Magazine ~ Fall 2021

CLIMATE science for CHANGE

FALL 2021

Chasing Fire A team of scientists drove across Brazil to learn how fire, agriculture, and deforestation interact in three ecosystems Probable Futures An innovative climate risk partnership aims to marry science and imagination to drive action.

Contents 01 /

From the Acting President

03 /

Riparian forests stand guard over Amazon streams

07 /

Chasing fire

12 /

Black spruce are losing their legacy to fire

14 /

Giving carbon a home on the range

16 /

Imagining Earth’s most probable futures

20 /

Recognizing risk—raising climate ambition

21 /

Woodwell and partners weigh in on climate risk disclosure

22 /

Impact update 2021

23 /

Annual report

New and outgoing board members | Board and staff

Statement of activities and financial position | Donors

CLIMATE science for CHANGE

Climate Science for Change is published

by Woodwell Climate Research Center in Falmouth, Massachusetts.

Woodwell Climate Research Center is a leading source of climate science that drives the urgent action needed to solve the climate crisis.

Acting President & Executive Director Dr. R. Max Holmes Chief Communications Officer Dr. Heather M. H. Goldstone Science Writer Sarah Ruiz Graphic Designer Julianne Waite Copy Editors Elizabeth Bagley, Paula Beckerle Images Carl Churchill, Dominick Dusseau, Heather Goldstone, Paulo Ilha, Illuminati Filmes, Jill Johnstone, Chris Linder, Leonardo Maracahipes-Santos, Jimmy Nelson, Brendan Rogers, Jonathan Sanderman, Jennifer Watts, Yushu Xia Woodwell Climate Research Center 149 Woods Hole Road Falmouth, MA 02540 Email: info@woodwellclimate.org Website: woodwellclimate.org Newsletter Subscribe at woodwellclimate.org

Cover: Woodwell Postdoctoral Researcher Manoela Machado stands in front of a fire burning in the Cerrado region of Brazil. / photo by Illuminati Filmes Above: Rangeland carbon fieldwork at MPG Ranch in Montana, May 2020. / photo

by Jenny Watts

Copyright All material appearing in Climate Science for Change is copyrighted unless otherwise stated or it may rest with the provider of the supplied material. Climate Science for Change takes care to ensure information is correct at time of printing.

Woodwell Climate Research Center is located on the traditional and sacred land of the Wampanoag people who still occupy this land, and whose history, language, traditional ways of life, and culture continue to influence this vibrant community.

From the Acting President

Change is really slow... until it isn’t These are extraordinary days at Woodwell Climate Research Center. Change is everywhere, driven by our mission, our sense of urgency, and by the world around us.

I have been a scientist at Woodwell Climate since 2005, but I write this letter in my new role as Acting President and Executive Director, which began in August 2021. I’m in this position because our president for the past seven years, Dr. Phil Duffy, is on leave to serve as Senior Advisor for Climate Change in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. This is a great honor for Phil and a remarkable validation of Woodwell Climate’s mission–doing innovative science and using it to drive policy action.

I’m honored to be in this position, and grateful to our staff, our board, and our friends for their support.

Stepping in while Phil is away is no easy task, but I’m confident that we’ll keep our momentum charging forward until he returns. Below I provide a few examples of some of the changes that are underway inside Woodwell, and how these changes will lead us to even greater impact globally.

When Phil became Woodwell’s President in January 2016, our staff numbered about 50. Today we are at 82, and by the time Phil returns next August, I anticipate that we’ll be approaching 100 employees. Due to the pandemic, much of our workforce is now remote, and there have been silver linings including a greater on-the-ground presence in places like Alaska and Brazil. We don’t yet have a clear vision of what our post-pandemic workforce will look like, but I’m sure it will be much more global than it was before.

Not only are our staff numbers increasing, but our staff demographics are shifting as well. Over the years, Woodwell has had a roughly equal balance of male and female employees, but there have been about twice as many men as women on the science staff. This has changed dramatically in the last five years.

Currently 70% of our employees are women, including 60% of our science staff and 40% of our principal investigators. We still have a lot of work to do regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion, but I find these recent numbers to be surprising and encouraging. During periods of rapid growth, demographic change can be rapid as well. Thus, as we continue expanding over the coming months and years, we will have the opportunity to make additional progress on other axes of diversity. Our mission is global. A diverse staff, with varied perspectives and lived experiences, helps us to achieve it.

As with our staff, our budget is also growing rapidly. In just the past eight months, Woodwell Climate has received the three largest awards in our 36 year history. As a result, our annual budget will at least double over the course of just a few years. This is not a coincidence. Instead, it is a reflection of Phil’s leadership, the remarkable capacity of our scientific and support staff, and of course, the generosity of our donors. ​​ also is a function of the world around us. Climate change is here and now. It has arrived with a fury, It and that reality is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. That, clearly, is bad news. If there is a silver lining, it is that more and more people, including policy-makers and those within the philanthropic

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From the Acting President

continued

community, are trying to figure out what they can do to help. Increasingly and rightfully, investing in Woodwell Climate is part of their answer.

As our staff and budget have grown, so too has our impact, and that is apparent in the pages of this magazine. In just the past six months, Woodwell Climate has worked with our steadfast partners at Wellington Management to provide input to the SEC on climate risk disclosure regulation (page 21); partnered with the COP26 Presidency to hold a dozen country-specific workshops on risk assessment and communication (page 20); co-authored high-impact reports on carbon markets and biomass energy with EDF and Chatham House, respectively (page 22); and supported and celebrated the launch of Probable Futures, a climate literacy initiative aimed at making climate science accessible, meaningful, and imaginable (page 16).

My heartfelt thanks to all of you, our friends and supporters. Climate science is hard work. Wins in the policy arena have been hard to come by. And the Earth continues to warm. Yet Woodwell’s urgent mission—our reason to be—is all about changing the trajectory of climate change and leaving a hospitable planet for future generations. It is a big job. We will not let up.

Onward.

Max Holmes Acting President and Executive Director

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Riparian forests stand guard over Amazonian streams Sarah Ruiz Science Writer

In the remote headwaters of the Amazon, a small strip of forest—just 30 meters wide on either side of a stream— slices through a vast agricultural field.

Although tiny, this forest stands as an important guardian of the health and biodiversity of the Amazon rainforest.

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Maintaining the ecosystem highway Rivers act as highways through the forest, carrying species, nutrients and organic matter across the landscape. Trees play an important role in regulating those roadways, both drawing up water and nutrients and depositing organic matter in the form of leaves, seeds, and fruit. Clear the forest, and the traffic patterns for those nutrients will change.

Dr. KathiJo Jankowski, a research ecologist at the United States Geological Survey, conducted research with Woodwell on the question of whether maintaining riparian buffers successfully mitigated that change.

“Are streams now processing terrestrial materials differently?

Are they processing carbon differently? And are they processing nutrients differently?” Dr. Jankowski asks. “We are interested in these questions, both in terms of how they affect stream food webs, and how they affect downstream ecosystems.”

She waded through the streams at Tanguro Ranch, collecting data—dissolved oxygen levels, leaf litter, temperature measurements—to answer these questions. When she compared data from agricultural streams with riparian buffers to intact forests, she found only subtle shifts in basic ecosystem functions. As long as those buffer forests remained, the streams mostly continued to flow as they always had.

“It provides good evidence that they are doing their job,” Dr. Jankowski said. “It highlights the importance of protecting those buffers because they are constantly under threat from people wanting to develop the land or simply not wanting to restore buffers that have been illegally removed.”

Preserving aquatic and terrestrial diversity One difference Dr. Jankowski did observe, however, was in the amount of leaf litter present in the streams. Less overall vegetation on the landscape led to less organic matter in agricultural streams, a small change that can impact the wider food web.

Above: Dr. Jankowski uses a net to strain leaf litter and other organic materials out of a stream. / photo by Paulo Ilha Above right: The team at Tanguro measured the size and species of trees and other vegetation in the riparian zone. / photo by Leonardo Maracahipes-Santos

Ecologist and researcher from the University of Brasília, Dr. Nubia Marques was conducting complementary research around the same time as Dr. Jankowski, but her research focused on the animals that rely upon the ecosystem functions Dr. Jankowski was studying. Tiny macroinvertebrates— crustaceans or insects that feed on stream organic matter—are found in most aquatic ecosystems, and their presence can indicate the overall health of a system.

According to Dr. Marques, degradation of riparian forests tends to simplify macroinvertebrate communities. Changes to available food resources impact species that rely on specific food more strongly than generalist species. Three taxonomic

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orders, Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (EPT) which include species like mayflies, stoneflies, and caddisflies, are particularly sensitive to disturbances.

critters in Marques’s study, some plant species were just not as resilient to disturbance and disappeared completely from agricultural landscapes.

“Many macroinvertebrates in the EPT orders cannot survive in sites of intense disturbance, so their absence may indicate that the health of the stream is not doing well when compared to similar streams that have not been disturbed at all,” Dr. Marques says.

Dr. Maracahipes-Santos’ work shows that, for all these little forests do, they themselves are vulnerable to the effects of fragmentation. Though the law establishes a minimum width for riparian forests, the amount of forest considered functionally intact may be much smaller, highlighting the need for wider buffers with softer edges leading into agricultural fields.

Dr. Marques examined overall species composition, as well as functional composition (the presence of different feeding groups) across forested and agricultural streams. Streams with buffers tended to have greater overall diversity and slightly higher abundance of EPT species than those without, though watershed-level clearing did cause drops in EPT species with or without buffers. Because macroinvertebrates form the base of the food web, changes in their abundance have the potential to ripple upwards to the species communities that feed on them.

Beyond preserving biodiversity inside the streams, riparian forests are also important habitat for terrestrial rainforest species. Biologist at the State University of Mato Grosso and researcher at the Amazon Environmental Research Institute, Dr. Leonardo Maracahipes-Santos conducted detailed inventories of the size and species of trees, shrubs and vines in each of the transects to understand how the riparian forests themselves differed between intact and agricultural watersheds.

“There are some visible differences, that if you know the species you can see right away,” Dr. Maracahipes-Santos says.

“One difference I noted was that in the agricultural riparian forest you tend to see more gaps. Also there are some species along the edges that are known to be pioneer species, they signal some level of degradation or turnover.”

His analysis confirmed his observations. Riparian forests tended to differ most from the composition of intact forests at the edges, where niches had been opened for species that normally don’t occur in dense forest. Also, as seen with the

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Protecting the headwaters protects the landscape The three studies together also revealed landscape-scale changes took place in streams despite the presence of buffers.

Dr. Jankowski found agricultural streams tended to be warmer on average and received more sunlight due to increased gaps in the canopy. With fewer trees to draw up water, stream levels were higher in agricultural landscapes as well. This tracks with Dr. Maracahipes-Santos’ findings—species sensitive to soggy soil were harder to find in the riparian buffers on agricultural land.

Dr. Jankowski’s experiment also introduced nitrogen and phosphorus into the stream systems, mimicking a fertilizer runoff event, to track how far the nutrients would flow.

Tanguro is situated at the headwaters of the Xingu River, a major tributary of the Amazon, which means that anything added to the watershed here has the potential to affect the larger system downstream. Dr. Jankowski found that nitrogen traveled far downstream regardless of buffers. Multiply the effects of one nitrogen plume across the thousands of headwater streams in the Amazon watershed, and the impacts could potentially extend all the way to the Atlantic.

Despite this, riparian forests remain an important line of defense against pollutants and biodiversity loss. They will play a growing role in linking and protecting the Amazonian watershed as agricultural clearing continues. To play this part successfully, they will need support and protection of their own.

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Over the past fifty years, one fifth of the Brazilian Amazon forest has been lost to deforestation (dark grey). However, over the same time period, nearly half the Brazilian Amazon has been granted official protection (yellow) through creation of protected natural areas and legal recognition of Indigenous territories and land rights. Deforestation in these areas (black) has remained low, highlighting the importance of these measures, and Indigenous land stewardship has proven the most effective way to preserve Amazon forests. / map by Carl Churchill

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Above: Assistant Scientist Dr. Ludmila Rattis and Postdoctoral Researcher Dr. Manoela Machado view fire damage in the Amazon. / photo by Illuminati Filmes

Chasing fire Sarah Ruiz Science Writer

A team of scientists drove across Brazil to learn how fire, agriculture, and deforestation interact in three ecosystems In August, amidst the fire season, a team of scientists from Woodwell Climate Research Center and the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM) embarked on a trip to Mato Grosso, Brazil to follow state military firefighters as they battled blazes across three different biomes—the Cerrado, Pantanal, and Amazon.

