Who We Are

About the Florida Climate Institute

The Florida Climate Institute (FCI) is a multi-disciplinary network of universities in Florida working together and with external partners in the public and private sectors to achieve a better understanding of climate variability and change, impacts, and societal response. The FCI has six member universities: Florida Atlantic University (FAU), Florida State University (FSU), University of Central Florida (UCF), University of Florida (UF), University of Miami (UM), and University of South Florida (USF). It is supported by relevant colleges, centers, and programs at these universities. UF and FSU initiated the FCI in 2010. UCF formally joined in 2012, along with FAU, UM, and USF.

The FCI is led by an executive board consisting of two faculty members from each member university. The two faculty at each university include a university FCI branch director and an additional person selected by the university. Leadership of the executive board consists of a chair and an associate chair. UF currently serves as the FCI host institution and, as such, coordinates the central operational duties. As branch director of the host institution, Dr. James W. Jones currently serves as the FCI chair. The host institution rotates among member universities and is reconsidered every three years. Each member university also has support staff to assist the executive board in developing, executing, and evaluating FCI programs and activities.

Over 200 individual affiliates, including university researchers and representatives from government and industry, have joined the FCI. Anyone with a strong interest in climate research, teaching, and/or outreach is welcome to become an affiliate. For a summary of our expertise, please view our list of projects.

The University of Central Florida and the Florida Climate Institute

FCI members at UCF work in the areas of hydrology, coastal dynamics, aquatic ecology, terrestrial ecosystem studies, and communications, among other areas. The Executive Board members of FCI from UCF are:

Dr. Ni-Bin Chang, Branch Director
Stormwater Management Academy
Department of Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering
College of Engineering and Computer Science

Dr. Reed F. Noss, Branch Co-Director
Science and Planning in Conservation Ecology Lab
Department of Biology
College of Sciences