About
Convergence is a Collaboration
Convergence represents a collaboration among climatologists, public health researchers and professionals, environmental scientists, social science researchers, and community stakeholders to identify and address the impact of extreme weather and climate events on communities in the Carolinas. This unique collaboration integrates research and community action to empower communities in their work to improve the lives of people who live and work in the community. The convergence of communities and researchers means we share knowledge and skills, and collaborate to understand the different ways communities are experiencing extreme weather and climate events, and how they can act to increase their resilience to these events.
Convergence is the product of community engagement and the support of the Carolinas Integrated Sciences and Assessments (CISA) and the Southeast Regional Climate Center (SERCC).
CISA: Carolinas Integrated Sciences & Assessments
The Carolinas Integrated Sciences & Assessments (CISA) is 1 of 11 NOAA-funded Regional Integrated Sciences & Assessments teams. CISA works in North Carolina and South Carolina to integrate climate science into decision-making processes and improve society’s ability to respond to climatic events and stresses.
CISA supports a climate outreach and integration specialist to help engage decision makers and stakeholders in addressing the impacts of climate variability and change on public health. CISA connects climate and health science to decision making through:
- Applied research to produce relevant climate information
- Assessments of climate impacts
- Processes to support and inform community planning
- Fostering climate networks and climate communities of practice
SERCC: Southeast Regional Climate Center
The Southeast Regional Climate Center (SERCC) is one of six regional climate centers in the United States, established in March 1989. The SERCC is housed at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The SERCC program was created in response to an assessment that identified various user needs for regional climate services in the Southeast. The SERCC serves Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The mission of the SERCC is to provide timely, high quality, and pertinent climate data and information to public and private users in the region.
Objectives to achieve this mission include:
- Provision of a timely, personal response to all inquiries for climate data and information
- Operation of a dial-up and internet-accessible computerized regional services and databases
- Development of expertise to work on key regional climate issues and problems, and interpret climate forecasts
- Issuance of various publications and papers appropriate to the needs of the user community in the Southeast
- Development of the capability to measure the value and use of services