For 20 years, the NOAA Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments (RISA) program has been working with decision-makers to produce decision-relevant and use-inspired research in support of climate adaptation. The RISA approach is unique for the emphasis on co-production of science and building long-term relationships with decision-makers at the regional level. This presentation draws on the experiences of the 10 RISA teams to discuss the role of social science and the types of approaches needed to put climate into context and research by the Carolinas Integrated Sciences and Assessments team to identify climate information needs in the Carolinas. The first of these projects considers time scales of climate information needs across the forestry, water resources, government management, tourism, and wildlife management in North and South Carolina. The second considers how social networks operate to support climate adaptation among those sectors and what factors make networks most useful. The presentation concludes with examples of bringing climate information into decision-makers' hands and lessons for the emerging climate services research agenda.

Dr. Kirstin Dow is Professor of Geography, earning her Ph.D. from Clark University, and joining the University of South Carolina faculty in 1996. She is a social environmental geographer focusing on understanding climate impacts, vulnerability, and adaptation. Kirstin was recently named as Fellow to the 2016 inaugural class of AAAS Leshner Leadership Institute Public Engagement with Science. Her research interest is on the co-production of science to inform decision-making climate change, impacts, vulnerability, and adaptation, and her current research includes projects that focus on understanding limits to adaptation, the role of social networks increasing adaptive capacity, analytical-deliberative processes for adaptation, and drought impacts and early warning systems.

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