Patricia (Butler) Leopold
As a Climate Change Outreach Specialist for the Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science, Patricia leads activities to build and strengthen partnerships, synthesize research into non-technical language for a variety of audiences, develop tools for forest managers, and promote climate-informed decision-making. Her primary project is the Climate Change Response Framework, a collaborative, cross-boundary effort to engage and support scientists, natural resource managers, and landowners where they are.
Patricia coordinates the Climate Change Response Framework projects in the Central Appalachians region (29 million acres across Ohio, West Virginia, and western Maryland) and in the Mid-Atlantic region (60 million acres across eastern Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and southern New York. In both regions, our partners work together to create and update forest vulnerability assessments that synthesize scientific models and published research to predict forest response to climate change under a range of future climate scenarios. Patricia helps managers use the Adaptation Workbook process to consider how vulnerabilities may affect management goals and supports them when developing individual adaptation actions that can help address vulnerabilities and meet management objectives. These resources are adaptive, incorporate new information into planning processes, and work at multiple scales - from wood lots to state agencies and cross-boundary management topics.
Patricia is a member of the American Society of Adaptation Professionals.