Academic and Training Program Hub

Operating as a climate extension service to Virginia municipalities and businesses, the Virginia Climate Center (VCC) partners with stakeholders to co-produce locally relevant data, products, and services. We aim to help municipalities and businesses adopt preventive and mitigation strategies to protect lives and property, enhance the standard of living, and promote wise resource management and sustainable entrepreneurship. Our large interdisciplinary team of Mason experts conduct research on Virginia’s vulnerability and risks to the impacts of climate change​ in order to provide local decision makers with actionable climate information.The VCC is a two year, congressionally directed community project funded through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Initially partnered with Northern Virginia municipalities, VCC is building a network of local governments and businesses throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia to collaborate on best practices and solutions.

The Virginia Coastal Resilience Collaborative (VCRC) is a cross-university initiative that expands existing William & Mary and Virginia Institute of Marine Science programs addressing water resources and ecosystems as well as coastal resilience. A signature initiative of W&M’s strategic plan, Vision 2026, the collaborative offers a centralized, university-wide approach to coastal resilience research, scholarship, education and advisory work. It harnesses broad expertise to serve partners in our region — communities, state and federal agencies, other universities and industry — with actionable research, training programs, advisory and consulting services designed for current and future needs.

This postdoctoral scholar program will help create the next generation of leaders in climate science and policy. It endeavors to attract spectacular recent PhDs in sciences that address studies with relevance to the Wilkes Center climate research and climate policy goals.Postdoctoral scholars will perform cutting-edge and impactful research in climate science and/or policy , with particular priority areas on data informed climate forecasting, wildfire and climate extremes such as heat waves, droughts, and floods, climate impacts on local communities, economies, ecosystems, and human health, and the development of tools to mitigate, adapt, and manage climate impacts. These can include analysis of past, current, or possible future climate variability and change as well as the study of the underlying social, physical, chemical, and biological processes.

The Wilkes Scholars Program (WSP) enables outstanding undergraduate students to explore pressing climate challenges facing our state, region, and planet through transformative research. Wilkes Scholars will work with a mentor to advance research related to the mission of the Wilkes Center for Climate Science and Policy — catalyzing innovative science and solutions to address climate change.

The Wilkes Center leverages the University of Utah’s unique position and environment to drive world-class research on climate change forecasting, impacts, and solutions and places this science in the hands of decision-makers. Drawing on multidisciplinary centers of excellence at the University of Utah, the Wilkes Center strives for practical, integrative, and solutions-oriented research that can translate into policy around climate extremes, including wildfire and drought, air quality, natural ecosystems, carbon and water cycling, human environment and health. The Center is fostering educational and research training programs that support climate innovation and developing a new generation of solution-oriented leaders.

The U.S.-Canada Center on Climate-Resilient Western Interconnected Grid (NSF WIRED Global Center) is a National Science Foundation Global Center that is funded jointly by National Science Foundation (award number 2330582) and Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). The NSF WIRED Global Center leads critical field of power grid resilience in an era of increasing climate challenges affecting the Western electrical grid. Spanning 136,000 miles, this intricate network, serving nearly 80 million people across two Canadian provinces and 11 Western U.S. states, faces climate-related impacts. Extreme weather disturbances, intensifying in frequency and severity, have rendered this critical infrastructure susceptible to disruption, risking essential services from health care to transportation.With nearly $9 million in federal grants from the U.S. and Canadian governments, this interdisciplinary center pioneer solutions to fortify the Western Interconnection, safeguarding against floods, winds, droughts, and other climate-related events. This signifies a transformative force, uniting expertise, innovation, and collaboration to fortify the Western Interconnected Grid against climate-driven disruptions, ensuring a resilient energy landscape for generations to come.

The Center for Natural & Technological Hazards was formally established in 1990 by Fred May, Don Currey, Merrill Ridd and George Hepner. Dr. May served as the initial director, establishing important ties to Utah's Division of Comprehensive Emergency Management and teaching courses in hazard awareness, risk reduction, disaster preparedness, response planning, and mitigation. In 1999, the center was reorganized with Merrill Ridd as Director, Fred May overseeing government relations, and Tom Cova directing the research program. In 2003, Fred May moved on to found a degree in Emergency Management at Brandon University, Merrill Ridd retired after forty years of service at the University of Utah, and Tom Cova assumed the role of center director. Over the next decade and a half, the program grewwith the addition of new faculty, students, and projects.In 2018, Timothy Collins and Sara Grineski, professors of geography and sociology respectively, assumed leadership of the center. They plan to prioritize its research and student training mission in the years to come.

The Emergency Health Certificate prepares recipients for working in emergency management positions in public health and healthcare. The program develops individuals within public health and healthcare who can ensure the continuity of operations in their organization and also protect the health of the population during emergencies and disasters. The curriculum is built on established competencies in this field, which students achieve through coursework and an applied field experience.