Morelli Selected to Help Lead Development of 6th National Climate Assessment

NE CASC Research Ecologist Toni Lyn Morelli has been selected by the United States Global Change Research Program to help lead development of the Sixth National Climate Assessment (NCA6). Scheduled for completion in early 2028, NCA6 will summarize the current and anticipated effects of climate change on human health, agriculture, the economy, forests, infrastructure, biodiversity, and water and land resources, among other areas.  Distilling a vast and rapidly evolving body of knowledge into a single, coherent document, the assessment will play a pivotal role in informing the short- and long-term planning of 15 federal agencies, including the EPA, NASA, and the Departments of the Interior, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development. 

Morelli, who is also a faculty member in the Department of Environmental Conservation at UMass Amherst, will serve as the Federal Coordinating Lead Author for NCA6’s chapter on the Northeast U.S.  In this capacity, she will assist selection of the chapter’s lead author and coauthors while ensuring that the chapter effectively addresses federal priorities and smoothly integrates with the document’s other sections. 

Over the past decade, Morelli has played a prominent role in advancing climate adaptation within the Northeast. The author or co-author of more than 50 peer-reviewed publications addressing climate change impacts on a variety of ecosystems, she co-founded the Northeast Regional Invasive Species and Climate Change (RISCC) Management Network in 2016 and the Refugia Research Coalition in 2017. She also recently led creation of a 400-page regional climate science synthesis that has facilitated the incorporation of climate science into state wildlife action plans across the Northeast. Her work with RISCC garnered a Climate Adaptation Leadership Award in 2021, and she was invited to join the National Biological Threats Council in 2022. Morelli last contributed to the National Climate Assessment in 2018, when she co-authored the Ecosystems chapter for NCA4. 

“It is an honor to be selected for the leadership team responsible for writing NCA6, which will play a vital role in helping our country adapt to the impacts of climate change,” said Morelli. “This document will function as a crucial educational tool for the American public and aid the development of federal strategies for conserving our natural resources. Because the impacts of climate change are becoming more visible across the Northeast, our efforts to navigate those impacts must increase. I am proud to be part of a national effort that will help better prepare our government agencies and our society to meet the many challenges posed by climate change.”