adapt.nd.edu • adapt@nd.edu

Acknowledgments:

Future WorkThere is additional work that can help to further facilitate fruitful interactions among researchers, decision makers, and the global community. Trending analytics that has been integrated with the Collaboratory to provide users with information on the popularity of search queries also allows research into search patterns, which is already being investigated. Also in development is a “decision flow” to synthesize the diverse, constantly-updated content available on the Collaboratory in a manner that assists decision-making in an environment replete with complex, uncertain, and constantly changing information.

The “dashboard” serves as a personalized space for each user, providing convenient access to a large array of content—tools, publications, group discussions, survey data, and more—that can be used individually and in an integrative way to inform decision-making, research, and awareness.

Current DevelopmentThe Collaboratory provides users with an array of constantly-updated content, including biological simulations, clearinghouses of legal information, and emerging opinion from experts on the benefits and risks of adaptation. Users also have access to an open wiki and a forum to share views, discuss and explore topics, as well as the capability for private collaboration. Users can even draw upon other publicly available data that is linked to the Collaboratory. All programs, simulations, and online databases hosted on the Collaboratory are written or wrapped as web services, each serving to inform a broader process.

We have developed a virtual organization that we call a “Collaboratory” to fill a significant gap in understanding about adaptation to climate change. An interdisciplinary project, the Collaboratory relies on cyber infrastructure, data and knowledge management, simulations, scenario analysis, and visual analytics to pursue pioneering interdisciplinary integration and sound policy development.

The research mission of the Collaboratory is to improve the dissemination and integration of knowledge that will inform the development of prescient adaptation strategies and polices. Goals of the Collaboratory include facilitating interactions among researchers and decision makers, providing a vibrant online medium that converts data into knowledge, enabling users to run simulations and visualize future scenarios, providing access to expert opinion as measured via repeated national surveys, and building an information clearinghouse of legal data and regulatory information about adaptation to climate change. Through the human-machine interaction of the Collaboratory, we aim to enable a larger and faster transfer of knowledge than is typically possible with standard simulation modeling and the compilation of an expert panel.

What is the Collaboratory?Motivation

The world as we know it will be transformed by climate change, compelling us to develop strategies that allow societal “adaptation” to inevitable climate warming. Yet, climate change adaptation itself raises fundamental questions about the relationship of humans to natural systems, questions that transcend disciplinary boundaries and necessitate an unprecedented coordination and mobilization of data, information, and knowledge.

1Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA2The Nature Conservancy, Great Lakes Program, 101 E. Grand River Avenue, Lansing, MI 48906, USA

3Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA4Center for Research Computing, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA5Department of Political Science, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA

6Department of Computer Science, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA7Notre Dame Law School, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA

Alejandro Camacho7

Jason D. K. Dzurisin3

Jessica J. Hellmann3

Debra Javeline5

Katherine J. Kahl2

Jaroslaw Nabrzyski4

Anna Alber4

Nitesh V. Chawla1

Kimberly R. Hall2

Nikhil Jain6

Reid A. Johnson1

Jason McLachlan3

for Adaptation to Climate ChangeCollab ratoryThe