The Consortium for Integrated Research in Western Mountains (CIRMOUNT) is a collaborative, interdisciplinary consortium dedicated to understanding climates and ecosystems of western North American mountains. CIRMOUNT's goal is to bring together researchers from diverse disciplines and institutions to monitor and understand climate-driven changes in the unique landscapes that define western North American mountains, and to respond to the needs and challenges of western society for mountain resources imposed by climate change.
Chairs
Scott Hotaling
Assistant Professor
Department of Watershed Sciences
Utah State University
scott.hotaling@usu.edu
Elise Osenga
Community Science Manager
Aspen Global Change Institute
eliseo@agci.org
Objectives
CIRMOUNT addresses four urgent challenges facing western North America mountain research and policy:
- The vast under-instrumentation of mountain regions for monitoring climate and long-term changes.
- Lack of integration of research on western North American mountain climates and ecosystems.
- Societal demands on western mountain ecosystems are exponentially escalating, imposing new and cumulative stresses on natural resources and rural communities.
- Climate change is widely ignored in mountain land-use planning and natural-resource policy to the detriment of ecosystems conservation and natural resource management.
In confronting these challenges, CIRMOUNT provides a forum that is responsive to the needs and challenges of western society imposed by climate changes on mountain ecosystems.
Goals
CIRMOUNT goals for the mountains of western North America:
- Promote installation and analysis of coordinated high-elevation climate, hydrologic, and ecosystem monitoring (observation).
- Catalyze integrated research on mountain climates and their effects on ecosystems (research).
- Communicate science among diverse disciplines and provide sound science for effective land-use planning and management (communication and decision-support).
- Promote development of long-term, policy-relevant mountain climate and ecosystem databases (research, observation, communication, and decision- support).
- Leverage CIRMOUNT as a means for integrating mountain research in the United States into global mountain-climate programs and assessments (international collaboration).
MtnClim Biannual Conference
CIRMOUNT organizes the biannual “MtnClim” conference on mountain research. Details about this event can be found on the conference website.
Resources
For additional background on the history of CIRMOUNT, please visit the U.S. Forest Service website.
CIRMOUNT also publishes a quarterly newsletter, the "Mountain Views Chronicle." Access the latest edition (and archives).