World-class scientific research.

At Woodwell, we focus our efforts where they matter most—curbing climate change while helping people cope with its impacts. Our experts focus on:

• Protecting and restoring climate-critical ecosystems. We perform our own research and partner with other experts to study the ecosystems that play an outsized role in maintaining and sustaining the Earth’s climate, and will be most impacted by climate disruption.

Projects include: Permafrost Pathways, Projet Équateur

• Managing agriculture for climate-smart outcomes. We’re looking for ways to harness the power of agricultural lands to keep carbon in the ground, and store even more. At the same time, we help farmers and ranchers adapt their management practices to changing climate conditions, protect their way of life, and feed a growing population in a warming world.

Projects include: Woodwell Climate @ Tanguro Field Station, Carbon monitoring in rangelands

• Safeguarding people and places from climate risks. We provide leaders and decision makers with robust science and tailored climate risk assessments, empowering them to make the best choices for the future of their communities, businesses, and countries.

Projects include: Just Access, Woodwell & Wellington

We’ve identified these three areas of focus because they are where we’re uniquely positioned to make an impact. That same strategic approach—seeking impact through science—informs our path forward, and our constant search for bold new opportunities where our expertise can make meaningful strides towards a more equitable, healthy, and sustainable world.

Influencing critical policy levers.

“Climate science for change” is not only a motto and mission for Woodwell Climate Research Center, but a tradition. Since our founding in 1985, we have been a driver of national and international climate policy—including:

• the first U.S. congressional hearings on the threat of climate change in 1986
• the creation of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which was recognized in 2007 with a Nobel Peace Prize
• the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

As a nonprofit organization, we combine our climate science research with nonpartisan advocacy and outreach to create policy impact at all levels of government. We seek to prove out climate solutions at a local level in collaboration with community leaders and industry partners, and then scale and translate those solutions for national and international applications.

When our experts and their research are at the decision making table alongside community partners and industry leaders, we generate durable, science-driven impacts.

Examples of our work with: local communities, the US federal government, the United Nations

Strategic partnership.

Climate change has reached the point where it impacts every aspect of our lives. No one organization can take on this challenge alone.

That’s why we build partnerships at every level—from international organizations and national governments, to public and private institutions, to local communities and Indigenous peoples.

Partnerships empower us to link global efforts to local contexts. When we bring key actors to the table, the knowledge we all gain is more robust, more widely shared, and more effectively applied.

Want to go deeper?

See for yourself what climate science for change looks like by exploring our recent stories.

Want to support us?

More than half of our funding comes from individuals and foundations who share our vision of a more healthy, equitable, and sustainable world.

You can help power climate science for change by making a gift today.