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On Thursday, December 18, Virginia Sea Grant will be receiving the highest accreditation level: College Status. The award recognizes Virginia Sea Grant’s excellence in enhancing the ecological, economic, and social sustainability of Virginia's coasts and oceans.
Woods Hole Sea Grant is evaluating how the growing and harvesting of shellfish can reduce nitrogen loading and improve water quality in Cape Cod coastal bays.
In 2007 Dennis Hwang and Darren K. Okimoto of the University of Hawai'i Sea Grant co-authored a community specific Homeowner's Handbook to Prepare for Natural Hazards. The handbook targets the average homeowner and essentially does as much homework for the homeowner as possible in order for a homeowner to prepare for natural disasters. Since 2007, the Hawai'i Homeowners Handbook to Prepare for Natural Hazards has gone through 8 print runs with over 65,000 copies. The handbook has been adapted by 7 other Sea Grant programs.
After the March 2014 Oso landslide, Washington Sea Grant communications staff volunteered at the site to provide communications support during disaster response. After the 2013 Whidbey Island landslide, a Washington Sea Grant-installed camera monitored continuing land movement.
Washington Sea Grant is synthesizing information on the resilience and vulnerability of communities to coastal hazards such as ocean acidification and leading the design of a participatory, community-based rapid appraisal in several Washington and Oregon communities facing such hazards. This appraisal will assess culturally significant ecosystem variables, such as important food species and communities’ sense of place, and identify anticipated and cumulative threats posed to them.
Washington Sea Grant is leading an effort to improve estimates of vertical land movement in Washington State, that will be used to improve sea level rise and coastal flooding assessments.
The Port Asset Matrix helps communities appraise the current value of their navigational and port infrastructure, allowing them to project the potential costs of maintaining or replacing these resources in the face of changing water levels and storm conditions caused by climate variation.
This checklist of climate-related decision points can help coastal communities smoothly integrate climate change data into their ongoing planning processes.
Wisconsin Sea Grant, in conjunction with the NOAA Great Lakes Coastal Storms Program, conducted a survey to learn the planning and implementation needs of Great Lakes coastal planners and managers to mitigate and adapt to coastal storm hazards.
This project integrates animation, aerial photography, pictures, charts, and text to help the public better understand: (1) the natural process of coastal erosion; (2) how local land development decisions impact coastal erosion; and (3) the case for scientifically-based coastal development setbacks
This Wisconsin Sea Grant fact sheet offers some adaptation strategies for adapting to the impacts of climate change on shipping and boating infrastructure.
Storm transposition is being applied in the Manitowoc River watershed to demonstrate why Wisconsin communities should invest in building resilience to climate change.
With funding from the EPA, Sea Grant partners with the City of Seattle among others to offer an incentive and certification credit system developed for single family homes. The goal of this voluntary program is to develop shoreline sustainably, using green vs. grey infrastructure whenever possible
Washington Sea Grant partnered with the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe and Adaptation International to develop a set of local sea level rise projections, and sea level scenario maps for the Jamestown S'Klallam community. The assessments are being used to identify priority adaptation actions, tribal areas or resources that are particularly vulnerable to sea level rise, and have also been integrated into community long-term planning. Additionally, Washington Sea Grant is partnering with North Olympic Peninsula Resource Conservation District and Adaptation International on a multi-sector climate change vulnerability assessment and adaptation plan, including sea level rise and coastal flooding projections for coastal communities in Clallam and Jefferson Counties.
Washington Sea Grant, working with the Puget Sound Partnership and Puget Sound Ecosystem Monitoring Program Nearshore Work Group, has standardized approaches for monitoring and a “toolbox” of protocols and information. The toolbox emphasizes methods that are simple and affordable, and that can be used for monitoring restoration sites and evaluating status and trends.
Washington Sea Grant led the development of the Olympic National Marine Sanctuary (OCNMS) Climate Change Assessment, which examined the vulnerability of sanctuary resources to climate change. The report, intended for OCNMS staff, the OCNMS advisory committee, and the Intergovernmental Policy Council, is being used as a springboard for climate change adaptation activities in the sanctuary, and adjacent (mostly tribal) communities.
Dam removal on the Elwha delta has led to a massive flux of sediment to the coastal zone, leading to what is in effect the largest beach nourishment experiment ever in Washington State. Washington Sea Grant, in collaboration with the US Geological Survey, the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and others, is investigating the fate of that sediment and particularly how it acts to re-nourish eroding beaches. The results can be applied to problems associated with beach erosion due to climate change and sea level rise.
King Tides, or extreme high tides, offer the chance to view what the future might look like with higher sea levels. The King Tides Project directs citizens to capture images of King Tide events and upload them onto the website. The Washington King Tides project is part of an international collaboration.
