UND professor joins first National Nature Assessment
“Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone.”
According to Bob Newman, professor of biology at UND, these lyrics from Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi” are a sort of unofficial anthem of the National Nature Assessment (NNA). Announced by the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy last year, the NNA will be the first comprehensive evaluation of the United States’ biodiversity and natural ecosystems.
And as the NNA announced in April, Newman will co-author a chapter of the United States Global Change Research Program’s (USGCRP) report. He will collaborate with experts across the country to deliver an evidence-based overview of America’s wildlife and ecosystems, evaluate emerging trends and identify the most effective strategies to mitigate the challenges posed by the nation’s rapidly changing natural landscape.
“The idea with the National Nature Assessment is that we’re trying to figure out what we’ve got before it’s gone,” Newman said.
This National Nature Assessment will be the first of its kind, following the model of the National Climate Assessment, a similar USGCRP report published every four years since 2000. While climate change is undoubtedly a component of the NNA, the report will look more broadly at the health and trends of natural ecosystems and their impact on humans, Newman explained.
