Partnerships to Visualize Climate Change Futures in Tampa Bay, Florida

AbstractOur project investigates public perceptions of climate change risk and vulnerability in the Tampa Bay, Florida, region, specifically focused on how climate change is likely to impact water infrastructure in the area. As part of the project, our research team of anthropologists and environmentally-focused state extension agents collaboratively developed public workshops to promote more dialogue on local climate change impacts. The anthropologists developed localized climate change scenarios based on global climate models, Florida-centric models, and input from key informants. Extension agents brought expertise in climate and sustainability science and facilitating educational programming and dialogue. We documented residents’ concerns and views on climate change, how local scenarios are received by the public, and how scenarios can be communicated to the public through narrative and visual formats. We consider the roles of anthropologist-extension agent partnerships in creating new spaces for dialogue on climate change futures.