This past September, a group of nearly 200 researchers, managers, and students gathered in Gulf Shores, Alabama for the Southeast CASC led Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Symposium. The symposium provided participants with a space to share their latest science resources and tools, connect and give updates on research projects and identify opportunities to strengthen collaborative efforts for adapting to a changing climate. Graduate student Kate Jones, a 2019 Global Change Fellow, shared her experience at the symposium in a recent Southeast CASC news story.  

The symposium was a chance for Kate to share her work on the interaction between wildfire smoke and the public, while connecting with resource managers from the US Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service, as well as several Tribal Nations and state agencies, who are also working towards finding solutions for managing wildfire smoke and its effect on the public. She and her peers were able to attend breakout sessions that covered a variety of topics, including simulating future weather events under climate change, biological invasions, nature-based solutions for climate adaptation, evolving fire management strategies under future climate, and connecting justice, equity and conservation for climate adaptation across scales. These Southeast CASC symposium activities and topics provide valuable professional development and connection for early career CASC researchers.