Dr. Michael Notaro was granted permanent Principal Investigator status by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education. 

CCR's interactive mapping website for the Great Lakes Region has been expanded to include 4 CMIP5 global climate models, which have been dynamically downscaled using RegCM4 coupled to a one-dimensional lake model. The site allows you to map projected changes in dozens of variables by the mid- and late 21st century, according to the RCP8.5 emission scenario. 

CCR scientist Feng He is the coauthor on a recent paper in Nature Climate Change exploring the Antarctica¹s contribution to global mean sea level rise under global warming. The study provides evidence from ice-core data and paleoclimate modeling that there is a quasi-linear relationship between warming and accumulation changes over the Antarctica. In addition, the study shows that the derived relationship agrees with the latest generation of GCM simulations from CMIP5 archive and high-resolution simulation by a regional atmospheric model.

Dr. Michael Notaro and collaborator, Dr. Michael Schummer, presented initial results from their Northeast Climate Science Center project and related projects in a webinar on March 12, 2015, which was co-sponsored by the Northeast Climate Science Center and Gulf Coastal Plains and Ozarks Landscape Conservation Cooperative. Dr. Schummer's talk was on the topic of "A Weather Severity Index for estimating influences on climatic variability on waterfowl populations, waterfowl habitat, and hunter opportunity demographics." Dr. Notaro's talk was on the topic of "Application of dynamical downscaling to generate projections of winter severity, with implications for waterfowl migration and deer survival." The webinar had 125 participants.

On March 5th and 6th, CCR hosted the first UW Climate Change Symposium, featuring speakers from various campus departments and keynote lectures by Professor Steve Long of the University of Illinois. The symposium included a panel discussion on climate change and agriculture, as well as a student poster session showcasing UW undergraduate and graduate climate research. Approximately 200 visitors attended the symposium, which was co-sponsored by seven other departments and centers across campus.