In 2006 the film, An Inconvenient Truth, was released to the public. The film, directed by Davis Guggenheim, tells the story of Al Gore’s campaign to educate people in the U.S. and around the world about global warming and its impact on living things. A sequel to the film, An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, was released in 2017. Many believe climate change is real and the possible impacts must be studied for mitigation and adaptation.
In Oregon, the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute (OCCRI) is at the forefront of studying climate change and what it means for Oregonians. OCCRI released the seventh Oregon Climate Assessment on January 8, 2025. The institute seeks to achieve a climate-prepared Northwest by building a climate knowledge network, cultivating climate-informed communities, and advancing understanding of regional climate, its effects, and adaptation.
There is little doubt that climate change is real. Increased incidence of warmer weather in the summer, colder weather in the winter, wildfires, flooding, stronger hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, drought, species die-offs, and ocean acidification are the consequences of climate change. The dramatic impacts of climate change are here, now. It may be too late to stop the effects, but we may be able to slow them. In any case, as a species and living in the Pacific Northwest we will have to adapt.
The Oregon Climate Change Research Institute was created in 2007 by the Oregon State Legislature under House Bill 3543. Among OCCRI’s charges from the Legislature is assessment of “the state of climate change science, including biological, physical and social science, as it relates to Oregon and the likely effects of climate change on the state.” State support to OCCRI has yielded an approximately 12-fold financial return on investment.
Speaker
Our speaker, Dr. Erica Fleishmann, Professor, College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, is the Director of the Climate Change Research Institute. Dr. Fleishmann will walk us through the important work of OCCRI and how legislators and Oregonians can use it to best prepare and adapt to the impacts of climate change in Oregon and the region. To meet its charges from the Legislature, OCCRI serves roles that include the following.
- Facilitate research on climate change and its effects on natural and human systems in Oregon.
- Serve as a clearinghouse for climate change information.
- Provide climate change information to the public in integrated and accessible formats.
- Provide technical assistance to local governments in developing climate change policies, practices, and programs.
- Produce a biennial assessment on the state of the science of climate change as it applies to Oregon and the likely effects of climate change on the state.
Website: Oregon Climate Change Research Institute (OCCRI)
Research Interests
- Ecological responses to environmental change and the management of natural resources in the western United States
- Applications of remote sensing to environmental sciences and ecological modeling
Education
- 1991, B.S., Biological Sciences, Stanford University
- 1992, M.S., Biological Sciences, Stanford University
- 1997, Ph.D., Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, University of Nevada, Reno
Registration Details
Members: Free
Non-members: $10.00
