The services of the North Dakota State Climate Office were acknowledged at a subcommittee hearing on Energy and Environment in the U.S. House of Representatives on May 5.

The House Committee on Science and Technology and the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment held a hearing titled “Expanding Climate Services at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: Developing the National Climate Service.”

Nolan Doesken, state climatologist for Colorado and president of the American Association of State Climatologists, presented a witness testimony during the hearing. The testimony covered the activities of the state climate offices in the U.S., state climate office relationships with the existing National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration climate service program and the American Association of State Climatologists’ role in the National Climate Services. He cited three state climate offices that provide remarkable climate services in the nation, citing the North Dakota State Climate office.

“It is a remarkable acknowledgment that makes me proud of our organization and my staff for all their efforts which attributed to national recognition of our services,” said Adnan Akyüz, assistant professor of climatology and the director of the North Dakota State Climate Office in the NDSU soil science department.

The full written testimony is available at democrats.science.house.gov/Media/file/Commdocs/hearings/2009/Energy/5may/Doesken_Testimony.pdf

For further information on the North Dakota State Climate Office, go to www.ndsu.nodak.edu/ndsu/ndsco.