Fires can take many forms in Brazil, some ignited accidentally and some intentionally. Some biomes have evolved with fire disturbance, while others

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would never see a fire if not for human encroachment. Regardless, out of control fires can pose a danger to human health and livelihoods, biodiversity, and carbon stocks. Brazil’s firefighters must use every tool at their disposal to protect people and forests.

Satellite data is one such tool that can help with fire detection and research into fire impacts or trends, but it’s not always accessible in a useful form for firefighters. Dr. Manoela Machado, a Postdoctoral Research at Woodwell,

organized the joint expedition to gather information on regional firefighting strategies, and how science and data might better support fire brigades.

“We’re trying to be the bridge between these very important ends, the satellite detection of active fires and the people fighting fires on the ground,” Machado says.

What they found over 10 days of chasing smoke signals, walking across hot coals, negotiating passage across private lands, and dousing flames, was that fighting fires requires grit and strategy, and that suppressing flames before they burn out of control—preventing them before they ignite where possible—is the only way to prevent serious damage.

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The Cerrado

BIOMES VS. ECOSYSTEMS BIOMES

Biomes are broad classifications of species that are adapted to a particular climate and can contain multiple ecosystems. Brazil has six major biomes, including the Amazon, Cerrado, Atlantic Forest, Pantanal, Caatinga and Pampas.

ECOSYSTEMS

Ecosystems are composed of a set of species and their interactions with each other and their physical environment. They are unique to a particular region and exist within larger biomes. Brazil’s Amazon biome has several ecosystems within it— from floodplain forests, to freshwater swamps.

Right top: Dr. Ane Alencar, IPAM Amazônia Director of Science, and Dr. Manoela Machado, Woodwell Postdoctoral Researcher, talk with a firefighter in Cerrado as he explains techniques for combating fires.

Right bottom: Drone footage of fire-damaged forest in the Cerrado. / photos by Illuminati Filmes

The Cerrado, also known as the Brazilian savanna, is a vast wooded grassland that has evolved in conjunction with wildfire. In the wet season, the region is extremely productive, building up biomass in the form of grasses, shrubs, and other plants that become flammable as the dry season moves in. Fires typically stay low to the ground, burning through built up fuels, and allowing fireadapted species to sprout back up just days after a disturbance.

The team began their journey in the Cerrado at Chapada dos Guimarães, where firefighters were already hard at work trying to tame a fire that was spreading from property to property. It was moving fast and had been hard for the group to locate as they drove around the area, following satellite signals— as well as literal smoke signals— to get their heading.

By the time the team arrived, the day was cooling off, which gave the firefighters an edge over the flames. In the Cerrado, firefighting is like an intense game of chess played out over the landscape, with elements including hills, wind direction, dry creek beds, roads, and downed trees forming the pieces.

“They’re interpreting the landscape and interpreting the wind so they know which direction the fire is spreading,” Dr. Machado said of the firefighters in Chapada dos Guimarães. “As the night was approaching they were working in a dry river, blowing off the leaves and creating a natural firebreak. Then as the heat diminished, they were monitoring to make sure the firebreak worked.”

Although fire in the Cerrado is a natural phenomenon, it is usually sparked by lightning storms much closer to the rainy season. In the middle of the dry season, this fire represents a shift away from the biome’s natural regime. Humans are influencing fire regimes both by increasing burn frequency, and by

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excluding fire completely, which builds up fuel and causes a catastrophic fire when it eventually ignites.

Both conditions can be dangerous to the environment as well as critical infrastructure. The fire in Chapada dos Guimarães had melted irrigation hoses to a nearby orchard and came dangerously close to power lines. Fires spread fast in the dry season and can incur high costs for residents of the region without the quick, strategic thinking of the firefighters.

“Speed and efficiency of firefighters in detecting and reaching an occurrence of fire is crucial,” Dr. Machado said. “That’s the part we’re working closely with them and satellite data providers to improve.”

The Pantanal The team’s second destination was the Transpantaneira Road which cuts through the Pantanal wetlands— the world’s largest tropical wetland. The landscape is a mosaic of grassland and marsh dotted with islands of forest.

From December to March, the region floods with nutrient-rich sediments.

Even in the dry season, the water usually doesn’t completely recede.

There are occasional natural fires here.

Native grasses grow tall and wild in the rainy season and, together with planted pastures, become fuel during the dry season. When that fuel builds up over seasons and the region experiences a prolonged drought, the fires that spark can be massively destructive. Pantanal fires are made additionally challenging because of the variety of fuels available, and the existence of peat soil which can burn and spread beneath the surface of the ground.

The group from Woodwell and IPAM arrived in the Pantanal just in time for this year’s first major fire. Ignited from a backfiring tractor, the flames spread rapidly across dry grass. When they reached patches of forest, they shot all

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Above: Low water levels in a dry area in Pantanal bring a Tuiuiu bird and alligators close together.

Right: Fire approaching a Pantanal farm fence. / photos by Illuminati Filmes

the way up to the crown of the trees, where the wind fanned embers out across the landscape.

The Pantanal experienced a recordbreaking year of fires in 2020, and residents and firefighters were worried about seeing history repeat. Here, firefighting also requires working strategically with the landscape to hem in the flames, but the brigade was largely unable to fight the fire directly because of its size and intensity. “A 15 foot flame is impossible to fight using any techniques on the ground,” Dr. Machado said.

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Instead, they had to monitor the fire’s path and shape the landscape to remove fuel and slow it down. Dr. Machado grabbed a heavy 20 liter backpack of water herself, and helped in spraying down scorched earth to cool it enough to walk over—an important step called “rescaldo,” done post-combat to make sure flames won’t re-ignite.

analyst Bibiana Garrido recalls watching animals flee the heat and smoke.

Being close to such intense flames made clear the destructive force of fire to the team. “You could hear the forest screaming from the green leaves,” Dr. Machado said. “It sounded like a broken instrument.” IPAM communications

The Amazon

“We saw a lot of birds and small insects trying to run. The first day we went to a family farm that was burning and as we stood on the ashes, little animals started walking up our legs trying to get away from the heat.”

“This is the place after hope dies,” Dr. Rattis said after watching fires burn unopposed through the Amazon rainforest. The team had driven north

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from the Pantanal to Apiacás and the frontier of deforestation in the Amazon.

also sometimes escape into standing rainforest, exacerbating the damage.

Here in the rainforest, fires are never natural and almost always set intentionally. Fire is a step in the transition process from forest to agricultural land and is often used by land-grabbers. At its edges, where trees run up against farms and pastureland, the Amazon is degraded and drier.

Land grabbers will set fires in the understory to weaken it further to facilitate conversion. After valuable timber is removed, that area is burned again to clear the land for agriculture.

Burning set to clear existing pasture can

The flames here are not the multi-story fires of the Pantanal; the greater danger comes from the people, who actively try to scare fire brigades out of the area.

Though land grabbing is illegal, the law is rarely enforced here. The fires were set on purpose, and the culprit made no attempts to hide his actions— even driving up to the fire brigade in an ostentatious yellow truck.

“It’s so serious that firefighters cannot work to kill the fires in some areas,” Dr. Rattis said. “It’s too dangerous.”

In some cases, firefighters only feel safe combating the flames when there is enough media attention on the area to create public outcry. Without that, the firefighters said, they wouldn’t have enough support to oppose the hostile— often armed— land grabbers.

The most effective way to fight fires in the Amazon is to prevent them by removing the pressure to deforest in the first place. Strategies like providing financial incentives and technical support to landowners that don’t deforest, detection and rapid response to deforestation using satellite imagery, and establishing new protected areas have been proven effective at reducing deforestation and could be scaled across the region.

Improved enforcement of existing laws too, could go a long way to getting fire under control. Agencies like the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Natural Resources (IBAMA), the Chico Mendez Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) and military firefighting brigades are largely underfunded in the current administration.

Without strong policies that aim to get out ahead of deforestation, Dr. Machado says reacting to fires as they happen simply won’t be enough.

“The problem with the Amazon fire crisis is not fire detection, it’s not how fast brigades can allocate the teams, it’s not the equipment they have in the trucks, it’s the deforestation process. As long as we have the deforestation process, we are going to have deforestation fires.”

SPONSOR

Corporate sponsorships offer a number of ways for companies to partner with Woodwell Climate to meet marketing, philanthropic and community engagement goals. Contact Beth Brazil at bbrazil@woodwellclimate.org to learn more about our offerings.

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Black spruce are losing their legacy to fire Sarah Ruiz Science Writer

Although evolved to thrive in fire-disturbed environments, a recent study shows they are losing their resilience among more frequent wildfires For the past five to ten thousand years, black spruce have been as constant on the boreal landscape as the mountains themselves. But that constancy is changing as the climate warms.

A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), led by Dr. Jennifer Baltzer, Canada Research Chair in Forests and Global Change at Wilfrid Laurier University, found that shifts in wildfire regimes are pushing black spruce forests to a tipping point, beyond which the iconic species may lose its place as the dominant tree species in boreal North America.

Synthesizing data from over 1500 fire-disturbed sites, the study showed black spruce’s ability to regenerate after fire dropped at 38% of sites and failed completely 18% of the time—numbers never before seen in a species evolved to thrive after fire.

The stabilizing feedbacks of black spruce “They almost look like a Dr. Seuss tree.” says Dr. Brendan Rogers, an Associate Scientist at Woodwell and co-author on

the PNAS study. He’s referring to the way black spruce are shaped—short branches that droop out of spindly trunks. Clusters of small dark purple cones cling to the very tops of the trees. Black spruce forests tend to be cool and shaded by the dense branches, and the forest floor is soft and springy.

“The experience of walking through these forests is very different from what most people are accustomed to. The forest floor is spongy, like a pillow or water bed,” Dr. Rogers says. “It’s often very damp too, because black spruce forests facilitate the growth of moss and lichen that retain moisture.”

However, these ground covers can also dry out quickly. Spruce have evolved alongside that moss and lichen to create a fire prone environment. It only takes a few days or even hours of hot and dry weather for the porous mosses to lose their moisture, and the spruce are full of flammable branches and resin that fuel flames up into the tree’s crown.

seedlings over other species. The organic soil layers built up by the moss are thick enough to present a challenge for most seedlings trying to put down roots, but black spruce seeds are uniquely designed to succeed.

Dr. Jill Johnstone, Affiliate Research Scientist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, who also contributed to the PNAS study, compares it to a lottery system that black spruce have rigged for millenia.

“After fire, anything can happen,” says Johnstone. “But one way to make sure you win the lottery is to buy a lot of tickets. Black spruce has the most tickets. It has the most number of seeds that are the right size to get roots down into mineral soil, and so it tends to regenerate after fire.”

Potential competitors like white spruce, Dr. Johnstone says, don’t disperse very far from standing trees so they only get a few lottery tickets. Deciduous species like aspen or birch have seeds that are too small to work through the thick organic layers—their tickets are faulty. So

Black spruce need these fires to regenerate. Their cones open up in the heat and drop seeds onto the charred organic soil, which favors black spruce

Above: A healthy boreal forest. / photo by Brendan Rogers Above right: Burned forest rebounding with faster-growing poplar, rather than black spruce. / photo

by Jill Johnstone Right: Woodwell’s Dr. Brendan Rogers (in hard hat), with colleague Alexandre Truchon-Savard, discussing methods to estimate carbon consumption of coarse woody debris. / photo by Jill Johnstone

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the fire lottery tends to perpetuate black spruce’s dominance in what’s known as a “stabilizing feedback loop.”

Hotter, dryer conditions are inhibiting black spruce regeneration That stable loop has begun to break down, however. Black spruce just aren’t re-establishing themselves as frequently after fire. The study examined the characteristics of different sites to better understand what might be hampering regeneration success.

Sites that failed to regenerate with black spruce were typically drier than normal. They also tended to have shorter intervals between successive fires.

Black spruce stands have historically experienced the kinds of intense, stand-replacing fires that burn through everything only once per century. This long interval allows the trees to build up a healthy bank of cones to release seeds the next time they burn. More frequent, returning fires short-circuit the regeneration process.

Increased burning also strips away more of that thick organic soil layer that favors black spruce, revealing mineral soils underneath that level the playing field for other tree species. The more completely combusted those organic layers are, the more likely spruce are to have competition from jack pine, aspen, or birch. Loss of black spruce resilience was more common in Western North America, which aligns with the fact that drier sites are more likely to lose their black spruce.

much of boreal North America as the region warms.