Washington Sea Grant, in collaboration with the Climate Impacts Group and the Department of Ecology offered a course through the Padilla Bay NERR’s Coastal Training Program on sea level rise adaptation. Building on the 2008 basic climate change course, this sea level rise course offered up to date scientific projections on sea level rise rates in the Padilla Bay NERR, in addition to methods to effectively communicate climate change, various planning opportunities in Washington, and examples of what others around the US have done. This course is the second in a series of climate adaptation courses.
Washington Sea Grant, in collaboration with the Department of Ecology and with funding from NOAA, has developed a Coastal Hazards Resilience Network. The primary function of the network is to increase coordination and collaboration among state, federal and academic experts responsible for managing coastal hazards along the Washington Coast. The network is then applied at the local level to increase the resilience and capacity of local communities to plan for a respond to natural hazard events.
Washington Sea Grant staff members are certified to teach the FEMA-certified Coastal Flood Risk Reduction Course. This performance level course is designed to provide an introduction to flood-risk reduction opportunities within coastal communities.
Wisconsin Sea Grant hosts the Great Lakes Coastal Storms Program website which provides resources, program updates and information related to the four primary goals of the program.
Wisconsin Sea Grant worked with the National Weather Service to evaluate a new tornado risk communication tool.
As a member of the State Ocean Caucus, Washington Sea Grant is a member of the State planning team charged by the State legislature to develop a marine spatial plan off Washington’s outer coast. The plan will provide better baseline information, ecosystem indicators, analyses to support coastal management decision-making, recommendations for siting new uses, implementation framework across agencies and sectors, integration of other existing policies and management and an adaptive management strategy. Washington Sea Grant plays a central role in this process by leading outreach, coordinating scientific review of data and projects, developing indicators of human well-being and economic health of the coast.
Wisconsin Sea Grant helped with design and development recommendations for the Lake Level Viewer.
Classes, workshops, tours, displays, and web materials are provided to educate community members about practices they can employ on residential properties to reduce storm water impacts to receiving waters. The practices and information provided incorporate climate change adaptation benefits.
This report is a regional social science collaboration highlighting the gaps in knowledge related to people and marine environments. Robust social science is a fundamental aspect of ecosystem-based management; and moreover, provides necessary information for understanding resilience and vulnerability to human populations.
Through the Vulnerability, Consequences, and Adaptation Planning Scenarios (VCAPS) process, North Carolina Sea Grant provides a variety of research and capacity-building initiatives to assist communities in assessing risks and providing support for developing approaches to manage that risk as appropriate.
Officials at the state and local level, as well as property owners, seek North Carolina Sea Grant for technical expertise and to work with federal partners to find solutions for new and existing building adaptations that result in increased community resilience.
North Carolina Sea Grant extension partners with the N.C. Department of Insurance and the Institute for Businesses and Home Safety Fortified training program to increase building and design standards, including workshops to train builders, as well as training for building code inspectors and other professionals.
Virginia Sea Grant helps fellows connect their research with end-users giving them the opportunity to experience the importance of considering stakeholder engagement from start to finish.
Two years in the making, Rhode Island’s first comprehensive shellfish management plan was celebrated recently at the University of Rhode Island by the state agencies, project managers, researchers, stakeholders, and funders who made it happen.
The emerging human wellbeing model is a comprehensive look at the material, relational, and subjective ways that the socioeconomic wellbeing of individuals and communities is tied to marine and coastal resources. The model provides a process for selecting indicators to measure human wellbeing.
The cultural dimensions of coastal ecosystems framework and guidelines for best practices is a conceptual tool to guide scientists, managers and community practitioners in their efforts to: (1) identify potential cultural impacts in impacted areas; (2) select and develop methods for working with communities to characterize their cultural impacts. Cultural aspects are often ambiguous and moreover absent from vulnerability and resilience assessments and this guidelines offers clear and specific identification of cultural aspects that have been or could be impacted in events.
Washington Sea Grant, in partnership with state, federal (NOAA) and international scientists and communication experts have released two ocean acidification fact sheets as aids for scientists, science communicators and science policy advisors asked to comment on acidification: “20 Facts About Ocean Acidification” (Nov 2013. revised Feb 2014) and “Ocean Acidification in the Pacific Northwest” (May 2014). They have also been instrumental in the development of NOAA's Sharing Ocean Acidification Resources for Communicators and Educators (SOARCE) webinar series (8 presentations in 2014).
Washington Sea Grant, in partnership with the Suquamish Tribe, and with assistance from teachers, and state and academic education specialists, is developing a curated online collection of Ocean Acidification curricula, teaching tools, and informational resources for high school, middle school and elementary classrooms. The online collection, which will launched in Oct 2014, can be searched using a variety of filters, such as grade band, subject, type of material (i.e. lab activity, presentation, reading and analysis, etc.), and length of activity. This effort supports coastal resilience by building ocean acidification literacy.
In Puget Sound, shoreline armoring is being removed or is being replaced with what are thought to be less disruptive alternatives. Restoring physical and biological connections in the nearshore where structures are not at risk is expected to improve habitat conditions and reduce long-term costs for homeowners. By establishing volunteer monitoring of these sites, Washington Sea Grant has helped create a baseline for erosion and vegetation that can be used to inform other projects and shoreline management decisions in the near-term and provide a long-term reference as climate change and sea level rise influence conditions in the nearshore.
