CIRC LEAD
Erica Fleishman
Oregon State UniversityCIRC Co-Lead
erica.fleishman@oregonstate.edu
Erica Fleishman is Director of the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute (OCCRI) and Professor in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University. Erica received a B.S. and M.S. from Stanford University and a Ph.D. from University of Nevada, Reno. Her research focuses on ecological responses to variability and changes in climate, land use, and other environmental attributes in the western United States. She also is engaged in conservation plans that ensure compliance with the US Endangered Species Act. Erica is affiliated with the Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center and regularly collaborates with resource agencies, industry, and researchers on environmental stewardship and resilience.
PETER RUGGIERO
Oregon State UniversityCIRC Co-Lead
ruggierp@geo.oregonstate.edu
Peter Ruggiero has over twenty years of research experience studying coastal hazards in Washington and Oregon. With CIRC, Peter has focused on Community Adaptation in both states. His two CIRC projects are Envision Tillamook Coastal Futures and Grays Harbor Coastal Futures. Peter’s work connects the biophysical and social dimensions of coastal hazards by engaging coastal community members in the design of futures (plural) scenarios that allow participants to imagine the many choices and paths their communities could take under climate change and sea level rise. A sailor, who once named his sailboat “Aspara” and its dinghy “Gus” (Get it? Asparagus.), Peter enjoys the coast and the ocean in good weather and bad. We like the cut of your jib, Peter. Whatever that means.
CIRC Advisory Council
BRENDA BATEMAN
Oregon Water Resources Department
TOM BYLER
Director
Oregon Water Resources Department
ORIANA CHEGWIDDEN
Research Scientist
CarbonPlan
MARC DAUDON
Founder & Strategic Advisor
Cascadia Consulting
ANGUS DUNCAN
President and Co-Chair
Bonneville Environmental Foundation
RICH FERRERO
Northwest Regional Executive
US Geological Survey
LYNN HELBRECHT
Climate Change Coordinator
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
DAVID HOEKEMA
Hydrologist
Idaho Department of Water Resources
LAURA GEPHART
Watershed Programs Coordinator
Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (CRITFC)
GABRIELA GOLDFARB
Manager Environmental Public Health
Oregon Health Authority, State of Oregon
DENISE LACH
Professor Emeritus
Oregon State University
WAYNE LEI
Director of Research & Development
Portland General Electric
JOHN MANKOWSKI
Coordinator
North Pacific Landscape Conservation Cooperative (NPLCC)
PHIL MOTE
Vice Provost & Dean of the Graduate School
Oregon State University
KATHERINE ROWDEN
Service Hydrologist
National Weather Service/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
KENNETH STAHR
Surface Water Hydrology Manager
Oregon Water Resources Department
Staff
MEG MILLS-NOVOA
Oregon State UniversityProject Manager and Stakeholder Engagement Specialist
meg.millsnovoa@oregonstate.edu
Meg Mills-Novoa is CIRC’s project manager and stakeholder engagement specialist. Originally from the flat cornfields of Minnesota, Meg joined CIRC in October 2020. Prior to CIRC, she spent her time studying the sustainability of climate change adaptation projects in the Andes as a PhD Candidate in the School of Geography and Development at University of Arizona. A less reputable part of her early career included a stint on a little-watched reality TV show where she tried to become a pro skateboarder….it didn’t work out (hence all the grad school).
Susan Osredker
Oregon State UniversityOffice Manager
sosredker@coas.oregonstate.edu
As the Office Manager for CIRC and the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute, Susan Osredker keeps the wheels moving. Susan handles travel logistics, keeps the calendars for our main office, finagles funding, and helps coordinate meetings and receptions. An avid gardener who grows vegetables and flowers, Susan loves to hike and read books. Yeah, she’s a pretty typical Oregonian.
