Official State of Rhode Island website

State of Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management

About

The Rhode Island State Climate Office (RISCO) is the state's primary resource for climate services. RISCO is housed in the Department of Environmental Management (DEM) Office of Air Resources. We are recognized by the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) and are a member state climate office of the American Association of State Climatologists (AASC). In cooperation with NCEI’s Regional Climate Services program and the Northeast Regional Climate Center, we analyze and interpret climate data to aid decisionmakers and stakeholders. Our areas of expertise include past and present climate trends, drought monitoring, climate change impacts, and more.

Our History

1978 - 2000

The National Climate Program Act, signed by President Carter in September 1978, was a major effort by the U.S. government to establish a climate services program. The same year, the position of State Climatologist, as supported by the State of Rhode Island, was established at the University of Rhode Island (URI) in the Department of Geography & Marine Affairs. Dr. James Havens served as State Climatologist until 1980.

In 1983, the State Climatologist position was re-established within URI's Department of Plant Sciences. Dr. Robert Wakefield served as State Climatologist and conducted agronomy experiments at the Rhode Island Agricultural Experiment Station. He also oversaw the URI cooperative program weather station, the state's longest running climate site. Dr. Wakefield studied the impact of climate on agriculture and was president of the Rhode Island Association of Conservation Districts. Upon the retirement of Dr. Wakefield in 1989, Carl Sawyer, a research associate in URI’s Department of Plant Sciences, assumed the role of State Climatologist until 2000.

Sep. 1978 NOAA National Climatic Center News Letter
"The State Climatologist", September 1978.

2014 - Present

The Resilient Rhode Island Act was signed into law in 2014, which required the state to adaptively plan for and manage the impact of climate change. The position of State Climatologist was transitioned from URI to DEM's Office of Emergency Response to support the implementation of this new law. The transition from academia to a state agency was a pivotal moment, as the program's mission shifted from climate-agricultural research to operational climate services. Lenny Giuliano served as State Climatologist for over 10 years and formally established RISCO.

In 2021, the Resilient Rhode Island Act was succeeded by the Act on Climate, which requires the Rhode Island Executive Climate Change Coordinating Council (EC4) to “Advance the state’s understanding of the effects on climate change…” To aid the EC4 in this directive, the position of State Climatologist and the purview of RISCO was transitioned to DEM’s Office of Air Resources in 2025.

Our Staff