POTSDAM – A Clarkson University professor and a master’s candidate in Environmental Policy both made contributions to two technical chapters of The New York State Climate Impacts Assessment: Understanding and Preparing for Our Changing Climate. The technical chapters were released on February 2.  

The New York State Climate Impacts Assessment, supported by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), is an investigation into how climate change is affecting New York State’s communities, ecosystems, and economy. It describes how climate change impacts are likely to change in the decades ahead and shares information on adaptation and resilience. 

Professor Erik Backus, Director of the Construction Engineering Management Program at Clarkson, is a co-author of the Buildings Chapter of the study. This chapter examines the impacts of climate change on buildings and, by extension, the people and communities they shelter and support. It also highlights building types and populations that are at particular risk and presents adaptation strategies to protect the state’s existing and future building stock from climate impacts. 

Backus said the assessment provides a set of guidance measures that can inform local, state, regional and national policy makers with ways to proceed across the various sectors evaluated. 

Caroline Dodd, a master’s candidate in the Environmental Policy program at Clarkson, was appointed to the Society and Economy chapter as a Sector Advisor based on her experience in environmental education, justice, and advocacy in the Adirondack Park. Dodd contributed substantially to section 5.2, Educating New Yorkers about Climate Change, and was responsible for including The Wild Center's Youth Climate Summit, which she helped found, as a model for place-based, youth-led climate education in and beyond New York State. 

For more information on the New York State Climate Impacts Assessment, visit nysclimateimpacts.org.