Institute announces partnership with climate change NGO

The University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment and Climate Central, a national non-profit organization, announced a partnership aimed at improving the public’s knowledge about climate change.
Climate Central, a non-profit, non-partisan organization founded in 2008, is a “hybrid organization of scientists and journalists” that aims to be a “one stop shop for climate information,” Heidi Cullen , a senior research scientist with Climate Central, said.
The partnership with the Institute on the Environment, which was announced Wednesday, will give Climate Central access to the wide expertise of the University faculty to help build a national network of climate change experts.
It is Climate Central’s only partnership in the Upper Midwest and only it’s fourth office nationwide.
“The goal is to reach out and build this community of scientists,” she said.
Cullen, who has also worked as a reporter for The Weather Channel, said Climate Central works to translate complex scientific findings into reports and videos that the general public can more easily understand.
“We help the public connect the dots about climate science and bridge this knowledge gap,” she said.
A recent Rasmussen report on climate change found that 44 percent of U.S. voters think long-term planetary trends are the cause of global warming as opposed to only 41 percent of voters who agree with the scientific consensus that blames human activity.
“The consensus among scientists is it’s real, it’s us, and it’s getting worse,” Cullen said, referencing the fact that most scientists think climate change is caused by people.
Todd Reubold , spokesman for the Institute on the Environment, which funds University environmental research, said he expects University professors and researchers to be major contributors to Climate Central’s work.
Along with connecting Climate Central with University faculty, Reubold said the Institute will provide some funding for fellowships and internships at Climate Central’s Minnesota office.
“From our perspective it’s a real opportunity to promote University of Minnesota research on issues related to climate change to a national audience,” Reubold said.
Kent Cavender-Bares , a research scientist with Climate Central who will be leading the Minnesota office, said when he began working at Climate Central six months ago, he had hopes that a permanent office would open in Minnesota. A dialogue between the Institute on the Environment and Climate Central took place over a number of months and a partnership was eventually forged.
The Minnesota office and University faculty will be working together to develop outreach programs and other media productions to help further educate the public about climate change, Cavendar-Bares said.
Cavendar-Bares said he hopes the partnership will be able to “to provide a bridge between scientists at the U and the general public, including policymakers.”