The American Association of State Climatologists has announced it will locate the organization’s headquarters and first full-time executive director in Asheville.
The American Association of State Climatologists (AASC) supports the development of science-based climate services that assist in climate-related decisions for the public and private sectors, from community planning to business resiliency and risk mitigation.
“The Executive Committee of the AASC felt very strongly that the concentration of climate related activities, including the presence of the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), the Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites – North Carolina (CICS-NC), UNC Asheville’s National Environmental Modeling and Analysis Center (NEMAC), and a nexus of private-sector climate related interests make Asheville the premier location for AASC’s national office,” said Dan Leathers, AASC President. “We are thrilled to be located in Asheville.”
The Association joins a growing cluster of private sector technical and professional businesses located proximate to the federally funded NCEI Headquarters (formerly NCDC). Based in Asheville since 1951, today the data center employs nearly 400 scientists, technologists and analysts, including 16 Nobel Laureates. As a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NCEI hosts and provides public access to one of the most significant environmental data archives on Earth, with over 20 petabytes of climate, weather, atmospheric, coastal, oceanic, and geophysical data.
“Having AASC’s Executive Office in Asheville will build even stronger relationships and collaborations between the climate data and scientifically informed decision making on climate resilience,” said Michael Tanner, Director, Center for Weather and Climate at NOAA NCEI.
CICS-NC, a unique inter-institutional research center with the UNC system, sees mutual benefits too. “This partnership between AASC, NCEI, and CICS-NC will improve our collective abilities to understand and meet the growing needs for climate, weather, and environmental data in the public, private, and academic sectors,” added Dr. Otis Brown, Director of the Institute.
Asheville’s climate partners helped develop the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit launched by the White House in November 2014. It provides best practices to help communities prepare for and boost their resilience to the impacts of climate change.
“AASC’s commitment confirms Asheville’s international reputation as the hub for public and private collaboration on climate-related issues,” said Mack Pearsall, President and Board Chair of the Asheville Buncombe Sustainable Community Initiatives (ABSCI) and co-founder of the Asheville Collider.
The Collider will offer state-of-the-art meeting and teleconferencing facilities, co-working space and corporate office suites on the top floor of the Wells Fargo Building, currently undergoing $1.3 million in renovations. “Collaboration is essential to innovation and economic growth, and it begins with the expertise and data in Asheville, North Carolina,” Pearsall stated.
“Asheville is uniquely positioned to capitalize on this emerging one-trillion-dollar industry of climate-related technology, tools and services,” commented Taylor Foss, chair of the EDC. “We’re grateful for the leadership of national and local partners who understand the value of this knowledge-based industry to a strong regional economy.”
Founded in 1976, the American Association of State Climatologists advances the development and delivery of science-based climate services at the state and local levels. AASC works to support a society in which climate-sensitive decisions are guided by science-based information derived from historical and current observed climate and scenarios of future climate. Learn more at www.stateclimate.org.