“This is evidence that black spruce is losing its dominant grip on boreal North America,” Rogers says. “It’s happening now and it’s probably going to get worse.”

Losing black spruce could accelerate permafrost thaw Landscape-wide ecological shifts from black spruce to other species will have complicated, rippling impacts on the region.

“Basically, the drier the system is, the more vulnerable it is to fire,” Dr. Baltzer says. “And these are the parts of the landscape that are also more likely to change in terms of forest composition, or shift to a non-forested state after fire. If climate change is pushing these systems to an ever drier state, these tipping points are more likely to be reached.”

Of most concern is the impact on permafrost. In many parts of the boreal, those mossy soil layers that promote black spruce also insulate permafrost, which stores large amounts of ancient carbon. Replacing the dark, shaded understory of a black spruce forest with a more open deciduous habitat that lacks mossy insulation could accelerate thaw.

Thawing permafrost and associated emissions would accelerate a warming feedback loop that could push black spruce to its tipping point.

For Dr. Rogers, it also highlights the real possibility of losing black spruce across

Widespread loss of black spruce also has implications for biodiversity, particularly

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caribou species that overwinter in the forest and feed on lichen. Both barren-ground and boreal caribou, important cultural species for northern communities, are already in decline across the continent and would suffer more losses if the ecosystem shifts away from the black spruce-lichen forests that provide food and refuge.

Dr. Johnstone did point out some potential for black spruce to recover, even if initial regeneration post-fire is dominated by other species. Slower growing, but longer lived, conifers can often grow in the shade of pioneer deciduous species and take over when they begin to die off—but this requires longer intervals between fires for the spruce to reach maturity. There is also the possibility that more deciduous trees, which are naturally less flammable than conifers, could help plateau increasing fires on the landscape.

But both these hopes, Dr. Baltzer says, are dependent on getting warming into check, because deciduous or conifer, “if it’s hot enough, and the fuel is dry enough, it will burn.”

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Giving carbon a home on the range Sarah Ruiz Science Writer

Adapting ranching practices in the U.S. could increase carbon sequestered in the American West Rangelands occupy more than three quarters of global agricultural land.

Many of the world’s native grassland ecosystems have been converted to grazing land for livestock, altering their ecology and changing the flow of carbon on the landscape. However, these lands still have the potential to be a powerful carbon sink if properly managed.

On September 27 and 28, Woodwell Climate Research Center convened a workshop in collaboration with Montana State University (MSU) and Turner Ranches to open discussions on rangeland management in the United States. The workshop took place in Bozeman, Montana, and brought together scientists, ranchers, and conservationists to share their perspectives on rangeland ecology, carbon sequestration, fire management, and herd health, as well as anecdotes from careers spent on the range.

“Montana offers a great location for this conversation because the majority of the state is amazing rangeland including unique grassland and sagebrush steppe environments, in many cases privately held,” said Dr. Stephanie Ewing, an Associate Professor at MSU who coorganized the event. “And because we have a strong academic and extension RECOMMEND

If you have a donor advised fund participating in DAF Direct, you can recommend grants to Woodwell Climate Research Center.

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community at MSU that has been engaged with rangelands and rangeland managers over time.”

Day one began with a series of presentations and panels meant to facilitate discussion about rangeland management. Sessions covered rangeland ecosystem services, rangelands in the American West, management for carbon sequestration, carbon markets, and tools for rangeland monitoring.

For Dr. Jennifer Watts, Woodwell Assistant Scientist, the discussions highlighted the vast untapped potential of rangelands to play a positive part in climate mitigation.

“There’s so much rangeland in the western U.S. and so there is a huge potential for improving ecosystems and improving carbon sequestration and storage,” Dr. Watts said. “But the public doesn’t perceive rangelands with the same reverence that we do with forests or other ecosystems. I think if we start to value them at the national level, and realize the potential for ecosystem services and climate mitigation, that could shape how policy is going to move forward.”

The following day, attendees made site visits to two ranches in the area—Red Bluff Ranch, run by MSU, and Green Ranch, owned by Turner Enterprises— for a hands-on look at the topics they had discussed the day before.

They examined soil pits, dug into the grass, and talked about different land management styles. For Senior Scientist

Jonathan Sanderman, the trip into the field was a catalytic moment in the workshop.

“After just a few hours on the ranches, I felt like a lot of people had lightbulbs go off about how long-term management has affected certain parts of land more than others, and how that feeds back to the soils,” Dr. Sanderman said.

One theme that emerged from the workshop was the need for more and better information on how rangelands could be included in carbon markets.

While there was interest from landholders in participating, very few knew enough to get started. Drs. Watts and Sanderman hope future collaborations will allow them to dig deeper into the topic with ranchers.

“A well-functioning carbon market can provide climate benefits and an additional revenue stream, enhancing the economic resilience of ranching communities,” Dr. Sanderman said.

“Quantifying and monetizing carbon sequestration from improved grazing management is still in its infancy. This means there is a lot of confusion and few agreed upon standards; but, it is also an opportunity to shape policies and design programs that benefit people and the environment.”

It also became evident that, while many ranchers were interested in carbon storage on their lands, what mattered more to them was the possibility of integrated benefits from holistic range management. Improving carbon storage in the soils can improve water management, nutrient retention, and other ecosystem services.

“Carbon is something that brings it all together,” Dr. Watts said.

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Fall 2021

Top: Red Bluff Ranch Foreman, Noah Davis, leads a tour of MSU’s research ranch. / photo by Jonathan Sanderman Above: Workshop attendees gather at MSU’s Red Bluff Ranch for a hands-on discussion. / photo by Jonathan Sanderman Left: Dr. Jonathan Sanderman presents on carbon markets. / photo

by Yushu Xia

Fall 2021

Climate Science for Change

15

Imagining Earth’s most probable futures Sarah Ruiz Science Writer

New climate education initiative portrays the warmer world we are likely to see this century, in hopes of preventing them One point five—most readers will recognize that number as the generally accepted upper limit of permissible climate warming. With current temperatures already hovering at 1.1 degrees Celsius above the historical average, the race is on to hit that target, and the likelihood that we will surpass it is growing. Even if we do manage a 1.5 degree future, that’s still warmer than today’s world, which is already seeing devastating climate impacts.

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So what will it actually feel like to live in a 1.5 degree world—or a 2 degree one, or even 3? The Probable Futures (probablefutures.org) initiative has built a tool to help everyone imagine.

Building a bridge between science and society Probable Futures is a newly launched climate literacy initiative with the goal of reframing the way society thinks

about climate change. The initiative was founded by Spencer Glendon, a senior fellow with Woodwell Climate who, after investigating climate change as Director of Research at Wellington Management, noticed a gap in need of bridging between climate scientists and, well… everyone else.

According to Glendon, although there was an abundance of available climate science, it wasn’t necessarily accessible to the people who needed to use it.

The way scientists spoke about climate impacts didn’t connect with the way most businesses, governments, and communities thought about their

Climate Science for Change

Fall 2021

operations. There was no easy way for individuals to pose questions of climate science and explore what the answers might mean for them.

In short, the public didn’t know what questions to ask and the technical world of climate modeling wasn’t really inviting audience participation. But it desperately needed to. Because tackling climate change requires everyone’s participation.

“The idea that climate change is somebody else’s job needs to go away,” Glendon says. “It isn’t anybody else’s job.

It’s everybody’s job.”

So, working with scientists and communicators from Woodwell, Glendon devised Probable Futures—a website that would offer tools and resources to help the public understand climate change in a way that makes it meaningful to everybody. The site employs well-established models to map changing temperatures, precipitation levels, and drought through escalating potential warming scenarios. The data is coupled with accessible content on the fundamentals of climate science and examples of it playing out in today’s world.

According to the initiative’s Executive Director, Alison Smart, Probable Futures is designed to give individuals a gateway into climate science.

“No matter where one might be on their journey to understand climate change, we hope Probable Futures can serve as a trusted resource. This is where you can come to understand the big picture context and the physical limits of our planet, how those systems work, and how they will change as the planet warms,” Smart says.

Storytelling for the Future As the world awakens to the issue of climate change, there is a growing group of individuals who will need to better understand its impacts. Supply chain managers, for example, who are

Fall 2021

Climate Science for Change

now tasked with figuring out how to get their companies to zero emissions.

Or parents, trying to understand how to prepare their kids for the future.

Probable Futures provides the tools and encouragement to help anyone ask good questions about climate science.

To that end, the site leans on storytelling that encourages visitors to imagine their lives in the context of a changing world. The maps display forecasts for 1.5, 2, 2.5, and 3 degrees of warming—our most probable futures, with nearly 3 degrees likely by the end of the century on our current trajectory. For the warming we have already surpassed, place-based stories of vulnerable human systems, threatened infrastructure, and disruptions to the natural world, give some sense of the impacts society is already feeling.

piece “hasThebeenimagination missing in communication between the scientific community and the broader public.

”

Isabelle Runde Woodwell Research Assistant

According to Isabelle Runde, a Research Assistant with Woodwell’s Risk Program who helped develop the maps and data visualizations for the Probable Futures site, encouraging imagination is what sets the initiative apart from other forms of climate communication.

“The imagination piece has been missing in communication between the scientific community and the broader public,” Runde says. “Probable Futures provides the framework for people to learn about climate change and enter that place [of imagination], while making it more personal.”

Glendon believes that good storytelling in science communication can have the same kind of impact as well-imagined speculative fiction, which has a history of providing glimpses of the future for society to react against. Glendon uses the example of George Orwell who, by imagining unsettling yet possible worlds, influenced debates around policy and culture for decades. The same could be true for climate communication.

“I’m not sure we need more science fiction about other worlds,” Glendon says. “We need fiction about the future of this world. We need an imaginative application of what we know.” Glendon hopes that the factual information on Probable Futures will spark speculative imaginings that could help push society away from a future we don’t want to see.

For Smart, imagining the future doesn’t mean only painting a picture of how the world could change for the worse. It can also mean sketching out the ways in which humans will react to and shape our new surroundings for the better.

“We acknowledge that there are constraints to how we can live on this planet, and imagining how we live within those constraints can be a really exciting thing,” Smart says. “We may find more community in those worlds. We may find less consumption but more satisfaction in those worlds. We may find more connection to human beings on the other side of the planet. And that’s what makes me the most hopeful.”

LEAVE A LEGACY

A legacy gift can help Woodwell Climate make an even greater impact in the fight against climate change for generations to come. Bequests, charitable gift annuities, and charitable remainder trusts combine your philanthropic interests with your financial needs and tax-planning strategies. Contact Beth Bagley at ebagley@woodwellclimate.org to learn more.

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Days above 30°C (86°F) wet-bulb NUMBER OF DAYS PER YEAR

0

1–3

4–7

8–14

15–28

29–365

0.5°C Past

Probable Futures uses the CORDEX-CORE regional climate modeling framework. 1971-2000 is the earliest time period for which results are available from this system of models. The average surface temperature during these years was approximately 0.5°C above that of 1850-1900.

Wet-bulb temperature is calculated using temperature and humidity. High wet-bulb temperatures can impair the human body’s ability to self-cool through sweating. 30°C (86°F) wet-bulb can occur at 30°C and 99% humidity or at different temperature and humidity combinations such as: 32°C (90°F) air temperature and 86% relative humidity, or 38°C (100°F) and 54% humidity. For each warming scenario, the number

of days exceeding 30°C (86°F) wet-bulb are identified from daily maximum wet-bulb temperatures computed using daily maximum temperature and daily minimum relative humidity, variables that are projected by climate models. The displayed values are from a range of simulated years from multiple models. Actual outcomes may prove to be higher or lower than the displayed values. LEARN MORE » probablefutures.org

3.0°C Potential

If we act rapidly to get to zero emissions and find ways to increase carbon stores, we can make reaching 3.0°C a low probability. On the current path of emissions, 3.0°C will likely be passed in the 2060s. At 3.0°C, most regions of the Earth would have entered a different climate, causing severe biological disruptions. The climate is extremely unlikely to be stable at this temperature.

Recognizing risk—raising climate ambition Natalie Baillargeon

Sarah Ruiz

External Affairs Coordinator

Science Writer

A series of workshops hosted by the COP26 Presidency and Woodwell Climate aims to increase climate risk understanding at highest levels of government The UK hosted the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow October 31 through November 12, 2021. The COP26 summit brought together parties from across the globe to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Thus far, policy progress has not matched the severe impending climate change impacts predicted by models.

match their policy ambition to the scope and scale of those risks,” said Woodwell Acting Deputy Director and Senior Scientist Dr. Jennifer Francis. “We worked with the COP26 Presidency to organize these workshops because we need to deliver this information more effectively, so that governments can take the urgent action that is needed now.”

