Community Engagement
Strong Partnerships for a Strong Mountain & Community
An important mission of the University at Albany's Strategic Plan is to build mutually beneficial partnerships with local, state, and regional community organizations by providing unique opportunities in university events and programs, collaborative engagement, education, and direct service. We believe that by sharing knowledge and resources and providing beneficial services, the ASRC Whiteface Mountain Field Station is playing a significant role in forming those community partnerships that lead to educated and engaged students and citizens who value civic responsibility for understanding and mitigating critical environmental issues for the benefit of the public good.
The University at Albany's Atmospheric Sciences Research Center (ASRC), the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Olympic Regional Development Authority(ORDA) have a long-standing synergistic relationship rooted at Whiteface mountain in the heart of New York's Adirondack Park. The land occupied by Whiteface mountain is State owned and therefore managed and governed by DEC. ORDA, originally created by New York State to manage the 1980 Winter Olympic facilities, now manages and operates the Whiteface mountain ski center and the Veterans Memorial Highway leading to the summit. The ASRC works closely with DEC and ORDA, and together they support each other's mission and advance the commerce, recreation, and tourism industries critical to the economic sustainability of the region.
University Programs
The University at Albany’s Weather Enterprise, consisting of the Atmospheric Sciences Research Center, the Department of Atmospheric & Environmental Sciences, and the New York State Mesonet offer programs such as atmospheric and natural science lecture series, weather & weather forecasting education, and research related experiential learning programs. These programs are typically available to the general public, K-12 students, and/or University at Albany students
Education & Outreach
From the relative comfort of our field station lodge and research offices annex on Marble Mountain Lane in Wilmington, to the often harsh weather conditions nature provides at our summit observatory, we continually strive to provide unique and rewarding learning experiences for K-12 students, college students, community members, regional visitors, and research collaborators
Direct Service
In addition to providing key services directly to Whiteface mountain partners such as the New York State DEC and ORDA, ASRC Whiteface mountain field station staff engage with a wide variety of local, state and national affiliates. These include collaborations with government agencies; commercial businesses; recreation, athletic competition and tourism organizations; international sports federations and teams; and education/research entities
