New Credential For Kim

Just a quick self-congratulatory post to share with you. I have a new credential - the Certified Associate in Project Management. The credential is the lowest level that the Project Management Institute confers and involves having 1500 hours of experience being a part of a project management team (or 23 hours of education on project management) and taking a 3 hour exam on the material in the Project Management Body of Knowledge manual.

My project management experience is primarily the project I did at CNA in the 90's building the system and methods of measuring the asbestos, pollution, and mass tort exposures.

My purposes in sitting for this exam and getting the credential was to (1) learn more about project management for the benefit of my clients and (2) perhaps it will give me an edge when I bid on USDA crop insurance projects.

So, congratulations to me!

Global Climate Change and Crop Insurance

Being married to a biologist and having a fairly big interest in science, topics regarding climate change always get my attention. It is one thing to show the melting ice around the world or predict flooding in low-lying lands. It is quite another to tackle the issue about how global climate change will impact agriculture in all its forms.

From the Midwest, I think of corn and soybeans first, naturally, but what about forests, citrus, rangeland, nursery, farms that depend on fresh or sea water, etc.?

Released in May, 2008, the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) authored "Synthesis and Assessment Product 4.3 (SAP 4.3): The Effects of Climate Change on Agriculture, Land Resources, Water Resources, and Biodiversity in the United States." The report was produced by 38 authors from a diverse group of institutions. Universities, national laboratories, non-governmental organizations, and federal service all cooperated on this report and yet another group from the USDA peer reviewed the report.

The report is a type of literature review of the research efforts taken so far. Some 13 agencies have done federal research on some of the questions on global climate change. Some of the conclusions of the report are summarized on the press release about the report.

The report is fascinating. It is very long and comprehensive and is as notable for what is not known as what is known. Nevertheless, an impressive volume of research has been done on the topic to date with more to come.

I know I'll be keeping my eyes and ears open for updates. Crop insurance is one of my interests - particularly corn and soybeans in the Midwest. Upcoming blogs will no doubt touch on my independent work in crop insurance.

Be sure to email me or leave a comment if you'd like copies of my work with crop insurance as segments are completed.