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Making the Connections: Climate Change in Kansas

The implications of weather and climate events on the health and well being of Kansans are well known. With changing weather conditions, additional stressors are already being felt across the state. In this presentation, impacts that have occurred and some that are more likely in the future will be presented.    

Speaker Bio:

As part of the Weather Data Library and service climatologist, Mary Knapp occupies a unique position in the Department of Agronomy. She is responsible for answering questions on climate and weather matters. She also maintains the web site that provides a constant update and complete archive of weather-related data for Kansas.

Her degree is in Agronomy from K-State, but her career path back to the department was not entirely straightforward. The Weather Data Library started at K-State in 1976 in the Physics Department. Mary started working at K-State after a stint in the Peace Corps in Dominican Republic as a rice specialist. After a number of years as a research assistant in Entomology, she joined Computer Information Systems in Extension, working with the State Climatologist Dean Bark. When Dr. Bark retired in 1990, she became acting state climatologist. She served as State Climatologist until July of 2013.  At that time the unit expanded, with the addition Dr. Xiaomao Lin who serves as State Climatologist, also a network manager, a Web programmer and a technician. Mary continued her emphasis in outreach and making climate information accessible to Kansans.

Do you have burning questions about this topic? Ask away! Submit questions to Rachel Myslivy at myslivy@climateandenergy.org.

We’ll also answer questions during the webinar – don’t miss it. Register today!