy from the University of Bern, Switzerland.
"I'm deeply honored to be given the opportunity to work with SEARCH as it transitions into a new chapter. The speed and magnitude of the changes across the Arctic are profound, and the consequences of these changes will impact every aspect of the Arctic's land, water and ecology - and the people who rely on them," says Ammann. "SEARCH offers an effective platform for the scientific community to tackle some of these issues. Working with agencies across the federal government as well as regional stakeholders, SEARCH can help develop useful and usable knowledge, products and tools for a better anticipation of the impacts of our changing climate on these fragile environments."
The SEARCH program is supported by a collaborative grant from the National Science Foundation Division of Polar Programs, Arctic Sciences Section to the International Arctic Research Center (IARC) and the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States (ARCUS). Learn more about SEARCH at www.arcus.org/search-program.
For more information, please contact:
Brit Myers, ARCUS
Email: brit [at] arcus.org
Phone: 907-450-1622
or
Dr. Caspar M. Ammann
Climate Science and Applications Program
RAL/ National Center for Atmospheric Research
Email: ammann [at] ucar.edu
Phone: 303-497-1705
Website: http://www.rap.ucar.edu/staff/ammann/index.php