ESIG Annual Scientific Report 2002

Director's Message

The Environmental and Societal Impacts Group (ESIG) conducts an interdisciplinary research program that is focused on evaluating the societal consequences of weather and climate variability and change. ESIG aims to be a leading provider and integrator of the scientific knowledge necessary to design strategies, methods, and tools to better prepare America and the world for highly uncertain climate futures. FY02 was a very productive year for ESIG. Interactions and partnerships with the national and international scientific communities were at an all-time high. About half of ESIG's visitors and participants in workshops and other multidisciplinary activities were from fields other than the atmospheric sciences. ESIG workshops in FY02 included:

During this fiscal year, two books and many peer-reviewed publications resulted from ESIG's active research program. Our education and outreach to the national and international community continues to be very extensive, through quarterly issues of the the Network Newsletter and the ENSO Signal, workshop proceedings, and increasingly interactive websites on the Internet. These efforts contribute to more effective use of environmental information and forecasts, especially related to regional impacts of seasonal-to-interannual variations and extremes in weather and climate. ESIG has significantly increased NCAR's stature in the global community concerned with weather and climate affairs.

ESIG is committed to fostering gender, ethnic, and cultural diversity at NCAR and, in FY02, had four female scientists and two female associate scientists on staff. ESIG also had two female long-term visitors. Women scientists hold 62% of the long-term staff positions. The overall participation of women scientists in ESIG, including all categories, is 56% of the total scientific staff. As funding permits, ESIG takes every opportunity to further increase the diversity of its staff.

The evolution of ESIG's strategic vision has been guided by the 2001 NSF Review process and by continuing reviews and consultation with internal and external experts in the weather and climate impacts community. The overarching theme for ESIG is "Forging New Understanding and Solutions for Regional Weather and Climate Impact Assessment." This nascent field of science faces an enormous challenge as the signals of climate variability and change add to the complexity of a rapidly evolving human population. ESIG's FY02 Annual Report demonstrates a strong beginning in several NCAR Initiatives, as well as ongoing scientific research, in order to address this challenge.

--Robert Harriss