More than 150 members of the MW CASC community got together for a fun and productive week at our Annual Gathering in August 2024. This event is held once a year and is intended to deepen engagement and collaboration across our community while highlighting local strengths and priorities in our host location.
This year, we gathered in East Lansing, hosted by MW CASC Consortium member Michigan State University. Attendees familiarized themselves with campus and each other through social activities, including a tour of our event venue – MSU’s STEM Teaching and Learning Facility – and areas of environmental interest around campus. They also got to learn about MSU research initiatives through field trips to Corey Marsh Ecological Research Center and Kellogg Biological Field Station.
“Really appreciate the way you bring people together and create an environment where everyone is able to connect.”
The theme of the Annual Gathering was “Where Land and Water Meet,” in recognition of local adaptation priorities in Michigan. This theme threaded through keynote presentations by Shannon Lott of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Sapna Sharma of York University and a panel discussion focused on the challenges and opportunities of climate adaptation at the interface of land and water.
Additional sessions focused on climate-informed restoration, maladaptation, partnership building, and innovation in adaptation. Researchers presented lightning talks and posters on dozens of adaptation research projects. The MW CASC also officially launched our Community of Practice during the Gathering, which will help inform our synthesis research projects, the synthesis approach of the MW CASC, and the value of synthesis research in climate adaptation broadly.
“Bringing people together in a large meeting like this is an amazing accomplishment and it fills a huge need in our climate adaptation community.”
Early career researchers affiliated with the MW CASC participated in a social hour – featuring ice skating! – and a workshop on communicating with members of the media and general public led by SciLine, a AAAS program.
We are so grateful to have this time to connect in person with our community – and to everyone who helped to make the 2024 Annual Gathering a success! Mark your calendars for next August when we’ll come together again to share ideas, research, and challenges across our region.
“The event supported a highly engaging and energized group of people. Everyone is incredibly kind and welcoming as well. The sheer amount of activities / sessions was super impressive. Coordinators and organizers should really be proud.”
