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The following is a proposed project for research on climate change
and energy development in California. Thank you for your
consideration. Please contact me with any questions or comments or
if you would be interested in a formal proposal.

Identification and prioritization of state lands for energy
development
 
Land availability for renewable energy development to counter
greenhouse gas emissions is often in conflict or competition with
other land uses in California. We are offering an approach to
identify lands that would serve this purpose that are at the
highest risk of being impacted by climate change to the point of
providing very low returns as a result of conservation or
management actions, that also have desirable characteristics for
energy development.  The USGS and Defenders of Wildlife are
currently completing a CA-LCC project that assesses impacts of
climate change and land use scenarios on CA rangelands. The
research offers evidence for levels of vulnerability and resilience
that can be considered by land and resource managers for
conservation, acquisition, and optimization of management and
financial resources to maintain biodiversity and healthy working
landscapes. We'd like to extend this research to the entire state,
using risk analyses and modeling of the hydrologic response to
climate change and land use scenarios to identify the landscapes
and watersheds most vulnerable to climate change that are the least
likely to benefit from conservation measures. These would be
overlaid with various projections of land use and suitability for
development of different energy sources to pose a potential
prioritization of lands for consideration for energy development.
An outreach and education component would inform and consider land
owners and resource managers to optimize collaboration and project
success.