NE CASC Funding Update – July 2026

NE CASC continues to face an unprecedented funding crisis. Although Congress appropriated funding for the Climate Adaptation Science Centers in FY 25 and FY 26, and spending has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget and recommended by the U.S. Geological Survey, the Department of Interior (DOI) has not yet approved the cooperative agreement needed to release funds. As a result, NE CASC remains unable to return to normal operations. Our current cooperative agreement ends on August 31, 2026, at which point we will close all NE CASC activities at UMass and across our consortium partner institutions.

The lack of a new agreement means we are losing critical expertise in natural resource science, including in coasts, invasive species, forestry, and aquatic ecosystems. The stalled agreement would fund 16 graduate student and postdoctoral researchers, who provide invaluable scientific contributions to our mission along with full time communications and administrative staff who support partnerships. 

The stalled cooperative agreement has led to the difficult decision to begin sunsetting our Fellows Program. We are grateful to UMass for providing support to extend the program for the 2024-2025 academic year, allowing our current fellows to complete critical work on Tribal engagement assessment and invasive species synthesis. We are exploring options for an off-ramp for current fellows that will be minimally disruptive during this critical time in their careers.  

In addition, NE CASC will begin phasing out our regular newsletter communications and will formally discontinue our webinar series. We will also be looking into options to archive our website so that resources remain for our partners as long as possible.

The three permanent federal USGS staff associated with NE CASC will continue to operate within their current capacity and remain committed to our mission, but the ongoing lack of a cooperative agreement means that the large majority of NE CASC’s work is unfunded. 

We are grateful for your continued partnership and will update you as our situation develops.

Sincerely, 

The UMass NE CASC team

Bethany Bradley, co-university director

Jon Woodruff, co-university director

Emily Fusco, deputy university director

Lama BouFajreldin, stakeholder engagement manager