Connections formed through a USDA Northeast Climate Hub program led to a paper in September’s issue of the journal Climatic Change. These early career researchers describe three elements of professional training that are important in making progress toward climate solutions.
Connections formed through a USDA Northeast Climate Hub program led to a paper in September’s issue of the journal Climatic Change.
The peer-reviewed essay represents the unique perspective of early career researchers working on climate resilience in agriculture, aquaculture, and forestry. “Convergence, continuity, and community: a framework for enabling emerging leaders to build climate solutions in agriculture, forestry, and aquaculture”, highlights the success of the The Graduate Climate Adaptation Partners (GradCAP) Program. The paper shares ideas on how to help institutions build capacity among early career researchers. Specifically, the authors suggest that three elements of professional training are now more important than ever. These are discipline spanning research, long-term research, and community engagement. Together they are focal areas that can prepare early-career climate researchers for the challenges they will face during their careers. The authors encourage institutions to commit resources and pursue structural changes in these areas.
The USDA Northeast Climate Hub launched GradCAP in 2018 as a one-year pilot project. The goal was to provide professional development and collaboration opportunities to graduate students across the Hub’s partner institutions. Thirteen of the original GradCAP Scholars developed this paper
GradCAP Scholar group picture from Workshop in March 2019