Working with the UK’s Science and Innovation Network, Woodwell convened

emissions reduction and adaptation in their country. The conversations covered a spectrum of climate issues—from vested interests in agriculture in Brazil, to warming Arctic concerns in Russia, to intractable national governments and the question of whether more information would be enough to spur action.

“A better understanding of the full scale of the risks which climate change poses to our way of life and national economies is essential to inform commitments to climate action at COP26 and beyond,” COP26 President-Designate Alok Sharma said.

The workshop outcomes were summarized in a report released at COP26. Recurring themes across countries included the desire for expanded, more detailed datasets, research conducted with policy in mind, pairing risk information with solutions, and using an interdisciplinary approach to risk assessment. Woodwell’s Chief of External Affairs, Dave McGlinchey, said that the workshops have shown a clear way forward to improve climate risk assessments and make them more relevant to national political leaders.

Leading up to COP26, the COP Presidency and Woodwell Climate Research Center organized countryspecific workshops for 13 countries.

These guided discussions attempted to identify how best to deliver climate risk science to heads of government in a way that will influence national policy.

“It is critically important that policymakers understand the severity of climate change risks, and that they

20

cross-sectoral experts, advisors and advocates on risk to collect and share best practices. Countries involved in the workshops include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Indonesia, Russia, South Korea, South Africa, United States, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia.

In two-hour sessions, workshop participants discussed successes and failures of policies to address climate risk, as well as the challenges to tackling

“These workshops are the first step toward delivering this risk information more effectively and motivating more ambitious national policy,” McGlinchey said. “We’ve learned that policy questions and communication strategies need to be incorporated at the outset and throughout the risk assessment process.

We’ve learned that risk assessments need to be localized and interdisciplinary, in order to resonate with policymakers. The next phase of our work is to help make these changes.”

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Fall 2021

Woodwell and partners weigh in on climate risk disclosure Dr. Heather Goldstone Chief Communications Officer

In March, the Securities and Exchange Commision (SEC) issued a request for public input on potential regulation of corporate climate risk disclosure.

In response, Woodwell staff worked alongside our partners to share the insights we have gained from years of working on corporate climate risk, and to ensure that federal regulators and policymakers understand the importance of ensuring scientific integrity in such disclosures.

as this is a critical component that will help us incorporate deeper physical and transition risk climate analysis on behalf of our clients.”

Both Woodwell and Wellington also submitted public comments to the SEC emphasizing the need for federal regulators to create a framework that ensures corporate climate risk assessments are rigorous, standardized, and transparent.

In June, Woodwell Climate and Wellington Management jointly launched P-ROCC 2.0, an update to our 2019 guidelines for corporate climate risk disclosure that recommends the disclosure of time horizon and key assumptions (including climate data) used in assessing risks, as well as the physical attributes of the company’s business.

“Without clear standards from the SEC, many companies will seek the cheapest or easiest available option available to meet risk disclosure requirements,” the Woodwell Climate submission stated.

“Without transparency around risk assessment methodologies, investors, regulators, and others will have no assurance that the information they are receiving is scientifically sound.”

“As we continue to expand our climate research, it is becoming increasingly clear that our investors and clients will benefit from deeper climate-related information at the company level,” said Jean Hynes, incoming CEO of Wellington.

“We encourage companies to facilitate access to their physical location data

This message was reinforced by two high-profile opinion pieces penned by Woodwell Climate community members.

President Dr. Phil Duffy, Board member Robert Litterman, and Joseph Majkut of Niskanen Center (a Woodwell partner) wrote in The Hill that “if we want climate risk disclosures to be more

Fall 2021

Climate Science for Change

than just symbolic gestures, financial institutions and regulators must require that the data, models and methodologies used to determine those risks be made public as well.” Meanwhile, Joe Kennedy III, a member of Woodwell’s Board of Directors, co-authored an op-ed in The Washington Post calling on the SEC to “update its regulations and clearly require that companies disclose the risk that climate change poses to their businesses, and that they use standardized, transparent methodologies to do so.”

The SEC is reported to have sent letters to a number of companies this fall, inquiring about climate risk information included in recent filings. A proposed rulemaking is expected in early 2022.

MATCH

Increase your giving impact through your employer’s matching gift program.

Many employers will match any charitable contributions made by their employees, retirees and/or employees’ spouses.

Contact Jackie Ducharme at jducharme@woodwellclimate.org to find out what information your employer needs.

21

Impact Update 2021 JUNE Leslie Jonas of Native Land Conservancy was the inaugural speaker in an ongoing initiative to amplify the voices of Indigenous scientists, activists, and leaders in the regions where Woodwell Climate works.

READ MORE

woodwellclimate.org/kaneb-lecture-series-indigenous-perspectives-on-climate-change

JULY Dr. Jon Sanderman partnered with the Environmental Defense Fund to review a dozen current protocols for granting agricultural soil carbon credits, with the goal of improving emerging carbon markets.

READ MORE

woodwellclimate.org/woodwell-partners-with-edf-to-assess-and-improve-soil-carbon-markets

AUGUST Dr. Philip Duffy joined the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) for a one-year term as Senior Advisor for Climate Change to its first-ever Climate and Environment Division.

READ MORE

https://bit.ly/ostp-announcement

SEPTEMBER Dr. Sue Natali received the American Geophysical Union’s prestigious Sulzman Award for Excellence in Education and Mentoring.

READ MORE

eos.org/agu-news/2021-agu-section-awardees-and-named-lecturers

OCTOBER Dr. Wayne Walker and Dr. Rich Birdsey, along with Chatham House Associate Fellow Duncan Brack, co-authored a critical analysis of gaps in accounting for carbon emissions from burning of US-sourced wood pellets in the EU and UK. READ MORE

woodwellclimate.org/ghg-emissions-from-burning-woody-biomass

NOVEMBER Woodwell Climate had a strong presence at COP26, with several staff members in attendance, a high-level panel on risk assessment needs, a side event focused on the global ramifications of Arctic warming, and multiple engagements through the Cryosphere Pavilion and the Brazil Hub. READ MORE

woodwellclimate.org/cop26

22

Climate Science for Change

Fall 2021

Arctic panorama photo by Rachael Treharne.

Annual Report 2020–2021

Fall 2021

Climate Science for Change

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ANNUAL REPORT

Welcoming new Board members

Thank you to new Emeritus Directors

Congressman Joseph Kennedy III was the U.S. Representative for Massachusetts’s 4th congressional district from 2013-2021 and served on the House Energy & Commerce Committee. He was elected to Congress in 2012, after serving as an assistant district attorney in Massachusetts. He is also a former Peace Corps member and legal aid volunteer.

Mr. Steve Curwood joined the Woodwell board in 1998 and is the second longest-serving director of the Center. He is the executive producer and host of Living on Earth, which has run continuously since 1991 and is currently aired on more than 250 National Public Radio/Public Radio International affiliates and XM/Sirius Satellite Radio. He also serves as president of the World Media Foundation, Inc. and as a director of BGC Partners, Inc.

Mr. Wilhelm Merck is the founder and managing member of Essex Timber Company, a timberland management company. He also serves on the board of SYSTEMIQ, Ltd. and on the President’s Council at Resources for the Future.

Previously, he served as board chair of Woodwell Climate Research Center from 2011-2017 (then Woods Hole Research Center).

Dr. Kilaparti Ramakrishna currently serves as chair of the Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Strategic Advisory Group.

Previously, he was the head of strategic planning at the Green Climate Fund and also served as head of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), East and North-East Asia Office. He was a lead author of the fifth assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Mr. David Hawkins began his work in public interest law upon graduation from law school. He joined the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in 1971 as one of the organization’s first staff members. In 1977, he was appointed by President Carter to be Assistant Administrator for Air, Noise, and Radiation at the Environmental Protection Agency. He currently serves as Director of NRDC’s Climate Center. Hawkins joined the Woodwell board in 2008.

Mr. Jeremy Oppenheim is the founder and managing partner of SystemiQ, a global consulting firm based in the UK. Prior to that, he was a senior partner at McKinsey & Company where he advised private, public, and social sector clients around the world with his expertise in renewables, energy efficiency, and environmental finance. He joined the Woodwell board in 2012.

Mr. Joseph Robinson is an investor and serves on several for-profit and non-profit boards, including the Ruth Mott Foundation and The Visual Arts Center of New Jersey. He is the co-founder of MidMark Capital, an investment firm focused on privately held middle market companies. Previously, he was a director and treasurer of Woodwell Climate Research Center (then Woods Hole Research Center).

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Climate Science for Change

Fall 2021

Board of Directors CHAIR

Joseph J. Mueller Community Leader, Conservationist VICE CHAIR

Constance R. Roosevelt Conservationist TREASURER

Michael J. Fanger Founder, Managing Member, and President, Eastern Funding, LLC CLERK

Victoria H. Lowell Community Leader, Conservationist MEMBERS

Christina DeConcini, Esq. Director of Government Affairs, World Resources Institute Diane C. Falconer Environmentalist, Marketing Professional, Artist C. Gail Greenwald Cleantech Investor André Guimarães Executive Director, IPAM Amazônia R. Max Holmes Acting President and Executive Director Woodwell Climate Research Center Thomas J. Hynes III Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, XL Fleet Joseph P. Kennedy III Former U.S. Congressional Representative Roger A. Kranenburg Vice President, Strategy and Policy, Eversource Energy John L. Le Coq Founder and CEO, Fishpond, Inc. Robert B. Litterman Founding Partner, Kepos Capital LP Wilhelm M. Merck Founder and Managing Member, Essex Timber Company William R. Moomaw Professor Emeritus and Founding Director of the Center for International Environment and Resource Policy, The Fletcher School, Tufts University Georgia Chafee Nassikas Artist, Conservationist William C. Pisano Vice President Emeritus, Stantec

Fall 2021

Climate Science for Change

Glenn T. Prickett President and CEO, World Environment Center Kilaparti Ramakrishna Chair, Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Strategic Advisory Group Daniel A. Reifsnyder Adjunct Professor, Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, University of Virginia Joseph R. Robinson Private Investor, Co-Founder of MidMark Capital Stephanie N. Tomasky Independent Film Producer, Director, Writer Cyrus N. Wadia Head of Sustainable Product, Amazon DISTINGUISHED AMBASSADOR

Thomas E. Lovejoy Senior Fellow, United Nations Foundation, and Professor, College of Science, George Mason University

EMERITUS DIRECTORS

John H. Adams Anita W. Brewer-Siljehølm Neal A. Brown John Cantlon Steve Curwood Iris Fanger Stuart Goode David G. Hawkins Joel Horn Lily Rice Hsia Lawrence S. Huntington Karen C. Lambert Merloyd Ludington Mary Louise Montgomery Jeremy M. Oppenheim Gilman Ordway Amy H. Regan Gordon W. Russell Ross Sandler Tedd Saunders James G. Speth FOUNDER

George M. Woodwell

Distinguished Ambassador Dr. Thomas E. Lovejoy has been named Woodwell Climate’s first Distinguished Ambassador.

The new designation is an honorific for individuals of national or international stature who utilize their prominence to promote the Center.

Dr. Lovejoy became a director of Woodwell Climate Research Center (then Woods Hole Research Center) in 1989. He was elected vice-chair of the board in 2011 and served in this role until 2018.

For more than 50 years, Dr. Lovejoy has inspired the world with his unwavering commitment to conservation and remarkable contributions to the field of biodiversity. He introduced the term biological diversity to the scientific community in 1980. He served on presidential and environmental councils in the Reagan, Bush, and Clinton Administrations. Currently, he is Professor of Environmental Science and Policy at George Mason University, Senior Fellow at the United Nations Foundation, and holds the Biodiversity Chair at the Heinz Center for Science, Economics and the Environment.

Woodwell Climate Research Center could not be more proud of its first Distinguished Ambassador, who has made protecting and preserving the environment his life’s work.

25

ANNUAL REPORT

Staff ACTING PRESIDENT AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Robert Max Holmes, Ph.D. PRESIDENT AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR On assignment with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy

Philip B. Duffy, Ph.D. ACTING DEPUTY DIRECTOR

Jennifer Francis, Ph.D. SENIOR ADVISOR TO THE PRESIDENT

John P. Holdren, Ph.D. CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER

Heather M. H. Goldstone, Ph.D. CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER

Leslie Kolterman, M.A.T. CHIEF OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

David McGlinchey, J.D. CHIEF PEOPLE & CULTURE OFFICER

Lee Davis, B.A. ACTING SENIOR DIRECTOR OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION

Michael J. Crowley, M.B.A. SCIENCE STAFF

Alice Besterman, Ph.D. Richard Birdsey, Ph.D. Ellen Bradley, B.A.

