The Third Decadal U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Plan

The U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Program (U.S. CSSP) is a community-focused program with a research portfolio that encompasses carbon and pertinent biogeochemical cycles across land, water, air and society. Over the last three decades, the U.S. CCSP has led and coordinated community input from the U.S. and international carbon cycle community and captured them in two seminal U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Plans (1999, 2011) to increase engagement between the research, U.S. federal agency partners, and stakeholder communities.

Earlier this year, the U.S. CCSP embarked on an ambitious effort to develop an updated, new science plan for U.S. carbon cycle science, identifying challenges and priorities for the next decade (~2025-2035). The Third Decadal U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Plan will build on the two previous plans and will identify: (a) which overarching questions have been adequately resolved over the past decade, (b) questions that still need to be addressed, (c) most important observations and research infrastructure in need of continuing, sustained support, (d) emerging new research priorities. The plan will also consider the growing role of the private sector and the urgent need for decision-making support related to carbon management, climate change mitigation and/or adaptation.

In this presentation, we will outline the overall scope and strategy for the Third Decadal U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Plan. ICDC11 comes at a critical time in the development lifecycle of this plan. The conference will present an unprecedented opportunity to update the global carbon cycle community on our current progress and solicit critical inputs and feedback. Our presentation will consist of an initial outline from the lead authors followed by guided discussions – we will utilize tools like Slido and Mentimeter to interact with the audience, seek feedback on strategic planning needs and priorities and discuss coordination capabilities and opportunities with the international carbon cycle community.