NOAA Cooperative Agreement Renewed

(The following press release was issued by the North Carolina Institute for Climate Studies.)

Asheville, NC – The North Carolina Institute for Climate Studies (NCICS), affiliated with the College of Sciences at NC State University, announces the renewal of a cooperative institute support agreement between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the University. The $40 million, five-year agreement funds NCICS’ Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites-North Carolina (CICS-NC), co-located with NOAA’s National Center for Environmental Information (NCEI, formerly the National Climatic Data Center) in Asheville, North Carolina.

CICS-NC is unique among the NOAA cooperative institutes in being completely housed within a NOAA facility rather than on a university campus. The ability to share resources and work side-by-side with NCEI staff allows NCICS/CICS-NC to serve as a source of innovation and expertise in support of NCEI activities and broader NOAA mission goals. As an Inter-Institutional Research Center of the University of North Carolina System, NCICS will also continue as a catalyst for innovation at NC State and across the UNC system, and as an important hub for an expanding range of public and private climate- and weather-related activities in the Asheville area.

With its focus on transitioning science and data from research into operations and on advancing climate literacy, NCICS/CICS-NC supports a variety of NCEI activities, including the Climate Data Records program, surface observing networks, engagement and climate literacy activities, climate assessments, data access and customer service, climate science research, and more. The institute also provides early-career scientists with an opportunity to do important research at a world-class environmental data facility.

“CICS-NC’s next five years will focus on engaging NCEI’s clients to better understand their needs, sustaining our strong relationship with NCEI, building new partnerships with NC State, and broadening educational opportunities and collaborations,” said NCICS/CICS-NC Director Otis Brown. “The best years are ahead of us.”

About the Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites-North Carolina

CICS-NC, an activity of the North Carolina Institute for Climate Studies (NCICS) hosted by NC State University, provides collaborative research in support of NOAA mission goals related to meteorological satellite and climate data and information research and development. CICS-NC’s scientific vision centers on observations from Earth-orbiting satellites and prediction using realistic mathematical models of the present and future behavior of the Earth System. NCICS is an inter-institutional research center of the University of North Carolina system, a focal point for climate science research, and a facilitator of regional economic development through its engagement activities. www.cicsnc.org.

Contact

NCICS/CICS-NC Science Public Information Officer
Tom Maycock
tmaycock@cicsnc.org
828.271.4272