UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Karen Fisher-Vanden, distinguished professor of environmental and resource economics and public policy in the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences, has been appointed as a member of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM)’s Committee to Advise the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP). She will serve as a committee member for three years.
“This committee serves as the USGCRP’s point of contact to the National Academies, and we are tasked with providing expertise and strategic advice to the USGCRP,” said Fisher-Vanden, an Institute of Energy and the Environment Fellow. “We are involved in a wide range of activities including identifying important topics and convening meetings of experts on these topics to inform the USGCRP.”
Climate is a central topic of the USGCRP, including climate resilience and adaptation, climate modeling, greenhouse gas sensing and health impacts from climate change. The program has also highlighted carbon cycling, water availability, nature loss and air quality. Products of the USGCRP include the U.S. National Climate assessments and the U.S. National Nature Assessment.
“My research on climate change impacts, adaptation and mitigation, and my experience as a lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Working Group III and of a congressionally mandated Climate Change Science Program report on global change scenarios allows me to bring relevant expertise to the committee,” Fisher-Vanden said. “Serving will allow me to learn more about the USGCRP’s broader activities and impact and will broaden my engagement with the global change scientific community.”
Fisher-Vanden said serving on the committee provides an opportunity to engage and work with some of the best researchers and scholars in the field.
“It is an honor to serve on this highly respected committee,” she said. “I hope my involvement will be useful to the NASEM and to the USGCRP.”
The USGCRP was established by Congress in 1990 to coordinate federal research on global environmental change and its societal impacts. It fosters collaboration among 15 federal agencies to advance a unified government response to these changes. USGCRP provides science, tools and resources to help the nation manage environmental risks and build resilience.