22 ForOregonState.org/Stater R E S E AR C H PHOTO BY KARL MAASDAM, ’93 MAPPING THE CLIMATE How one Oregon State scientist uses data and modeling to interpret a changing world. BY > STEVE LUNDEBERG, ’85 Chris Daly’s long career in science has been about pursuing what piques his curiosity, including his curiosity about peaks. “I’m interested in looking out the window and seeing the mountains and the different topography,” Daly said. “As a kid, when I was 8 or 10, I made a book of elevations. I listed capitals all over the world and was fascinated by how there could be big cities, with millions of people, 8,000 to 12,000 feet above sea level.” A professor in the College of Engineering, Daly used that fascination as fuel to become arguably the most accomplished and respected geospatial climatologist in the United States, if not the world. Daly coined the term for his unique trade — the study of spatial and temporal patterns of climate and the geographic features that cause those patterns. “Oregon abounds with such features,” he said. “For example, the Oregon Cascades act as a barrier to moisture streaming in from the Pacific Ocean, creating sharp rain shadows and semi-arid conditions on their leeward side. Protected valleys in eastern Oregon often hold pools of cold, dense air at night, making for short growing seasons.” Gardeners’ Best Friend Daly is the founding director of OSU’s PRISM Climate Group, whose work underpins the nation’s climate mapping, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture Plant Hardiness Zone Map, relied on by the nation’s 80 million gardeners and the growers who supply them. The map helps farmers and gardeners understand what plants are most likely to survive winter temperatures in their region. The latest edition, published in November 2023, seemed to make real what many already suspected — that the effects of climate change are as close as their own backyards. After it showed nearly half of the country shifting into a warmer zone, Daly handled a deluge of media requests. But, he says, part
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