Valaria Briones, M.S. Arden Burrell, Ph.D. Glenn K. Bush, Ph.D. Monica Caparas, B.S. Andréa D. Castanho, Ph.D. Carl Churchill, M.A.S. Michael T. Coe, Ph.D. Jackie Dean, M.S. Linda A. Deegan, Ph.D. Carlos Dobler-Morales, Ph.D. Dominick Dusseau, M.A. Mary Farina, M.A. Gregory J. Fiske, M.S. Kelly Gassert, M.S. Darcy Glenn, M.S. Seth Gorelik, M.S. Madeleine Holland, M.S. Jake Huff, M.S. Jacqueline Hung, Ph.D. Elchin Jafarov, Ph.D. Paul A. Lefebvre, M.A. Anna Liljedahl, Ph.D. Erin MacDonald, M.Sc. Marcia N. Macedo, Ph.D. Manoela Machado, Ph.D. Andrew Mullen, B.S. Alexandra Naegele, Ph.D.

Susan M. Natali, Ph.D. Christopher Neill, Ph.D. Darcy L. Peter, B.S. Stefano Potter, M.S. Anastasia Pulak, B.A. Ludmila Rattis, Ph.D. Rachel Rubin, Ph.D. Isabelle Runde, B.S. Brendan M. Rogers, Ph.D. Jonathan Sanderman, Ph.D. Kathleen Savage, M.Sc. Christopher R. Schwalm, Ph.D. Lindsay G. Scott, M.S. Tatiana Shestakova, Ph.D. Colleen Smith, B.S. Emily Sturdivant, M.Sc. Hillary L. Sullivan, M.S. Anya Suslova, M.Sc. Rachel Treharne, Ph.D. Anna Virkkala, Ph.D. Wayne S. Walker, Ph.D. Jennifer D. Watts, Ph.D. Yushu Xia, Ph.D. Joseph Zambo Zachary Zobel, Ph.D. Scott Zolkos, Ph.D.

ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF

Elizabeth H. Bagley, B.A. Natalie Baillargeon, B.A. Tracy Barquinero, M.S. Paula C. Beckerle, B.A. Kelly Benway, B.B.A. Beth Brazil, M.A. Florence Carlowicz, B.A. Amy Chadburn, B.A. Nichole Chapman, B.A. Shauna Conley, B.S. Hilary Davis, B.A. Jacqueline Ducharme, B.S. Annalisa Eisen Wendy Kingerlee, B.S. Emily Marshall, B.B.A. Fred Palmer Amanda E.W. Poston, B.A. Melissa Poueymirou, B.A. Hannah Ritter, B.S.B.A. Sarah Ruiz, B.A. Julianne Waite, B.A. EMERITUS STAFF

I. Foster Brown, Ph.D. Richard A. Houghton, Ph.D. Thomas A. Stone, M.A.

President’s Council The President’s Council is a non-governing group of loyal friends who contribute their time and expertise to provide advice and counsel to the Center’s President and staff on a variety of strategic, programmatic, and managerial topics. We thank them for their support.

26

Warren Adams Boston, MA

N. Stuart Harris, MD Boston, MA

Kathy Kretman Washington, DC

Rob Stenson Falmouth, MA

Spencer Adler New York, NY

Berl Hartman Cambridge, MA

Pamela Murphy Chevy Chase, MD

Eric Stoermer Falmouth, MA

Steven Berkenfeld New York, NY

David Hoover Plymouth, MA

John Peteresen Oberlin, OH

Gen. Gordon Sullivan Falmouth, MA

Steve Bernier Vineyard Haven, MA

J.A. (Woody) Ives Lexington & Barnstable, MA

Robert Peteresen Marco Island, FL

Daniel Webb Falmouth, MA

Joanna & Stuart Brown Telluride, CO

Joy Jacobson Arlington, VA

Theodore Roosevelt V Brooklyn, NY

Bonni Widdoes Boston & Edgartown, MA

Jim Cabot Boston, MA

Shanti & Yale Jones Ranchos de Taos, NM

Kate Schafer San Jose, CA

Stash Wislocki Telluride, CO

Alan Greenglass Newark, DE

Amelia Koch Brookline, MA

Peter Stein Hanover, NH

Zaurie Zimmerman Lexington, MA

Climate Science for Change

Fall 2021

Statement of activities

2020/2021

SUPPORT AND REVENUE

EXPENSES

Foundations and Individuals (64%) US Government (11.4%) Contract Revenue (8.1%) Other Income (16.5%) Research Programs (67%) Development & Fundraising (8.6%) General & Administrative (24.4%)

WITHOUT DONOR RESTRICTIONS

WITH DONOR RESTRICTIONS TEMPORARY PERPETUAL

TOTAL 2021

TOTAL 2020

5,200 -

$ 2,432,362 13,315,843 1,206,925 1,705,543 1,970,689 145,869 (5,063) 12,825 -

$ 2,793,888 10,740,852 1,558,711 482,137 160,274 (5,387) 22,193 -

SUPPORT AND REVENUE Contributions, grants, and contracts U.S. Government Foundations and other PPP loan forgiveness Contract revenue Investment income Donated equipment Change in value of split-interest agreements Other income Net assets released from restrictions

Total support and revenue

$

4,586,675 1,206,925 1,705,543 751,581 145,869 (5,063) 12,825 5,254,035

$ 2,432,362 8,723,968 1,219,108 (5,254,035)

$

13,658,390

7,121,403

5,200

20,784,993

15,752,668

8,087,254 2,942,121 1,033,057

-

-

8,087,254 2,942,121 1,033,057

7,398,416 2,430,467 1,399,317

12,062,432

-

-

12,062,432

11,228,200

1,595,958

7,121,403

5,200

8,722,561

4,524,468

9,882,659

9,618,810

3,774,279

23,275,748

18,751,280

$ 11,478,617

$ 16,740,213

$ 3,779,479

$ 31,998,309

$ 23,275,748

EXPENSES Research programs General and administrative Development and fundraising

Total expenses

CHANGE IN NET ASSETS NET ASSETS Beginning of year End of year

Fall 2021

Climate Science for Change

27

ANNUAL REPORT

Statement of financial position Fiscal year 2021 highlights FY2021 marked what we hope is the end of a challenging period due to the Covid pandemic and the beginning of a new era for Woodwell Climate Research Center. The urgency for managing climate change has increased globally, driving new opportunities, funding sources, and financial strength for Woodwell.

Strong fundraising again exceeded goals and enabled us to begin new initiatives to further our impact. The $1.2 million PPP loan received at the end of FY2020 was fully forgiven in FY21, and key field research was again able to resume as vaccines became more widely available.

Woodwell also received some of the largest research grants in its history during the past year.

The Center’s financial position is exceptionally healthy. We reported a $1.595 million surplus for the past year, with our rolling five year cumulative operating surpluses totalling $4.69 million. Total net assets increased by $9.8 million in FY21 to $32.05 million. As we enter FY2022, Woodwell is prepared to make the strategic investments in systems, people, and infrastructure necessary to advance our mission at a time of anticipated future growth.

Full financial statements are available at: woodwellclimate.org/financials

Michael J. Crowley Acting Senior Director of Finance and Administration

ASSETS

2021

2020

$ 12,815,090 509,507 3,776,653 289,513

$ 9,896,120 321,702 2,591,493 236,420

17,390,763

13,045,735

8,702,468 1,652,021

7,061,933 1,341,773

10,354,489

8,403,706

Net property and equipment

4,794,283

5,067,728

Other assets Other contributions receivable, net of current portion Beneficial interest in real estate trust assets Bond proceeds held in trust for debt retirement

2,256,617 212,651 11,680

262,413 212,651 12,678

2,480,948

487,742

$ 35,020,483

$ 27,004,911

Current Assets Cash and cash equivalents U.S. Government contributions receivable Other contributions, grants, contracts receivable Prepaid expenses and other receivables Total current assets Investments Endowment and quasi-endowment investments Other investments Total investments

Total other assets Total assets

LIABILITIES AND NET ASSETS Current liabilities Accounts payable Accrued expenses Refundable advances Deferred contract revenue Liability under charitable gift annuities Loan payable Total current liabilities Long-term liabilities Liability under charitable gift annuities, net Loans payable, net of current portion Total liabilities Net assets Without donor restrictions Operating Board designated for endowment Board designated for Fund for Climate Solutions Net investment in property and equipment Total net assets without donor restrictions

With donor restrictions Temporary restrictions Perpetual restrictions Total net assets with donor restrictions

28

2020/2021

Total net assets Total liabilities and net assets

$

434,329 648,799 2,662 681,663 9,183 114,192

$

255,090 563,938 9,687 318,493 8,164 114,192

1,890,828

1,269,564

95,256 1,036,090

101,218 2,358,381

3,022,174

3,729,163

5,103,675 2,219,261 500,000 3,655,681

3,765,413 1,802,488 500,000 3,814,758

11,478,617

9,882,659

16,740,213 3,779,479

9,618,810 3,774,279

20,519,692

13,393,089

31,998,309

23,275,748

$ 35,020,483

$ 27,004,911

Climate Science for Change

Fall 2021

Donors We are deeply grateful to the individuals, foundations and companies listed on the following pages who supported Woodwell Climate Research Center with gifts, new pledges and pledge payments during the Center’s fiscal year July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021. We are committed to accurately listing every gift. If we have made an error, or if you have a question about your gift listing, please contact Paula Beckerle at pbeckerle@woodwellclimate.org or at 508-444-1521. $5,000,000+ Quadrature Climate Foundation

$1,000,000–$4,999,999 Foundation for the Carolinas Kristie Miller Ruth McCormick Tankersley Charitable Trust Fred and Alice Stanback

$500,000–$999,999 Conscience Bay Company Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation

$250,000–$499,999 Joseph and Marité Robinson

$100,000–$249,999 Tim Barclay Charles R. O’Malley Charitable Lead Trust Jerry and Margaretta Hausman Christopher and Lisa Kaneb Charles Stewart Mott Foundation Gilman and Margaret Ordway Robert and Veronica* Petersen Amy and James Regan Scion

$50,000–$99,999 Anonymous (3) Breakthrough Energy Ventures Michael Fanger and Linda Sattel Carol and Avram Goldberg Deborah Goldberg Joshua Goldberg Heising-Simons Foundation The Hermann Foundation J. Atwood and Elizabeth Ives Victoria Lowell Wilhelm Merck and Nonie Brady Rockefeller Brothers Fund

$25,000–$49,999 Anonymous (1) Garrett Albright ARIA Foundation Barbara Bowman Stuart and Joanna Brown The Caldwell Foundation Michael and Dudley Del Balso Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Environmental Defense Fund Diane and Scott Falconer

Fall 2021

Climate Science for Change

Ida and Robert Gordon Family Foundation, Inc. Roberta Gordon and Richard Greenberg Susan Gray Gail and Roy Greenwald Benjamin and Ruth Hammett Art and Eloise Hodges ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability Joseph and Eileen Mueller Georgia and John Nassikas Connie and Ted Roosevelt W.L. Lyons Brown, Jr. Charitable Foundation

$10,000–$24,999 Anonymous (1) Acadia Management Steve Bernier and Constance Messmer Peter and Fay Bisson Phyllis Bock Anita Brewer-Siljehølm John and Mollie Byrnes Joshua Byrnes Peter and Valerie Byrnes Cogan Family Foundation Williams Cosby Jonathan and Louise Davis Nina de Clercq Carolyn Dorflinger Dorr Foundation Essex County Community Foundatiom Iris and Robert Fanger Hart and Nancy Fessenden Dan and Bunny Gabel Stuart Goode and Nancy Cooley The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment Serena Hatch Timothy and Joan Ingraham Ivor Cornman and Margaret E. Cornman Fund Yale and Shanti Jones Philip and Catherine Korsant Scott Lindell and Allison Leschen Shalin Liu Mark Ludwig and Marjorie Pitz Gary and Karen Martin MF Bartol Charitable Giving Fund William and Margot Moomaw Nuveen Jeremy Oppenheim

Shari and Dan Plummer Greg and Nancy Serrurier Robert Stenson and Kate Stenson-Lunt Joanna Sturm George and Katharine Woodwell James Worth

