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Midwest Drought Early Warning System (DEWS) Partners Meeting
Aug
20
NIDIS held the Midwest Drought Early Warning System (DEWS) Partners Meeting on August 20–22, 2024 in Indianapolis, Indiana. This regional gathering provided the opportunity for partners in the Midwest DEWS to share and discuss ongoing drought-related activities, learn about new and innovative drought research and resources, explore emerging issues and opportunities, and identify collaborative paths forward to advance drought early warning and preparedness in the region.
Meeting Goals
- Provide partners in the Midwest region an opportunity to network and learn from one another around the topic of drought.
- Share success stories and challenges related to advancing drought early warning (which includes drought monitoring, prediction, response, planning/preparedness, and communication).
- Learn about new and innovative drought research and resources applicable to the Midwest.
- Explore emerging drought issues in the region and potential opportunities to address these issues as a regional network.
- Identify collaborative paths forward that advance drought early warning and preparedness across the Midwest.
Meeting Agenda and Presentations
View the final agenda and slides from the meeting presentations below.
Tuesday, August 20, 2024
| Time | Topic | Speaker |
| Plenary Session | ||
| 8:45 a.m. | Fifth National Climate Assessment: Midwest Chapter Overview | Aaron Wilson | Ohio State University/State Climate Office of Ohio |
| 9:15 a.m. | NCA5 Authors Panel and Discussion | Panelists:
|
| 10:45 a.m. | Regional Climate Services in the Midwest | Doug Kluck | NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information |
| 11:05 a.m. | Building Knowledge to Support Equitable Climate Resilience in the Upper Mississippi River Basin | Emily Kreiter | University of Minnesota |
| 11:25 a.m. | Precipitation Effectiveness and Drought | Trent Ford | Illinois State Water Survey/University of Illinois |
| 11:45 a.m. | Q&A/Discussion | |
| Session 1: NIDIS and Partner Updates | ||
| 1:00 p.m. | NIDIS and Midwest DEWS Updates | Molly Woloszyn | NOAA/NIDIS and CIRES |
| 1:15 p.m. | Drought Plan Development During a Drought: Lessons Quickly Learned | Tim Hall | Iowa Department of Natural Resources |
| 1:35 p.m. | Emergent Trends Complicate the Interpretation of the United States Drought Monitor (USDM) | Zhiying Li | Indiana University |
| 1:55 p.m. | NOAA Climate Ready Nation | Barb Mayes Boustead | NOAA Climate-Ready Nation Coordinator |
| 2:15 p.m. | Co-Produced Drought Science for Management: A Relationship-Based Approach | Will Farmer | Acting USGS Drought Science Coordinator (Virtual) |
| Session 2: Drought and the Mississippi River | ||
| 3:00 p.m. | Drought, Low Water, and Precipitation Trends in the Mississippi River Basin | Anna Wolverton | U.S. Army Corps of Engineers/NOAA National Weather Service |
| 3:20 p.m. | Ensemble River Forecasts as a Drought Early Warning Tool | Abram DaSilva | NOAA Ohio River Forecast Center |
| 3:40 p.m. | Mississippi River Watershed Partnership Efforts | Liz Crow | The Nature Conservancy (Virtual) |
| 4:00 p.m. | Development of a Water Dashboard for the Mississippi River Watershed | Kelsey Satalino Eigsti | NOAA/NIDIS and CIRES |
| 4:20 p.m. | Group Discussion | |
Wednesday, August 21, 2024
| Time | Topic | Speaker |
| Session 3: Addressing Drought Monitoring and Communication in the Midwest Under Complex Conditions | ||
| 8:40 a.m. | Setting the Stage: Recent Complex Conditions in the Midwest | Molly Woloszyn | NOAA/NIDIS and CIRES |
| 9:00 a.m. | Missouri Drought Reporting and Engagement | Elizabeth Kerby | Missouri DNR |
| 9:15 a.m. | National Weather Service (NWS) Perspective | Sam Lashley, Crystal Pettet, & Mike Ryan | Indianapolis NWS Weather Forecast Office |
| 9:30 a.m. | Group Discussion | |
| Session 4: State Networking | ||
| 10:45 a.m. | State Climate Office Highlights:
| |
| Session 5: Drought Monitoring | ||
| 1:00 p.m. | National Drought Mitigation Center Monitoring Tools and Resources & the U.S. Drought Monitor | Brian Fuchs | National Drought Mitigation Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln |
| 1:30 p.m. | Exploring Drought.gov Resources | Kelsey Satalino Eigsti | NOAA/NIDIS and CIRES |
| 1:50 p.m. | Drought Monitoring in the Midwest: Assessment of Data Needs and Gaps | |
| Session 6: Ecological Drought in the Midwest | ||
| 3:15 p.m. | Ecological Drought: Framing the Issue | USGS & NIDIS |
| 3:20 p.m. | Decision-Support for Ecological Flow Alterations in the Great Lakes | Jim McKenna | USGS Great Lakes Science Center (Virtual) |
| 3:40 p.m. | Building a More Drought-Resilient Urban Forest Ecosystem | M. Ross Alexander | Argonne National Laboratory and Lindsay Darling | Chicago Region Trees Initiative and Morton Arboretum |
| 4:00 p.m. | Evaluation of Drought Indices and Indicators for Ecological Drought Monitoring in Ohio | Jackie Beck | Ohio State University |
| 4:20 p.m. | The Key Role of Timing of Weather Events in the Survival of the Karner Blue Butterfly | Ralph Grundel | USGS Great Lakes Science Center (Virtual) |
Thursday, August 22, 2024
| Time | Topic | Speaker |
| Session 6: Ecological Drought Continued | ||
| 8:45 a.m. | Ecological drought facilitated discussion/table-top discussions:
| |
| Session 7: Meeting Reflections and Next Steps | ||
| 10:45 a.m. | Reflections on the meeting: Tabletop discussions and sharing to inform strategic plan for the Midwest region | |
| 11:55 a.m. | Meeting Wrap-Up and Next Steps | Molly Woloszyn | NOAA/NIDIS and CIRES |
For more information, please contact Molly Woloszyn, Midwest Regional Drought Information Coordinator (molly.woloszyn@noaa.gov).
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