HPRCC Visits Haskell to Discuss Climate with Tribes in Northeast Kansas

HPRCC staff members Martha Shulski, Natalie Umphlett, and Crystal Stiles organized a meeting with Geography faculty and tribal members from northeast Kansas that was held May 14th at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, KS. The purpose of the gathering was to discuss ways in which the tribes can better assess local climate conditions for improved decision-making. It represents the third in a series of meetings held with Kansas-based tribes on this topic. The first meeting was in Kansas City, MO and a second meeting was held in Lincoln, NE. The collaborators talked about developing a climate summary for the northeast Kansas region that would be similar to the one developed for the Wind River tribes. The Haskell Geography faculty would work with the HPRCC to develop the summary, which may create opportunities for Haskell Geography students to work on this project. We also provided climate data training to participants of the meeting so they could learn about where to find and retrieve climate data. The tribes HPRCC is collaborating with on this effort are the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska, and the Kickapoo Tribe in Kansas. A member of the NOAA Central Region Collaboration Team was also present for the meeting. HPRCC plans to draft a climate summary for these tribal nations in the near future and will work with the tribes and Haskell to fine-tune the climate summary to meet the tribes' needs in understanding local conditions.