Climate Analogs Academy

The Climate Analogs Academy is a professional development program designed to build climate adaptation capacity among U.S. Cooperative Extension professionals working with specialty crops. The Academy focuses on making climate change actionable through networking and learning about their climate analogs, i.e. US counties that already experience their expected future climate.

The program combines virtual workshops, facilitated dialogue, study tours, and applied project development. Participants engage in structured learning on communication strategies and decision-support tools, while also building peer networks across regions.

Each participant completes a small, work-integrated climate adaptation project, such as conducting variety trials with a novel crop for the region, or synthesizing climate risk information for producers. The Academy is intended to strengthen Extension–Climate Hub connections and accelerate practical, regionally relevant climate adaptation in specialty crop agriculture.