Marissa Aherling, Science Director  
The Nature Conservancy

Marissa Aherling is The Nature Conservancy's Science Director for Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. Marissa’s work with TNC focuses on building resilience in grassland ecosystems, designing prairie restorations, and helping to stop grassland conversion. 

MW CASC Project: "Mapping Climate-Informed Habitat Restoration Priorities with Multi-Sector Benefits for 3 Upper Midwest Ecoregions​"

Jason Bried, Assistant Research Scientist, Wetland Ecology 
Illinois Natural History Survey

MW CASC Project: "Synthesizing Responses and Vulnerabilities of Priority Aquatic 
Invertebrates to Precipitation Extremes Across the Midwest"

Ellen Damschen, Full Professor and Associate Chair  
Department of Integrative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Ellen Damschen is a Full Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she leads a strong and energetic research lab, teaches ecology and introductory biology courses, and serves as a mentor to many postdocs, graduate students, and undergraduate student researchers. Her research program is dedicated to understanding the causes of species diversity patterns and the impacts of human-induced global changes on biodiversity loss. 

MW CASC Project: "How Prairie Restoration Outcomes Are Impacted by Interactions Between Winter Climate Change and the Timing of Disturbance​"

Holly Embke, Research Fish Biologist  
USGS MW CASC 

Holly is a Research Fish Biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center. Holly’s research aims to understand conditions to support self-sustaining inland fish communities in a changing climate across a range of scales. Her work is collaborative and seeks to inform the conservation of inland fishes by working directly with partners to address areas of management concern and develop adaptation strategies.

MW CASC Project: "Expanding Lessons From Data-Rich Inland Fisheries to 
Data-Limited Scenarios for Climate Adaptation" (Project PI is Chris Cahill, Michigan State University) 

Chanse Ford, Physical Scientist 
Upper Midwest Water Science Center

Chanse Ford is a Physical Scientist with the Upper Midwest Water Science Center. He recently finished his doctorate with the Michigan State University Hydrogeology Lab where he focused on changing snow melt hydrology in Michigan and the Great Lakes Basin. 

MW CASC Project: "Shallow Groundwater and Stream Temperature Modeling to Assess the Effect of Warming Temperatures on Coldwater Fish Spawning​" 

Jessica Hellmann, Consortium Director  
University of Minnesota's Institute on the Environment & MW CASC

Jessica Hellmann is the Consortium Director of the Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center. She is also the Executive Director and Ecolab Chair in Environmental Leadership at the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment and Professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior. Her research examines the impacts of climate change on natural and human systems, greenhouse gas emission reduction, and climate adaptation.

MW CASC Project: "Assessing and Advancing Different Ways of Knowing in Climate Adaptation in the Midwest​"

Hugh Ratcliffe, ORISE/USGS Climate Adaptation Associate 
USGS MW CASC

Hugh Ratcliffe is a climate change ecologist whose broad areas of interest include: the intersection of climate change and conservation, invasive species, climate adaptation, assisted migration, and wildlife management.

MW CASC Project: "State Wildlife Action Planning in the Midwest​"