Researchers
John Abatzoglou
University of California: MercedClimate Tools
jabatzoglou@ucmerced.edu
A self-described “weather weenie,” John Abatzoglou is the creator of the Multivariate Adaptive Constructed Analogs (MACA), a tool that translates large scale global climate data into small scale visualizations of local climate impacts. A researcher at the University of California: Merced, John has written multiple papers on both observed and projected climate changes in the Northwest. His work has been essential to several CIRC projects, including the Northwest Climate Toolbox and Integrated Scenarios and PUMA. John is currently building several Climate Tools for CIRC as well as the CIRC-related tool Climate Engine. He is from California, a land whose placid weather he claims inspired his interest in climate. Go figure.
Adell Amos
University of OregonCommunity Adaptation
aamos@uoregon.edu
Adell Amos is the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the University of Oregon School of Law. An expert in state and federal water law, Adell worked on the Willamette Water 2100 project, an effort to model how water supply in the Willamette River basin is expected to change under climate change and other drivers. Her paper in the Kansas Law Review outlines some of the legal concerns that could arise should water scarcities result. She is currently applying her legal scholarship to CIRC’s other Community Adaptation efforts. When she’s not discerning the finer points of water law, Adell enjoys camping, gardening, and river rafting.
Jeffrey Bethel
Oregon State UniversityCommunity Adaptation
jeff.bethel@oregonstate.edu
An epidemiologist and researcher at Oregon State University, Jeffrey Bethel is leading CIRC’s effort to examine how climate change is expected to affect the health of our Northwest communities. To that end, Jeff has worked with the Oregon Health Authority on creating Oregon’s Health and Climate Resilience Plan, he was the lead writer for the chapter on human health in "Climate Change in the Northwest: Implications for Our Landscapes, Waters, and Communities." As part of CIRC’s Community Adaptation effort, Jeff is currently examining the potential health impacts from climate change for the Grays Harbor Coastal Futures project. Jeff is an inordinately big fan of the Cohen brothers’ immortal classic The Big Lebowski, which is why we call Jeff “His Jeffness,” “Jeffer,” and “El Jefferino.”
John Bolte
Oregon State UniversityCommunity Adaptation
john.bolte@oregonstate.edu
John Bolte is the creator of the Envision future scenarios modeling platform. Envision featured prominently in CIRC’s first five years, providing the backbone for several CIRC Community Adaptation efforts, including Big Wood Basin Alternative Futures, Envision Tillamook Coastal Futures, and Willamette Water 2100. Since 2002, John has been the head of the Biological and Ecological Engineering Department at Oregon State University. His work focuses on developing modeling and decision support tools supporting sustainable development and management of communities and ecosystems.
Meghan Dalton
Oregon State UniversityCommunity Adaptation/Climate Tools
mdalton@coas.oregonstate.edu
Meghan Dalton is a climate researcher with a BA in Mathematics from Linfield College and an MS in Atmospheric Science from the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University. Meghan has worked closely with several Northwest communities, including the water provider Seattle Public Utilities on the PUMA project. Meghan is a lead author of the Tribal Climate Adaptation Guidebook and the Third Oregon Climate Assessment Report as well as a co-author on the Northwest chapter of the Fourth National Climate Assessment. Her other publications include the extended report Climate Change in the Northwest: Implications for Our Landscapes, Waters, and Communities. Meghan can also recite several children’s books verbatim, a savant-like talent she owes to raising three young boys.
Katherine Hegewisch
University of California: MercedClimate Tools
Katherine Hegewisch is a Research Scientist at University of California: Merced (formerly at University of Idaho). Working closely with CIRC’s John Abatzoglou, Katherine's work has been essential for several CIRC efforts, including the Northwest Climate Toolbox and Integrated Scenarios, as well as the CIRC-related effort Climate Engine. She is currently working with CIRC’s Climate Tools team. She enjoys hiking and gardening.
Paul Gessler
University of IdahoClimate Tools
paulg@uidaho.edu
Paul Gessler leads CIRC’s Data Mining effort as part of CIRC’s Climate Tools. When he’s not working with CIRC, Paul is Professor of Remote Sensing and Geospatial Ecology at the University of Idaho. His research interests are diverse but almost always involve the exploration of data for patterns and understanding. With training in soil science, remote sensing, and environmental modeling he enjoys utilizing a broad array of sensors, tools, and cyberinfrastructure to understand and monitor how ecosystems work. Originally from Wisconsin, Paul loves the bounteous supply of wilderness the Northwest has to offer. He enjoys kayaking, backpacking, hockey, gardening, and just plain hanging out in his log home in the forest with family.
