Introduction
America Adapts, the Climate Change Podcast and its host, Doug Parsons, visited Schoodic Institute to learn more about our conservation science. Listen to his reflections and hear from staff on generating the science behind climate adaptation with Schoodic Institute. Over the next several months, we’ll be sharing with you edited interviews (click to listen) from the podcast; find the full podcast episode here.
We are starting this month with Schoodic Institute President & CEO, Dr. Nick Fisichelli.
Interview with Nick
Doug Parsons (DP): So Nick, most of my listeners don’t know this, but you were the very first guest on my podcast. And that’s very exciting for me. You took a chance, you came on, and I just want you to reflect on that. Give me some feedback there. You were the original.
Nick Fisichelli (NF): I wouldn’t be where I am today, Doug, without being on that first episode. Or maybe alternatively, your podcast has just improved exponentially since that first episode! So I’m not sure what this means now that you had me back on.
DP: You and I go way back. We met when we worked for the National Park Service in their Climate Change Response Program. Doesn’t that seem like such a long time ago?
NF: It was a long time ago.
DP: Tell me a bit about where we are – provide some context for our audience.
NF: We’re located on the coast of Maine, really on the edge of the continent, close to the easternmost point of the U.S. And we’re in a region of transition zones, where temperate hardwood forests meet the northern boreal forest, the northern limit of warm-adapted trees like maples and oaks overlapping with the southern range limit of cold-adapted trees like spruce and fir, paper birch and aspen. And then also being on the coast, we’re in that transition zone where the ocean meets the land and the influences of both extend beyond their boundaries. We have the rocky intertidal zone that has blankets of seaweed on it. We have wide tidal mudflats that have clams and marine worms and other resources within them. We have salt marsh, freshwater wetlands. We are at the edge of the Gulf of Maine, one of the fastest warming parts of the world’s ocean, due in part to shifts in ocean currents.
We’re seeing many aspects of climate change happening here. Warming air temperatures, changing precipitation regimes, intensifying storms, warming ocean temperatures, sea level rise, ocean acidification, really the whole gambit. This is an amazing landscape and seascape where we are located. And we’re also already living in the future. Within the past five years, we’ve had the hottest year on record, the wettest summer, the driest growing season, highest recorded sea level, the warmest ocean temperature, the most destructive storms as far as dollars go. It’s a place of transitions.
DP: Why is it so critical to get science into management?
NF: For managers of parks and other conserved lands, there are a lot of supposed best practices out there for adaptation, but the vast majority lack much of any empirical evidence that they even work. And the fine print on the climate change solutions bottle states individual species results may vary, and you can’t just use the same strategy across all circumstances. And that’s why it’s so important to really integrate science into management and really build that co-production process.
DP: I’ve learned about projects that your team is working on, everything from mapping mud flats to summit vegetation restoration to connecting history and climate change. When you step back, what connects all this work under the Schoodic Institute umbrella?
NF: This is the leading edge of climate adaptation and conservation. We are taking action on the ground, studying our actions, trying to figure things out. There’s been lots of modeling work that’s happened already, lots of scenario planning and vulnerability assessments. And now it’s time to get into the field and into the forests and the mudflats, the wetlands, into the rocky intertidal zone, to get dirty and muddy and meaningfully engage with nature in the response to rapid change. And I think that’s the work that we’re trying to do, and we do it through partnerships.
DP: How do you think about using science to guide action even when that science isn’t perfect?
NF: Yeah, the science is never going to be perfect. And there’s so much uncertainty that exists. Irreducible uncertainties in future climate change in the coming years, decades, century, also uncertainties in how species are going to respond. It’s so important to integrate science into the management actions and to work together and to be able to learn while doing and make changes in real time.
DP: What are some limitations or challenges to getting more science into actual decision-making?
NF: Ultimately, we have to remember, science doesn’t make the decisions. Conservation and decision-making are reflections of human values. The science can help managers understand what is possible, what could be effective, what may not be effective. But ultimately, the decision-making comes down to human values and judgments.
DP: You’ve mentioned in the past wanting to grow partnerships, and how you work beyond Acadia National Park. What does that bigger vision look like? And why is that so important to you and Schoodic Institute?
NF: We’re a young organization. We’re still developing as an organization and building a science team. And I think scaling is going to be a big part of the future. A lot of our work, these are in small experimental plots, mesocosms, trying to understand what may be effective management strategies. But we know that change is continuing and it’s going to accelerate and adaptation is going to have to scale with the impacts that are coming.
DP: What do you hope listeners take away about Schoodic Institute’s role in helping communities and parks prepare for the future?
NF: This is work for everybody. One of our mantras is science is for everyone, and everyone can contribute to science. Places like Acadia National Park and the coast of Maine, these spectacular land and seascapes are great places to engage learners of all ages in the science and solutions. And I just encourage people wherever they are to get engaged in the work.
DP: What’s your favorite spot in Acadia National Park?
NF: Wow, that is a difficult one. My background is forests, trees. And so I think right at the edge, upper edge of the intertidal zone where you can just see the spruce forest there coming right down to the ocean. And I think Schoodic Point is a great spot for that.