$5,000–$9,999 Anonymous (1) Christopher and Patricia Arndt Awad Family Fund Matthew and Brooke Barzun Sylvia Blake Boston Financial Management Brookline Bank Mike Brown Jonathan Chatinover and Elizabeth O’Connor ClimateWorks Foundation Community Foundation of Texas Cornet Creek Foundation Karen Cove The Esther Simon Charitable Trust Mark Gallogly and Lise Strickler Hella and Scott McVay Fund of the Princeton Area Community Foundation Bayard and Julie Henry R. Max and Gabrielle Holmes J.M. Kaplan Fund Joseph and Lauren Kennedy Amelia Koch Karen and Sam Lambert Sebastian Lederer Noelle and Bill Locke William Lunt and Mary Waterman Casey and Megan McManemin Joseph and Allison Mueller Erica Pelletreau Robert and Pamela Pelletreau Joan Person William and Rosemary Pisano Leo Prone and Cynthia Moor Stefanie Sheehan Bonnie Simon The Sooner Foundation

Frederica Valois Zaurie Zimmerman and Craig Le Clair

$2,500–$4,999 Arthur Vining Davis Foundation Beattie Foundation John and Nancy Braitmayer Robin Briggs Caithness Foundation, Inc. Adam Deaton and Sabine Daley-Deaton Geoffrey Freeman and Marjorie Findlay Timothy and Mary Helen Goldsmith John Treadway and Lisa Gordon Alan and Fran Greenglass Lily Rice Hsia Brad and Andrea Hubbard-Nelson Tod and Beth Hynes Amy Jaffe Raymond and Lola Johnson Christopher and Susan Klem Carl and Joanne Leaman David and Dana Lee Jim and Caroline Lloyd Merloyd Ludington and John Myers Marvin and Annette Lee Foundation Kevin McCroary Mary McDonough Mary Louise and Charles Montgomery William and Sue Morrill Abigail Norman Normandie Foundation Joy Rasin* Bob Reid Gordon Russell and Bettina McAdoo Tedd and Ella Saunders Stanley and Barbara Schantz Nancy Soulette Daniel and Mary Webb Nina Webber Douglas and Barbara Williamson The Winslow Foundation

GIVE

Gifts may be made online at woodwellclimate.org/give, by mail, by phone with your credit card, or by wire or ACH. Please contact Paula Beckerle at pbeckerle@woodwellclimate.org for wire transfer details.

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ANNUAL REPORT $1,000–$2,499

We are deeply grateful for the generosity of those who have contributed to the Campaign for the Fund for Climate Solutions since the campaign’s launch in 2018. Your leadership has enabled us to raise $7.2 million of our fundraising goal of $10 million and has funded 38 research grants to date. $1,000,000+

$100,000–$499,999

$50,000–$99,999

Harbourton Foundation

Iris and Robert Fanger Michael Fanger and Linda Sattel Carol and Avram Goldberg Deborah Goldberg Joshua Goldberg Jerry and Margaretta Hausman Shalin Liu Victoria Lowell Robert and Veronica* Petersen Connie and Ted Roosevelt Douglas and Barbara Williamson

Steve Bernier and Constance Messmer John and Mollie Byrnes Stuart Goode and Nancy Cooley Susan Gray William and Margot Moomaw Georgia and John Nassikas Joseph and Eileen Mueller

$500,000–$999,999 J. Atwood and Elizabeth Ives Christopher and Lisa Kaneb Wilhelm Merck and Nonie Brady Kristie Miller Quadrature Climate Foundation Joseph and Marité Robinson Ruth McCormick Tankersley Trust

“

The Ives Family Charitable Trust made our gift to support the Fund for Climate Solutions because our whole family is concerned about climate change. We are proud to support Woodwell Climate Research Center’s work as the leading scientific group working on this issue and developing possible mitigation strategies.

—Woody, Elizabeth and Ben Ives

”

$25,000–$49,999 Joshua Byrnes Peter and Valerie Byrnes Michael and Dudley Del Balso Phil Duffy and Lauren Lempert Duffy Gail and Roy Greenwald Jeremy Oppenheim William and Rosemary Pisano

$10,000–$24,999 Diane and Scott Falconer Tod and Beth Hynes Yale and Shanti Jones Karen and Sam Lambert R.J. and Leslie Lyman

$5,000–$9,999 Boston Financial Management Brookline Bank Tom Lovejoy Tedd and Ella Saunders George and Katharine Woodwell

$1,000–$4,999 Alan and Fran Greenglass Lily Rice Hsia Kathy Kretman Merloyd Lawrence and John Myers John Le Coq Bob Reid Stephanie Tomasky and Mitchell Cohen Richard Wilson SUPPORT

To learn more about how to support the Fund for Climate Solutions, contact Leslie Kolterman, Woodwell’s Chief Philanthropic Officer, at lkolterman@woodwellclimate.org.

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$250–$999 John and Patricia Adams Steve Curwood and Jennifer Stevens-Curwood David and Betsy Hawkins

Anonymous (7) American Endowment Foundation Jim Antal and Cindy Shannon Don and Dee Aukamp Ayco Charitable Foundation Michael and Margherita Baldwin Anthony Bernhardt John Boyle Cam and Elizabeth Pack C.R. Robinson James Cabot Michael and Kris Caplin Carl Forstmann Memorial Foundation CARS Virginia Carter Cashdan/Stein Great Grandmother Fund of the Vermont Community Foundation Jim Clemans Louis and Bonnie Cohen Molly N. Cornell Michael Corrigan Craig Davis Christina DeConcini and James Sweeney Robert and Sylvia Dickinson Robert and Evelyn Doran Philip Duffy and Lauren Lempert Duffy Paul Elias and Marie Lossky Dorothea Endicott Susan Epes Robert and Joanne Fallon Richard and Catherine Fay Michael and Darlinda Fleitz Thomas and Elizabeth Gewecke Marc Goldberg and Lorri Veidenheimer Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund Tim Gray Nancy Grimm H. Rubenstein Family Charitable Foundation Melinda Hall and Lawrence Pratt Jane Hallowell William and Susanne Hallstein Albert and April Hamel Peter and Karen Hargraves Edwin and Ellen Harley Stuart Harris and Malinda Polk Whitney and Elizabeth Hatch George and Marina Hatch Jill Hawley Robert Hildreth Richard and Susan Houghton Robert and Marion Howard J. M. Huber Corporation Indigo AG David Isenberg and Paula Blumenthal Benjamin Ives and Sarah Morrison Joy Jacobson and Gerald Warburg

Climate Science for Change

Fall 2021

William and Holly James Betsy Jewett and Rick Gill Frank and Judith Kauffman Leslie and John Kolterman Kathy Kretman Lanny Levenson and Mindy Loiselle Stephen and Sigi Lindo Thomas Lovejoy Stephen Lowe and Jane Ceraso Lubo Fund Stephen Lyle R.J. and Leslie Lyman Timothy Mackey and Carol Lee Rawn Laurence and Katherine Madin Sheila Manischewitz Beverly Marlow

Richard and Pam Sauber Ron Schafer Rick and Linda Semels Thomas and Heidi Sikina Terry and Carol-Lynn Spawn Richard and Joanne Spillane Lionel and Vivian Spiro Evan Starkman Lucy Nell Stewart Ed Suh Gordon R. Sullivan The Evo and Ora DeConcini and Thu Family Foundation Stephanie Tomasky and Mitchell Cohen Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim Margaret Evans Tuten Foundation

Jacob and Barbara Brown Zoe Cardon Kurt and Mary Cerulli Cristen Chiri Brian Church James Collins Combined Jewish Philanthropies Nancy Corral Mark and Jackie Curley Murray and Judith Danforth Sanders and Ann Davies Lawrence and Regina DelVecchio William* and Elizabeth Dewey Leonard and Annmarie DiLorenzo Palmer Dorn Julian Draz Joan Ducharme

Research Associate Dominick Dusseau measures the distance from the road to the outfall using a laser distance measurer to calculate the elevation of the outfall. The elevation is inputted into the flood model to model the interaction between stormwater and tide/storm surge. / photo by Dominick Dusseau

Max and Anne Goldberg Foundation Brian and Anne Mazar Josephine Merck Maggie Montaigne Christopher Neill and Linda Deegan Karin Niemeyer George Oleyer and Susan Wall Thomas and Jill Pappas Robert Power and Connie Ford John and Thalia Pryor Daniel Reifsnyder and Kathryn Clay Renaissance Charitable Foundation Inc. Jack and Sarah Robinson Mark and Eleanor Robinson Jamie Adam Rome and Leila Mankarious Rome Ted and Serena Roosevelt Glenn and Susan Rothman

Fall 2021

Climate Science for Change

Scott Wayne Scott Wessels James and Theresa Whitmore Terry Dangel and Bonni Widdoes Richard Wilson Ned and Patricia Wright Timm and Cate Zolkos

$500–$999 Anonymous (1) Carla Alani Robert and Alison Ament Lary Ball Charles and Christina Bascom George Billings* Jean-Paul Bourque John and Elaine Brouillard David Brown and Nawrie Meigs-Brown

Frank Dunau and Amy Davis Elizabeth & Frank Odell Family Fund of the Community Fund of Collier County Delia Flynn Ken Foreman and Anne Giblin Mark Fresolone Charles and Ethel Hamann Harken Foundation Berl and Hyman Hartman David and Betsy Hawkins Wichita Falls Area Community Foundation – John Hirschi Donor Advised James Hoch Larry Holt and Elizabeth Whelan Betsey Holtzmann Ambrose and Anna Jearld Virginia Johnson

Anna Jones Geoffry Juviler Kelly Kambs Geraldine Kunstadter Linda Lancaster Marta Jo Lawrence John Le Coq Bryce Legg Phillip and Whitney Long Joanna Lowell Marcelo Macedo Robin Mann Kai and Marion Marcucelli Sally Merrill Leah Miller Annie Morris Susan Morse Dane Nichols Mark Obrinsky and Michelle Gehshan David Peet Linda Polishuk Robert and Cara Raich Richard Raushenbush and Barbara Giuffre Cary and Nancy Rea Margaret E. Richardson Rochester Area Community Foundation Dana and Alison Rodin Andrea Rosen Felicia Rubin Charles Ruch Ross and Alice Sandler Norma and Roger A. Saunders William and Rebecca Sawyer Jennifer Schloming William and Dedee Shattuck Campbell Steward Noah and Janet Totten Brian Tucker and Marie-Jo Fremont Emily Wade Alan Wilson Jean Winn Eric Wolman Alan Yanny Jenny Zadeh

$250–$499 Anonymous (5) Thomas and Kimberly Athan George and Beth Bagley Baird Foundation, Inc. Kathleen Biggins Frank and Mardi Bowles Emily Bramhall Beth Brazil-Hauck and Eric Hauck Lynn Brennan David and Jennifer Brower John and Laurie Bullard Ellen Cabot and Matthew Watson James Thomas Chirurg Citizens Climate Lobby – Cape and South Shore

31

ANNUAL REPORT

Chris Linder

John Schade Memorial Fund

Dr. John D. Schade had a long and distinguished career in research and education, passing away from cancer on March 26, 2021. He was devoted to managing Woodwell Climate’s Polaris Project, which integrates Arctic research and undergraduate education and is an initiative the Center manages with support from the National Science Foundation.

Purpose of the Fund The John Schade Memorial Fund was established to honor Dr. Schade’s unwavering dedication to student-led learning and scientific advancement.

The fund supports activities that reflect Dr. Schade’s passion for educating the next generation of scientists. This may include but is not limited to: mentoring, education, leadership, equity in the sciences, advancing Arctic and environmental science to mitigate climate change and career advancement of students.

The fund managers will direct funds to opportunities that have high impact potential for societal benefit and demonstrate the values that Dr. Schade shared with students and colleagues throughout his career.