Holly Hartmann
Cape Diem WestClimate Tools
holly.hartmann@gmail.com
Holly Hartmann is the Director of Climate Science Applications for Carpe Diem West, a nonprofit dedicated to tackling the challenges posed by climate change in the American West. Formerly the Director of the Arid Lands Information Center and a co-investigator in our fellow RISA team CLIMAS, Holly joined CIRC in 2015. She is currently working with CIRC’s fellow Climate Tools builders on assessing the user-friendliness of our sites and applications. Holly lives in Eugene, Oregon, where she enjoys hiking and gardening.
Philip Mote
Oregon State UniversityCIRC Co-Lead (2010–2019)
pmote@coas.oregonstate.edu
Philip Mote is Vice Provost and Dean of Oregon State University’s Graduate School. Phil is President of the Global Environmental Change Section of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) and serves on AGU’s Council. He is founding director (2009–2019) of the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute (OCCRI). He was CIRC Co-Lead from 2010 to 2019. He remains active in OCCRI and CIRC. He earned a BA in Physics from Harvard University and a PhD in Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Washington.
Bart Nijssen
University of WashingtonClimate Tools
nijssen@uw.edu
David Rupp
Oregon State UniversityClimate Tools
drupp@coas.oregonstate.edu
David Rupp works on CIRC’s Climate Science and Climate Tools efforts. Interested in climate variability and change, and, in particular, in how these two factors impact the hydrological cycle and water resources, David’s work assessing how well Global Climate Models perform in the Northwest has become the foundation of much of CIRC’s Climate Tools and Climate Adaptation efforts, including the Integrated Scenarios and Willamette Water 2100. David holds a BS in Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Arizona, an MS in Forestry from Northern Arizona University, and a PhD in Water Resources Engineering from Oregon State University. Even more impressive, David has actually read Umberto Eco’s mind-bending conspiracy tome "Foucault’s Pendulum." He is currently considering adding this fact to his CV.
Grad Students & Post Docs
Jessica Andrepont
Oregon State UniversityCommunity Adaptation
(Graduated 2020)
Jessica Andrepont is a PhD student in Public Policy at Oregon State University. Currently aiding CIRC’s Grays Harbor Coastal Futures project, Jessica works closely with CIRC Co-Lead Denise Lach to apply a social science perspective to the stakeholder-driven effort. Her research interests include: sea level rise, environmental justice, population displacement, and climate change policy and politics. Jessica is one of the most well traveled members of the CIRC team. So far she’s managed to visit two continents, 14 countries, and 31 US states. Her long-term, “bucket list” goal is to visit all seven continents and see more than a few extra countries along the way.
Oriana Chegwidden
University of WashingtonClimate Tools
(Graduated 2020)
Oriana Chegwidden is a research scientist and PhD student in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Washington. Oriana is investigating the future hydrology of the Pacific Northwest. A graduate of Haverford College in Pennsylvania and Nutmegger (born in Connecticut), she is quite pleased to have migrated to the topographically interesting West.
Danielle Moruzzi
Oregon State UniversityClimate Tools/Community Adaptation
(Graduated 2019)
Danielle Moruzzi is a graduate student in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University. Danielle’s current research involves using Northwest Climate Toolbox-related data to aid state drought coordinators in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. She’s been known to hang out with sloths, anacondas, caimans, and howler monkeys and enjoys snowboarding, hiking, running, and yoga albeit not with sloths, anacondas, caimans, and howler monkeys.
Kai Parker
Oregon State UniversityCommunity Adaptation
(Graduated 2018)
Kai Parker is a PhD student in the Coastal and Ocean Engineering program at Oregon State University. Focusing on the Pacific Northwest’s estuaries and harbors, Kai’s research investigates coastal hazards under climate change. He is currently participating in CIRC’s Grays Harbor Coastal Futures project where his research aim is to improve how flooding is mathematically modeled. His goal is to empower stakeholders by providing them with the best available science as they respond to coastal hazards now and into the future. Outside of his heady hazards research, Kai strives to encounter as many hazards as possible in the flesh. He surfs, kayaks, rock and mountain climbs, and otherwise puts his body in harm’s way in the Pacific Northwest’s great and sometimes chaotic outdoors.
