The daily weather forecasts we count on for planning our work and leisure are just part of a suite of environmental prediction tools that are available to predict climate over the coming weeks, the next season, the next decade, and the next century. What’s the best way to develop these predictions, to test them, and ultimately to measure their utility? I’ll try to tackle these questions with a focus on the work of the Canadian Sea Ice and Snow Evolution Network (CanSISE www.CanSISE.ca). CanSISE brings together researchers from across Canada, including right here at UNBC, to improve Canadian capacity to predict sea ice and snow over a wide range of timescales from the seasonal to the centennial.
Snow and sea ice research is no exception to the rule that “variety is the spice of life”: if you gather researchers with different perspectives, models reflecting different types of scientific thinking, and observations from different sources, you will end up with better and more useful predictions of snow and sea ice.  I will highlight through a couple of case studies recent progress we’ve made in CanSISE, and reflect on what the future might hold for snow and sea ice in Canada as a result of anthropogenic climate change.

The Natural Resources & Environmental Studies Institute (NRESi) at UNBC hosts a weekly lecture series at the Prince George campus. Anyone from the university or wider community with interest in the topic area is welcome to attend. Presentations are also made available to remote participants through Livestream and Blue Jeans. Go to http://www.unbc.ca/nres-institute/colloquium-webcasts to view the presentation remotely.

Past NRESi colloquium presentations and special lectures can be viewed on our video archive, available here.