Memorial Tributes to John Schade Anonymous (8), John Alcock, George and Beth Bagley, Rebecca Barnes, Paula and Michael Beckerle, Megan Behnke, Fern Blair, Donna Bordner, Lynette Bouchie, Beth Brazil-Hauck and Eric Hauck, Anita Brewer-Siljeholm, Robin Bronen, Zoe Cardon, Andrew Carroll, Prosanta Chakrabarty, Chris Clark, James Collins, Scott Collins, Jim Corstange, Salvatore and Curasi, Lee and Bruce Davis, Blaize Denfeld, Irina Dolinskaya, Kalyn Dorheim, Philip Duffy and Lauren Lempert Duffy, Jennifer Dunn, Jeff and Susan Eckert, James J. Elser, Diane and Scott Falconer, Kelly Falkner, Iris and Robert Fanger, Jacques Finlay and Sarah Hobbie, Colleen Fitzgerald, Ken Foreman and Anne Giblin, Henry Fountain, Serita Frey, Katy Gilchrist, Erica Goff, Heather and Jared Goldstone, Susan Gray, Claire Griffin, Peter and Esther Griffith, Nancy Grimm, Daniel Gruner, Linda Gudex, Hal Halvorson, Stephanie Hampton, Peter Han, Stuart Harris and Malinda Polk, Claire Hemingway, Christina Herron-Sweet, Joanne Heslop, R. Max and Gabrielle Holmes, Catherine Hramiec, Mark and Hurwitz, Amanda Ingram, Matt Kane, Leslie and John Kolterman, Heather Kropp, Patricia Lamoureux, Libby Larson, Mary Beth Leigh, Douglas Levey, Victoria H. Lowell, Mark Ludwig and Marjorie Pitz, Marcia Macedo, Amy Marcarelli, Marguerite Mauritz, Peter McCartney, William McDowell, Emily Mohl, Molly Mooridian, Joseph and Eileen Mueller, Georgia and John Nassikas, Jason Nicholas, Karin Niemeyer, Danika Painter, Diana Pilson, William and Rosemary Pisano, Robert Power and Connie Ford, Jennifer Powers, Connie Richardson, Bianca Rodriguez-Cardona, Brendan Rogers, Connie and Ted Roosevelt, Kate Ruck, Polar Educators International, Jonathan Sanderman, Kathleen Savage and Tad Ryan, Tesse Sayen, Terry and Carol Lynn Spawn, Janelle Taylor, Three Streams Yoga, Charles Umbanhowar, Wayne and Lisa Walker, Leslie Warren, Paige Warren, Jennifer Watts, Elizabeth Webb, Clifford Weil, Allison Brewster White, Alan Wilson, Jean Winn, Stash Wislocki, Wilfred Wollheim, Elizabeth Wuorinen, Abigail Wyche, Abigail York, Lu Zhang, Timm and Cate Zolkos.

32

Cynthia Cohen Mary Cornille Richard Cowett Steve and Sukie Crandall Gail Davidson Tammy Dayton Donald and Anna Ducharme Jacqueline Ducharme Paul and Anne Ehrlich James J Elser Douglas Evans and Sarah Cogan David Fanger and Martin Wechsler Jacques Finlay and Sarah Hobbie Susan Fisher Lee and Melissa Freitag Barbara Gaffron Michael and MC Garfield Margaret Gifford Joshua Gogan Stephanie Hampton Robert and Heather Harrison Ronald and Colleen Hertel John and Olivann Hobbie Alan and Judith Hoffman John and Joan Holden John and Molly Hooper Weston and Susanah Howland Nick and Mary Hubbard Drew Jannati Leonard and Patricia Johnson Barbara Woll Jones Matt Kane Jon and Barbara Kaufman Melinda Kelly Robin and Laurel Kent Sam Knight Roger and Katherine Kranenburg Howard and Carole Kuenzler John and Geraldine Kunstadter Patricia Lamoureux Lawrence and Ginette Langer Henry and Mary Lee William and Betsy Leitch Peter Tassia and Maija Lutz Marcia Macedo Cameron and Susana Mackey John Mashey and Angela Hey William McDowell Jonathan and Jane Meigs Jerry and Lalise Melillo Chris Monaco Rod Hinkle and Kirstin Moritz Angela Hart Morris Jill Neubauer Harry Newell Amy Nielsen Diana Orenstein Perennial Garden Club Sheila Place Susan Playfair Roger Plourde Melissa Poueymirou Robert Powel

Robert and Sally Prendergast Robert Prescott Jonathan Prudhomme Elisabeth Raleigh Robert and Betsy Kyle Reece Connie Richardson Tom and Margaret Rietano Christopher and Roddy Roosevelt David and Edith Ross Rush Holt and Margaret Lancefield Fund of the Princeton Area Community Foundation Richard Sailor and Mary Johnston Ray Schmitt and Nancy Copley Damien Scott and Tessa Nichols Robert Shatten and Jessica Langsam Jack and Kathy Simonds Peter Sinclaire Gus and Cameron Speth Robert Starbuck John and Carolyn Stremlau Gregory Surdel Bridget Swanke Jeff Talmadge Raymond Tann Stephen and Carol Ann Wagner Wellington Management Company LLP Linda Wieser Edward and Toby Woll Kent Wommack and Gro Flatebo Robert and Blaikie Worth Peter Zika and Elizabeth Gould

$100–$249 Anonymous (1) Donald and Barbara Abt Levi and Jeanne Adams John Alcock Catherine Allard James and Laurie Alsup Lawrence Altman and Janet Barsy AmazonSmile Sven Atema David and Nancy Babin Denise Backus Paula Bacon Amy Badini Paul and Annette Bakstran Rebecca Barnes David and Laurie Barrett Michele Belisle Marta Beltramo Julie Bensley Wendell Bishop James Black John Boiney Donna Bordner Lynette Bouchie Brooks Browne Edward Bruce Ray Buchan

Climate Science for Change

Fall 2021

Cynthia Bucken Thomas Burger and Andree Robert Alan and Joyce Bush David Byrne and Rosemary Loring Elliott and Susan Carr Andrew Carroll John and Helaine Carroll Calvin Carver Andrew Cimino Chris Clark Darlene Clark Sigita Clark Tucker Clark Climate Ride, Inc. Ellen Coldren Scott Collins Dean and Cindy Conway Peter Conzett and Pam Gougen Noelle Corcoran Jim Corstange John and Barbara Cotnam Roger Craig Florence Cromwell Salvatore and Curasi Kathleen Dalzell Cynthia Dauphin Gillian Davies Bruce and Lee Davis Michael and Rona Davis Richard and Barbara Debs Jacqueline DeFrancesco Gregory Devine Jenna DeWald Irina Dolinskaya Patricia Donahue Leah Dougherty Frank and Geraldine Duffy Tom and Janet Duncan Jon Durell Anne Dybwad Jeff and Susan Eckert Benjamin Egan David and Sue Egloff Elias Escamilla Kelly Falkner Lynne Farlow Jacqueline Farmer Alison Farrar Orelle Feher Thelma Fenster Colleen Fitzgerald Gordon Fitzgerald David Foster Margaret Foster Henry Fountain Richard Fox Ann Freedberg Serita Frey Sara Fritz F. Thomas Fudala Constance Galliart John and Tally Garfield Nancy Gibbons Irmgard Gienandt

Fall 2021

Climate Science for Change

This summer, Research Associate Hillary Sullivan conducted field research at Plum Island, on the northeast coast of Massachusetts, where Woodwell has led a long-term experiment on nitrogen tracing in the marsh. / photo by Jimmy Nelson

Katy Gilchrist Erica Goff Jared and Heather Goldstone Marc and Carol Gordon Michael and Karen Gorton Claire Griffin Peter and Esther Griffith Daniel Gruner Robert and Virginia Guaraldi Susan Haedrich Timothy Hagan Ronald Halpern Caroline Hancock Judith Handley Lynn Harrison and Barbara Hazard Patricia Helms Claire Hemingway Gordon and Carol Henley Frances Henry Joanne Heslop Richard and Kristen Hill Sandra Hill Mary Horne Philip and Holiday Houck Richard Hough Alan Houghton and Sky Pape Catherine Hramiec David and Clara Hulburt Sarah Hunnewell Mark S. Hurwitz IBM International Foundation Daniel Iturrieta Lynn Jackson Michael and Rachel Jakuba

Paul and Alice Johnson Robert Jonas and Margaret Bullitt-Jonas Diane Jones Richard Kacik Esther Kang Whitney and Fred Keen Thomas Kehler Stuart Kendall and BeeBee Horowitz Keneum Group Kevin Kenlan Paul and Robin Ketchum Sandra Kinet Leslie Kramer Calvin and Ilene Kunin John and Diana Lamb Marjorie Lange Lawrence and Hannah Langsam Libby Larson Chip and Gayle Lawrence Kira Lawrence and Catherine Riihimaki Dennis Lebwohl and Debra Michlewitz Patricia Lee Mary Beth Leigh Edwin and Judith Leonard

H. David and Patricia Leslie Farley Lewis Dawn Liles James and Alice Liljestrand Wesley Lipchak Elizabeth Listerman Ned Lopata Allen Luke San Lyman David and Maryann Mahood John Malarkey and Pauline O’Leary Charles and Susanne Mann Bill and Kristina Matsch Peter McCartney Gretchen McClain Alan and Frances McClennen Andrea McGlinchey Robert McIntire Robert McKlveen and Ellen Jones Jay McLauchlan Cornelia McMurtrie Samual McMurtrie and Elizabeth Molodovsky J. Scott McNamara and Krista Hennessy Ruth Mead Robin Milburn

GAS-GUZZLER?

Turn your old gas-guzzler into a climate change solution. Vehicle donations are tax deductible and provide tremendous benefit to Woodwell Climate. It’s more than cars—you can donate trucks, boats, planes, motorcycles, and RVs too, running or not. Contact Paula Beckerle at pbeckerle@woodwellclimate.org to start the process.

33

ANNUAL REPORT Barbara Miner Donald and Janet Moller Katharine Morgan Laurinda Morway Day and Kathie Mount Donald and Linda Mueller Doug and Dorothy Munson Marcy Woodwell Neilson Beatrice Nelson The Nelson Mead Fund Ann Little Newbury James Newman and Deborah Coulombe John and Maureen Nolan Nuance Lyn O’Doran John and Susan Olson John and Karen O’Neil Danika Painter Richard Payne and Deborah Siegal Thoru and Judith Pederson Tyler Pelt Janelle Peotter Tom Pike and Lys McLaughlin Diana Pilson Christopher and Pamela Polloni Ellen Poss Jennifer Powers Allan and Kit Prager Glenn and Lisa Prickett David Prosten and Sarah Flynn Ronald Rauber Rick and Kim Rendigs James and Mary Rhodes Jesse Robbins Richard and Carol Robie Daniel Rodrigues Bianca Rodriguez-Cardona Camille Romano and Mark Kasprzyk Elisa Romano Bob and Gabriela Romanow Phil Roosevelt Robert Rose Norman Rushforth Jenny Russell Murali and Jody Sastry Judith Savage Kathleen Savage and Tad Ryan Donna Sessions Gus and Eleanore Shaver Leonard Sicilian James and Devereux Socas Wallace and Pamela Stark Edward and Ann Stern Jeremy Steuer Sarah Stewart P. and B. Stone Richard and Linda Stone Thomas and Ann Stone Charles and Katharine Stover Anne Graham Suggs Jacek and Margaret Sulanowski John Swenson Elliot and Julia Taylor Walter and Nancy Thompson

34

Directors of the six major scientific organizations in Woods Hole, MA renew their commitment to diversity and inclusion by re-signing a memorandum of understanding on July 30, 2021. Left to right: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution President Peter B. de Menocal, Woodwell Climate President Phil Duffy, Marine Biological Laboratory Director Nipam Patel, NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center Woods Hole Laboratory Director Jon Hare, USGS Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center Director Rob Thieler, and Sea Education Association President Peg Brandon.