Erich Seamon
University of IdahoClimate Tools
(Graduated 2019)
Erich Seamon is currently working on his PhD in machine learning and climate informatics (which, yes, is pretty much what you think) at the University of Idaho, where he also finds time to work on CIRC’s Climate Tools and Climate Data Mining efforts. Seamon is currently working to develop the software and techniques that will allow CIRC to see connections in the vase quantities of data now available, particularly regarding the relationships of climate to agriculture and health. When he’s not looking for deep patterns in the universe of data, Seamon creates patterns of his own, rocking out on guitar, bass, and singing. He once worked in a bar that’s also a Laundromat, making him the coolest addition to the CIRC team to date.
Iva Sokolovska
Oregon State UniversityCommunity Adaptation
Iva Sokolovska is a PhD student in Public Policy at Oregon State University who works closely with CIRC Co-Lead Denise Lach. Iva recently completed an evaluation of the effectiveness of CIRC’s Community Adaptation efforts. Her research interests include climate change policy, water resources policy, and community adaptation decision-making. Currently the project manager of the Women in Policy graduate student organization at OSU’s School of Public Policy, Iva is a certified Zumba instructor and cake decorator.
Janan Evans-Wilent
Oregon State UniversityCommunity Adaptation
As a graduate research assistant, Janan Evans-Wilent worked closely with CIRC’s Peter Ruggiero on two CIRC Community Adaptation efforts: Grays Harbor Coastal Futures and Envision Tillamook Coastal Futures. Janan is yet another member of CIRC in the cult of rowing.
Katherine Serafin
Oregon State UniversityCommunity Adaptation
As PhD student at Oregon State University, Katherine (Katy) Serafin's work contributed greatly to both the Envision Tillamook Coastal Futures and Grays Harbor Coastal Futures projects. Katy’s research focuses on how waves, tides, and storm surges contribute to extreme flooding events. By understanding present day contributions to extreme events, she hopes to uncover clues to how future climate changes may affect coastal flooding and erosion. Her work involves traversing the beaches of Oregon and Washington, staying in beach houses, and riding jet skis. When she’s not cruising the coast, Katy enjoys camping, hiking, and rowing.
Meredith Leung
Oregon State UniversityClimate Tools
Meredith is a PhD student in Geology within the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences at OSU. Her work focuses on chronic coastal hazards modeling at local and regional scales across multiple climate scenarios to support community resilience and decision making. Since 2020, Meredith has been working with CIRC's Climate Tools team to develop a Total Water Level tool for the Pacific Northwest.
Past Participants
TIM SHEEHAN
Conservation Biologist InstituteClimate Tools
Tim Sheehan has over 30 years of experience in software engineering and development in fields as varied as climate modeling and stock trading. Tim works for CIRC’s partner organization the Conservation Biology Institute, our RISA Team has nonetheless drawn on Tim’s expertise over the years, including for our Integrated Scenarios project and more recently as part of our Climate Tools effort. Specializing in vegetation and fire modeling, Tim’s professional accolades include, leading the development of the Environmental Evaluation Modeling System, which allows users to construct models reflecting relationships among multiple factors affecting the environment and to explore the results in map layers. When he’s not building complex vegetation models, Tim spends his time building a sea kayak, an effort that, he admits, has been ongoing for sometime.
John Stevenson
Oregon State UniversityRegional Extension Climate Specialist (2011–2017)
John Stevenson worked as CIRC’s Regional Climate Extension Specialist from 2011 to 2017. As part of his job, John was often the first CIRC team member to reach out and engage a community interested in Community Adaptation. Lucky for us, John proved to be down-to-earth and eminently likable. He was essential for several CIRC efforts, including Big Wood Basin Alternative Futures, Envision Tillamook Coastal Futures, and North Coast Climate Adaptation. An outdoorsy type, John rafts, fishes, and is an avid climber and backcountry skier. He is also a member of the Corvallis Mountain Rescue Unit, a volunteer organization providing search and rescue in difficult to access terrain.
