The Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Science Center is one of nine regional hubs in a climate research network funded by the federal government.
It's led by the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, and the University of Guam in partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey.
For over a decade, PI-CASC has supported local researchers working to understand Hawaiʻi's climate — and how it's changing.
But this essential source for climate information is at risk of shutting down in the next two months.
In February, PI-CASC applied for a $10 million federal award from USGS to keep up operations for the next five years.
PI-CASC has successfully gone through this process before, according to Executive Director Darren Lerner. But this time, the center hit a roadblock. Lerner was informed by USGS that the rebid process had been paused.
PI-CASC needs to have those funds secured — and quickly — if it's going to stay open when the next fiscal year rolls around. Lerner said the center will officially run out of its current funds on Sept. 30.
"The process would have to move very quickly for the timing to connect, if you will, to that current end date," Lerner said.
PI-CASC helps young researchers get their start
A major role of PI-CASC is providing opportunities for students and early-career researchers. The federal funding that it applied for in February would pay the salaries of 25 graduate students engaged in research over the next five years.
It would also allow PI-CASC to offer summer research internships for up to a dozen undergraduate students every year.
Professor Ryan Perroy with UH Hilo said the center's support for students is invaluable as Hawaiʻi's universities train the next generation of scientists.
He said that without PI-CASC, students would have to incur large personal loans or possibly forgo research in their areas of interest.
"It's definitely been critical for our population of students here at UH Hilo," Perroy told HPR.
Perroy himself has led two projects funded by PI-CASC, including a shoreline inventory of Hawaiʻi Island in the face of rising sea levels and an ongoing assessment of agroforestry resources on remote Pacific Islands.
UH Mānoa professor Noa Lincoln's first project through PI-CASC also involved agroforestry — specifically how community-based management of coastal species like hala could play a role in climate adaptation.
Lincoln is currently leading another PI-CASC project that is investigating strategies to reduce the maintenance required to keep reforested areas free of invasive species.
He said the level of support that researchers receive from PI-CASC is "phenomenal."
"So many grant programs out there give you money and they just want their annual report, and they aren't actively engaged or supportive of the research," he said.
PI-CASC is different, according to Lincoln.
"There's just a genuine interest and care and support of the grantees," he said.
As Hawaiʻi's climate changes, PI-CASC wants to make sure that resource managers have the data they need to effectively maintain Hawaiʻi's resources. That mission shapes how PI-CASC's researchers approach their work.
"It's pretty much mandatory for any researchers who are seeking funding from PI-CASC to demonstrate that they're going to be able to produce not only scientifically valid results, but ones that are useful and that are available to those who need it," said Thomas Giambelluca, a professor emeritus at UH Mānoa.
Giambelluca has done several projects through PI-CASC dating back to the center's founding in 2012. His latest work involves creating specialized models to predict how global climate changes will impact rainfall patterns in Hawaiʻi.
Hawaiʻi's unique topography and environment mean that climate models developed on the continent need to be adapted in order for them to work in the islands. That's another major focus of PI-CASC, according to Giambelluca.
"If PI-CASC ceases to exist… it would really curtail the kind of research that is most impactful for us here in Hawaiʻi," he said.
One part of a bigger knowledge network
For UH Mānoa hydrologist Yinphan Tsang, the nation's network of climate centers has provided important resources and connections throughout her career.
Her postdoc research into stream temperature data was supported by the network's climate hub in the Northeast, and then continued at the climate center in the Midwest.
Since coming to Hawaiʻi, the Pacific Islands center has funded her and her colleague's work on how climate change is affecting stream ecosystems. She has also been able to collaborate with researchers through climate centers in Alaska and the Southeast.
Tsang feels that the CASC system creates essential cross-regional connections within climate work.
"It will be a shame that those connection[s] might be lost," she said.
PI-CASC Executive Director Lerner told HPR that the climate centers in the Northeast, which supported Tsang's post-doc work, and South Central are also facing funding uncertainty.
Like the Pacific, those communities stand to lose support for in-depth local climate research. But Lerner isn't losing hope yet.
The Trump administration proposed eliminating the budget for the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area, which is the umbrella organization for the CASC system.
But Congress is in the process of reviewing appropriations to USGS, and Lerner said that so far, funding for the climate network looks like it may emerge intact.
While he cautioned that there’s still a long road ahead, Lerner said, "We're very appreciative of our congressional delegations across the nation that are demonstrating the importance of the [Climate Adaptation Science Centers] as a network."
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