Three Streams Yoga Josh and Ann Tolkoff Louis and Lee Turner Charles Umbanhowar Carolynn Van Dyke and Ann Carter Sylvia Vatuk Keith von der Heydt and Terry McKee Cyrus Wadia and Heather McMahon Grant and Jean Walker Wayne and Lisa Walker Marian Ware Gordon Waring and Patricia Gerrior Deborah Warner Susan Warner Leslie Warren Paige Warren Jennifer Watts Diana Weatherby Lewis Weinfeld Irwin Weisbrot Christine Weisiger Bridget Went Robert and Marilyn Werner Allison Brewster White Paul Chasman and Anna Wiancko-Chasman Jeff Williams and Rebecca Upton Cyara and Marina Gresham Edward and Mary Lou Winnick Steve Wintermann Louise Wolf Wilfred Wollheim John Woodwell and Marie Hull

Ann Zaminski Judith Ziss

$1–$99 Anonymous (12) Walter and Mary Alessi Nina Aronoff Richard and Sally Avery Ruth Baer Maetzener Karel Baloun Lynne Barbee Nancy Barnett Marilee Bass Gary Beach and Mona Beach-Bernardi Paula Beckerle Megan Behnke Mireille Bessin Milton and Sandra Blackington Fern Blair Walter Bobo Mal Bornemeier Peter Bowman Alecia Bridgwater Robin Bronen Gerard Brown Tom and Kitty Brown Sandy Broyard Margaret Bruce Mark and Patty Buguey William and Helga Butler Brenda Campbell Donald Cecich and Gail Fenske Charles and Margaret Chace

Prosanta Chakrabarty Naomi Church Peter Clark and Ellen Barol Michele Coakley Jonathan and Susanna Cobb Andrew Cockram Joseph and Allison Cocuzzo Sarah Cocuzzo Jeffrey and Heather Collins Peter and Edna Collom Susanna Colloredo-Mansfeld Charles Cooper and Sarah Bysshe Dennis and Sandra Cuny John and Cathy Damon Elinor Danker Paul and Maria De Weer Charles Deknatel Blaize Denfeld Design Rescue L.A. Francis and Carol DeYoung Jonathan and Heather DiPaolo Kalyn Dorheim Toni Dove Paul Dreyer Angelyn Dries Michael Dryfoos Martin Dugan Allan and Linda Dunn Robert and Karin Edwards Stephen and Rosemary Fassett FM Global Foundation Charles and Maryanna Foskett Elizabeth Anne Foss Dorothy Fulgoni

Climate Science for Change

Fall 2021

John Galick Michele Girard Kathleen Goforth Elaine Goldman Jane Gordon John and Jane Griffith Karen Grund Linda Gudex Lorraine Gyauch Lillian Haessler Hal Halvorson Peter Han Elizabeth Hanley Alan and Vivian Harquail James and Lorna Henderer Ralph Herbst Christina Herron-Sweet David and Joan Herschfeld Thomas Hirasuna Jean Hodgin Wendy Holup William Hull Mark Hurwitz Eric Hutchins Nada Hyman Amanda Ingram Stanley and Dee Jacobs Michael Janovsky Louis Jeantete D. Randolph Johnson Susan Johnson Floyd Judd Joan Kammire Aldona Kasper Robert Keck Patricia Keoughan Jeff and Tracy Kirchner Natasha Kloster Tom Kreyche and Liz Longsworth Heather Kropp Albert and Sonia Kutzin Mike Kuzmik Catherine Lamson Susan Larson Vance Lavelle Sally M. Lawton Vicki LeFevre Douglas Levey Daniel Levin Frances Lightsom Betty Long Lucas Lund Nilah MacDonald Lee Maglott Philip Mann Amy Marcarelli Michael and Joan Mastromonaco Linda Matheson Steven McAlister Michael and Janet McClure Nancy McDonald Victor and Ruth McElheny Matthew McGuire David and Barbara McPhelim Amy Merrill

Fall 2021

Climate Science for Change

Janice Miller Susan Miller and Lee Kramer Rose Minior Emily Mohl Allan and Maria Moniz Molly Mooridian Stephanie Morgan Vy Mui Jeff and Barbara Murphy Kathryn Murphy Silas Newman Quynh Nguyen Jason Nicholas Bernhard Odernheimer Vicki Otis Karen Palmer Rita Parks Don and Joanne Patterson Susan Peterson Ann Pilch Polar Educators International Jerry and Barbara Porter David Poteet Joan Power Stevan Power Grover and Courtney Price Robert Quigley Jill Reifschneider Graham and Meghan Richardson Richard Riggs Mary Ring Margaret Robbins Katrina Roeckelein Andrew and Michelle Rogers Brendan Rogers Barbara Rosenbaum Marc Rosenbaum and Jill De La Hunt Barbara Rosenthal Daniel and Verne Roy Kate Ruck Joseph and Anna Mary Russo Philip Sacks Seth Salinger Jonathan Sanderman Philip Sanfilippo Tesse Sayen Judith Schooley Eliot Sibley Bennett Singer David Slote Robert and Sharon Smith Jane Stallman Tom Anderson and Jennifer Stamp Tom and Judy Stetson Debra Stone Michael Stone Ronald Stone Richard and Elizabeth Stout Jay and Ruth Sugerman Janelle Taylor Timothy Taylor Michael Testa Edward and Elizabeth Thorndike

Mike Tong Richard and Marney Toole Mark Touhey Brenda Troup Paul Tsien Gordon and Ellen Tully Joanne Voorhis Vortex Systems LLC Mary J. Walsh Dorothy Wass Matt Watson Kelly Weatherby Elizabeth Webb Clifford Weil Stu and Tilda White Terry and Olivia White Joan Wickersham Peter and Betsy Wild Elizabeth Wilkinson Thomas Wilkinson Thomas and Patricia Willis Stash Wislocki Dennis and Gloria Woodwell Elizabeth Wuorinen Carolyn Wurm Abigail Wyche Ellen Wyttenbach Abigail York Dick Zajchowski and Celia Brown Lu Zhang Glenn and Geraldine Ziegenfuss Michael Zimmermann * Denotes deceased donor

In-Kind Gifts ESRI

Matching Gift Companies ADP Apple Baird Foundation Colgate-Palmolive C.R. Robinson D.E. Shaw Mastercard Microsoft Nuance FM Global Foundation Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund IBM International Fund JLL

UHG Vanguard Voya Financial Wellington Management

George Perkins Marsh Society The Society recognizes forwardthinking friends who support the Center’s long-term success through a life income gift, annuity, life insurance policy, or bequest. The Society honors the legacy of George Perkins Marsh, a 19th century scholar, diplomat and naturalist known to many as America’s first environmentalist. His book, Man and Nature, published in 1864, sparked the establishment of forest reserves and the national forest system. It is still widely considered a pivotal text in the founding of the conservationist and environmental movements.

SOCIETY MEMBERS

Dolores Arond Sharon Bidwell Stuart and Joanna Brown Dale Bryan Denny Emory Iris and Robert Fanger Scott Goetz and Nadine Laporte Thomas and Virginia Gregg Peter and Karen Hargraves N. Stuart Harris and Malinda Polk David Hoover and Carol Swenson Floyd Judd Frank and Judith Kauffman Carl and Joanne Leaman Victoria H. Lowell Merloyd L. Ludington Mary Lou and Charles Montgomery Elizabeth Moore Joan Person David and Edith Ross Jen Stamp and Tom Anderson Genie Stevens George and Katharine Woodwell IN MEMORIAM

Donald Bidwell, Warren A. Felt, Barbara La Voy, Jean Lootz, Martin Person

IRA?

Are you 70 1/2 years of age or older with a traditional IRA? If so, you are eligible to make a tax-free donation directly to Woodwell Climate Research Center from your IRA—up to $100,000. To learn more, contact Leslie Kolterman at lkolterman@woodwellclimate.org, visit woodwellclimate.org, or consult your plan administrator.

35

Gifts In Honor Of

Gifts in Memory Of

Zeke Bittker from Robert Starbuck

Anna Agassiz Prince from Anna Jones

I. Foster Brown from Richard Sailor and Mary Johnston

Richard Backus from Denise Backus

Bradford Butman from Farley Lewis

Sally Brown from Matthew and Brooke Barzun

Spencer Clark from Sigita Clark

Francie Brooks from Jon Durell

James Craddock from Thelma Fenster

Marcia Corrigan from Michael Corrigan

Gordon and Wendy Cromwell from Leah Miller

Benjamin and Susanne Graham from Anne Graham Suggs

Davis Family from Jonathan and Louise Davis Jacqueline Ducharme from Jacqueline DeFrancesco Allan and Linda Dunn from Jody Sastry Diane Falconer from Thomas and Kimberly Athan, Julie Bensley, Alecia Bridgwater, Karen Grund, Patricia Helms, Sandra Hill, Esther Kang, Natasha Kloster, Mike Kuzmik, Amy Nielsen, Barbara Rosenthal, Richard and Elizabeth Stout, and Ann Zaminski

Janelle Peotter from Orelle Feher

Mabel Judd from Floyd Judd

Victoria Lowell from Tucker Clark, Elizabeth Anne Foss, William and Susanne Hallstein, Charles and Ethel Hamann, Joanna Lowell, Thomas and Ann Stone

Amy Regan from Kathleen Dalzell

Julian Kane from Jeff and Barbara Murphy

Joe Robinson from Richard and Susan Houghton

Petra Kelly from Bernhard Odernheimer

Joan and Ed Rogers from Andrew and Michelle Rogers

Pete Lowell from Peter Clark and Ellen Barol, J. Atwood and Elizabeth Ives, Elizabeth Anne Foss, Tucker Clark

Merloyd Ludington from Bayard and Julie Henry

Iris Fanger from Susan Larson

Samia Mankarious from Jamie Adam Rome and Leila Mankarious Rome

Bruce and Cran Fisher from Marsden Williams Tyler Hampton from Lynne Barbee John and Cheryl Holdren from Kai and Marion Marcucelli John Holdren from Stuart Harris and Malinda Polk Max Holmes from Kathleen Biggins, Louis Jeantete, and Stuart Harris and Malinda Polk

Dave McGlinchey from Andrea McGlinchey Wil Merck from Bayard and Julie Henry William Moomaw from Williams Cosby, Lee and Melissa Freitag Mother Earth from Mary Horne

Tod Hynes from Iris and Robert Fanger

Joe and Eileen Mueller from Sena Berger, Mark and Jackie Curley, Ronald and Colleen Hertel, Geoffry Juviler

Yale Jones from Karen Cove

Mykelle from Kelly Kambs

Yale & Shanti Jones from Bob Reid

Georgia Nassikas from Mark and Eleanor Robinson, Pam & Richard Sauber

Jessica Langsam and Robert Shatten from Mindy Loiselle & Lanny Levenson Herman LaVelle from Vance Lavelle Chip and Gayle Lawrence from Kira Lawrence and Catherine Riihimaki

Jayne Abbott from Anonymous

Kira Lawrence from Chip and Gayle Lawrence

Iris & Robert Fanger from Edward and Mary Lou Winnick

Michael Fanger from Iris and Robert Fanger

36

Dr. Susan Natali presented rapid Arctic change in a breakout session at the TED Countdown Summit, October 2021. / photo by Bret Hartman/TED

Phebe Houghton from Richard and Susan Houghton, Alan Houghton and Sky Pape

Maureen Nolan from John Nolan Elizabeth Bunnen Pack and Cam Pack from Palmer Dorn, Robert and Cara Raich

Diane Rome from Jamie Adam Rome and Leila Mankarious Rome Constance Roosevelt from Richard and Susan Houghton Thomas Stone from Debra Stone, Michael Stone Anya Suslova and Scott Zolkos from Dorothy Wass Megan Tran from Vy Mui Bill Tremblay from Leah Dougherty Virginia Valiela from John and Olivann Hobbie Deborah Warner from Nancy McDonald George and Katharine Woodwell from Dan and Bunny Gabel, Jerry and Lalise Melillo George Woodwell from Denise Backus, Barbara Bowman, John and Laurie Bullard, Rod Hinkle and Kirstin Moritz, Lily Rice Hsia, Robert McIntire, Scott McVay, Gus and Cameron Speth, Anne Graham Suggs, John Swenson, Gerard* and Mary Swope, Eric Wolman

Ann Davis Mears from Nancy Corral Thomas Newbury from Ann Little Newbury Richard O’Connell from Susan Playfair John M. Olson from John and Susan Olson Jerry Place from Sheila Place Victoria Sessions from Donna Sessions Kirk Smith from Anne Dybwad Kit Williams from Bryce Legg Lila Williams Wingham from Marsden Williams Marie Zimmerman from Zaurie Zimmerman and Craig Le Clair

Climate Science for Change

Fall 2021

Ensuring a stable climate for future generations I hope my legacy gift will encourage others to join me in becoming a member of the George Perkins Marsh Society.

It is impossible for me to overstate the importance of the work of Woodwell Climate Research Center. As a long time Woodwell board member, I have seen firsthand the quality and impacts of the Center’s research.

While many organizations are finally stepping up to the climate challenge, Woodwell has a 36-year track record of excellence and is the one I know best. I have every confidence my legacy gift will be used wisely and Woodwell’s science will continue to make major contributions to sound climate decisions.

—Vicky Lowell

The world needs an “all hands on deck” approach to retain a safe and stable climate. Woodwell Climate is and will continue to be an essential “hand.”

For more information on legacy giving and the George Perkins Marsh Society, please contact Beth Bagley at ebagley@woodwellclimate.org or at 508-444-1517.

Who was George Perkins Marsh?

Known to many as America’s first environmentalist, George Perkins Marsh was a 19th century scholar, diplomat and naturalist. His book, Man and Nature, is still widely considered a pivotal text in the founding of the conservationist and environmental movements.

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