Denise Lach
Oregon State UniversityCIRC Co-Lead (2010-2020)
A trained sociologist, Denise Lach headed CIRC’s Community Adaptation efforts until her retirement in 2020. Denise was the founding director of Oregon State University’s School of Public Policy, a multi-disciplinary organization that encompasses the departments of Economics, Political Science, and Sociology. Her own research interests revolve around the interface between climate science and decision-making, how climate science gets put to work for our communities (or not), and how we in the adaptation community need to step up our game to help communities adapt to climate change. She has been known to play the ukulele for select audiences.
Kathy Lynn
University of OregonCommunity Adaptation
Kathy Lynn coordinated the Pacific Northwest Tribal Climate Change Project, a collaboration between the University of Oregon’s Environmental Studies Program and the USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station. The project focuses on building an understanding of how climate change may impact the culture and sovereignty of indigenous communities in the United States, and provides tribal members with information on grants, federal and state programs, and planning efforts underway in the Northwest around climate change. (For more information see the Tribal Climate Change Guide.) Kathy first got involved in Community Adpatation during her time in the Peace Corps. She speaks Creole and once crossed a torrential river, the result of a hurricane, which she doesn’t recommend.
Guillaume Mauger
University of WashingtonClimate Tools/Community Adaptation
Guillaume Mauger is a member of CIRC’s partner organization the University of Washington’s Climate Impacts Group (CIG). A versatile research scientist whose work focuses on regional climate issues in the Northwest, including fundamental climate science, extreme events, and regional climate impacts, Guillaume was working with CIRC’s Community Adaptation team. CIRC’s other French import, Guillaume freely admits that being a climate scientist who lives in Seattle, avidly bikes everywhere he can, and who obsessively makes his own granola and bakes makes him a bit of stereotype. “But,” he says, “c’est la vie.”
Dominique Bachelet
Conservation Biology InstituteClimate Tools
Dominique Bachelet has spent decades designing, improving, and running the dynamic general vegetation models that allow researchers and resource managers to visualize how our forests and farms are likely to transform under climate change. Dominique has been instrumental in developing Data Basin, a data management/data mining platform widely used in conservation research and applications. Originally from France, Dominique is a former Oregon State University Professor who has worked with the USDA Forest Service. She now works for the Conservation Biology Institute, a nonprofit environmental research group in Corvallis, Oregon. Dominique skis, bikes, and is a watercolor painter of some renown.
ANN MOONEY
Oregon State UniversityProject Manager (2018-2020)
Ann Mooney was CIRC’s Project Manager and Stakeholder Engagement Specialist. A native of Spokane, Washington, Ann joined CIRC in January 2018. Prior to CIRC, she worked for the National Geographic Society, supporting efforts to protect animal migrations. She has also worked extensively with CIRC’s parent organization, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), as part of an effort to protect coral reefs and local fisheries in Southeast Asia and as part of a NOAA effort to remove derelict fishing gear from the atoll system of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, where, among other skills, she mastered tying complex knots underwater with her eyes closed. (We’re not kidding…she can do this.)
Nathan Gilles
Oregon State UniversityScience Writer
Nathan Gilles was CIRC’s resident Science Writer until August 2020. He served as the Managing Editor of The Climate CIRCulator, oversaw CIRC’s social media accounts and website, and was known to sneak—as if by some occult hand—obscure hipster references into otherwise vanilla content simply for his own amusement. (See if you can find them all.)
Kathie Dello
Oregon State UniversityCommunity Adaptation/Climate Tools
Kathie Dello was the Associate Director of the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute (OCCRI) and the Deputy Director of the Oregon Climate Service while simultaneously pursuing her PhD in Environmental Sciences at Oregon State University. Kathie’s work included climate impacts analysis, climate adaptation, state agency engagement, and public outreach for both CIRC and OCCRI. A media maven, you can find Kathie on twitter and read her blogs on drought and climate at The Climate CIRCulator and WXshift.
