Our Consortium
The work of the South Central CASC is accomplished through a collaborative partnership among USGS scientists, resource management agencies, and a consortium of academic institutions from across the region. The South Central CASC is hosted by and physically housed at the University of Oklahoma (OU), where space is provided for university, tribal, and federal employees.
Our consortium has broad expertise in the physical, biological, natural, and social sciences to address impacts of climate change on land, water, fish and wildlife, ocean, coastal, and cultural resources. The consortium also includes eleven additional member institutions:
Louisiana State University (LSU)
Oklahoma State University (OSU)
University of New Mexico (UNM)
Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU)
Texas A&M University – College Station (TAMU)
Texas A&M University – Kingsville (TAMU-K)
University of Oklahoma
Principal Investigator
Dr. Renee McPherson, Consortium Director & Regents’ Professor
Area of Expertise: Regional/applied climatology, land/air vegetation interactions, meso-scale meteorology, observing systems
Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. Elinor Martin, Associate Professor
Area of Expertise: Precipitation variability, climate variability and change, climate model analysis
Co-Principal Investigator
Emma Kuster, Consortium Assistant Director & Adult Education Specialist
Area of Expertise: Climate science and adaptation, climate education and outreach, stakeholder engagement
Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. Tom Neeson, Director of Graduate Studies in DGES, & Associate Professor
Area of Expertise: Science and practice of freshwater sustainability
Louisiana State University
Principal Investigator
Dr. Clint Willson, Callais and Woods Professor and Dean, LSU College of the Coast and Environment and Director, LSU Center for River Studies
Area of Expertise: Physical and Numerical Modeling of River Hydrodynamics and Sediment Transport; Water Resources Engineering; Environmental Fluid Mechanics
Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. Kristine DeLong, Professor
Area of Expertise: Paleo-oceanography and paleo-climatology, past ocean coral reconstruction, global circulation and sea surface temperature shifts, coastal research
Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. Victor Rivera-Monroy, Associate Professor
Area of Expertise: Estuarine & coastal ecosystems, landscape/ecosystem models, coastal management and aquaculture
Texas Tech University
Principal Investigator
Dr. Natasja van Gestel, Assistant Professor
Area of Expertise: Carbon cycle modeling, impact of climate change on microbial communities, citizen science
Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. Nick Smith, Adjunct Professor
Area of Expertise: Plant ecology, plant physiology, terrestrial ecosystem ecology, modeling
Chickasaw Nation
Principal Investigator
Jennie Mosely, Director of Land Sustainability and Services
Area of Expertise: Native Land Management and Protection
Oklahoma State University
Principal Investigator
Dr. Scott Loss, Professor, Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management
Area of Expertise: Global change ecology, wildlife ecology, climate change effects on wildlife and habitat
Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. Jason Harmon, Professor, Rangeland Ecology
Area of Expertise: Rangeland management; Insect ecology; ecology
Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. Omkar Joshi, Professor, Forestry; Applied Economics
Area of Expertise: Natural resource social science; forestry; human dimensions; applied economics; economics; natural resources; social psychology; natural resource management; natural resource policy
University of New Mexico
Principal Investigator
Dr. Renia Ehrenfeucht, Department Chair & Professor of Community & Regional Planning
Area of Expertise: Urban studies, adaptation & planning, policy
Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. Rebecca Bixby, Research Professor, Department of Biology, Director, Water Resources Program
Area of Expertise: Aquatic ecology, community ecology/ecosystem ecology interactions, water resources
Co-Principal Investigator
Lani Tsinnajinnie, Assistant professor
Area of Expertise: Mountain and watershed hydrology, impacts of climate change on mountainous water resources, watershed management and planning, water management in Indigenous communities
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Principal Investigator
Dr. Emad Habib
Area of Expertise: Surface Hydrology; Water Resource Management; Coastal Restoration
Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. Heather Stone, Associate Professor
Area of Expertise: Oral Histories and Archival Documentation for Indigenous Peoples; Climate Refugees
Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. Nic Kooyers, Associate Professor
Area of Expertise: Evolutionary Biology; Plant Genetics
New Mexico Tech Institute of Mining and Technology
Principal Investigator
Dr. Nelia Dunbar, State Geologist Emerita, Researcher
Area of Expertise: Vulcanology; Geochemistry; Petrology
Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. Ben Duval, Associate Professor
Area of Expertise: Carbon-Capture in Soils
Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. Rachel Coyte, Assistant Professor
Area of Expertise: Hydrology; Geochemistry; Hydrogeochemistry; Environmental Contamination
Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. Enrico Zorzetto, Assistant Professor
Area of Expertise: Hydrological Extremes; Land Hydrology
Prairie View A&M University
Principal Investigator
Dr. Ali Fares
Area of Expertise: Watershed Hydrology and Management
Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. Ripendra Awal, Professor
Area of Expertise: Watershed and Groundwater Modeling; Water-related Hazards
Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. Ahmed Ahmed, Associate Professor
Area of Expertise: Parallel and Distributed Systems with Applications in AI
Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. Atikur Rahman
Area of Expertise: Irrigation and Water Management
Texas A&M University – College Station
Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. Roel Lopez
Area of Expertise: Rangeland Grazing; Land Stewardship; Aquaculture Wildlife Management
Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. Briana Wyatt, Associate Professor
Area of Expertise: Soil Moisture and Soil Physical Property Data
Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. John Nielsen-Gammon, Professor and Texas State Climatologist
Area of Expertise: Applied Climatology; Extreme Rainfall; Drought Monitoring
Texas A&M University – Kingsville
Principal Investigator
Dr. David Hewitt
Area of Expertise: Rangeland Ecology – Pronghorn and White-Tailed Deer
Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. Evan Tanner, Associate Professor
Area of Expertise: Thermal Ecology; Avian Ecology; Ecological Niche Modeling
United South and Eastern Tribes, Inc.
Principal Investigator
Dr. Steph Courtney, Community Resilience Specialist
Area of Expertise: Community Resilience Liaison; Environmental planning; Technical assistance