In collaboration with Washington Land Grant partners, Washington Sea Grant provides training, resources and opportunities to volunteers interested in learning about freshwater environments and the watershed and marine systems to which they are tied. The volunteers then contribute to improving their communities through monitoring, enhancement, restoration and outreach.
Preventing the introduction and spread of aquatic invasive species is the only way to eliminate associated ecological and economic damages. Where prevention measures fail, early detection of a newly established population offers the best hope of effectively reducing impacts. By working formal and informal education settings to encourage prevention measures and by establishing a network to monitor marine waters for key species of concern, Washington Sea Grant aims to prevent and reduce economic and ecological harm for coastal communities.
These workshops are designed to bring confidence to homeowners and businesses so that they can properly manage their on-site sewage systems. The workshops focus on the monitoring and maintenance of septic systems during all conditions and highlight special monitoring after an earthquake, during flooding events and power outages.
Mid-Atlantic Sea Grant research funded a project that is looking at the shifting distribution of summer flounder under climate change conditions, including some bio-economic modeling to examine the economic impact of that shift.
The lead coordinating organization is Wetlands Watch, working with architects at Hampton University, builders from the Hampton Roads Green Building Council, Urban Land Institute, and a suite of engineers. They are focused on Chesterfield Heights neighborhood in Norfolk, and will be creating specific designs for a more resilient Chesterfield Heights.
Virginia Sea Grant has a legal program now and they have been focusing on resiliency issues—conducting legal and policy research for local community clients on issues such as flood insurance, community rating systems, potential disclosure issues, potential local community liability risk associated with not taking adaptation steps. They have also provided analysis to the Governor’s Climate Commission that is currently underway and the General Assembly’s Secure Commonwealth Panel that finished up work last month.
This was developed through a mid-Atlantic Sea Level Rise project we secured from Coastal Services Center (CSC). It was applied in Annapolis, and they explored its application in Hampton Roads, but it was too early in the evolution of the issues in Hampton Roads to use here. That is, this tool shows climate impacts at the individual lot level and the Hampton Roads citizenry and local elected officials were not ready to see, hear, realize that then (~2011). We are ready now and because we took an incremental approach with our community, we have been able to leap frog some of the challenges that other states faced and Fall 2014 we held a workshop with the real estate community.
Recognizing the need for a centralized, neutral source of climate information specific to Maine, University of Maine Cooperative Extension and Maine Sea Grant created Maine Climate News in partnership with George Jacobson, Maine State Climatologist, in 2009. The site is intended to be a portal to climate change science and research at the University of Maine and beyond, as well as a resource for news and climate-related activities throughout the state. The site is updated quarterly.
Maine Sea Grant is a member of the steering committee for the Northeast Coastal Acidification Network planning a series of 10 Ocean Acidification Webinars, a synthesis of the State of the Science, culminating in a State of the Science workshop followed by Stakeholders workshops to develop an Ocean Acidification plan for the region (Long Island Sound to Nova Scotia).
This project developed a participatory, place-based approach for assessing the vulnerability and resilience of Maine fishing communities, documenting threats and resources available to respond to those threats. To understand the forces driving vulnerability, Johnson and graduate students Cameron Thompson and Anna Henry worked with community stakeholders to identify opportunities and strategies for improving resilience of fishing communities. They produced a summary report, entitled, “In Their Own Words: Fishermen’s Perspectives of Community Resilience.”
This document is intended as a guide for entities interested in assessing their vulnerability to coastal hazards. Coastal vulnerability is a complex topic that requires an understanding of some basic terms, concepts, and historical context to be effectively assessed.
A survey instrument that helps a community characterize its resilience through the connectivity of the community's various planning documents.
Coastal communities across the nation are faced with the challenge of how to adapt to coastal inundation associated with climate change and sea level rise. As part of the National Sea Grant Coastal Communities Climate Adaptation Initiative (CCCAI), the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium (NJSGC) and its partners, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Office of Coastal Management (NJOCM), Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute (UCI) and Stevens Institute of Technology, conducted community-based, climate adaptation demonstration projects in Cape May Point, Little Silver and Oceanport, New Jersey.
Sea Level Affecting Marshes Model maps (SLAMM), will be available on the web in October for all 21 coastal communities. This is being adopted for “planning purposes” by the State Coastal Resources Management Council.
A model document for incorporating coastal hazards and climate change into state mandated Local Comprehensive Planning, together with maps that assess vulnerability, and recommendations based on lessons learned from other places for the community to adapt to rising seas.
To address challenges from a changing shoreline, the Rhode Island Shoreline Change Special Area Management Plan (Beach SAMP) is focused on improving our understanding of how fast erosion is occurring and what areas and infrastructure are at risk of flooding during storms or from future sea level rise.
This report from a year-long study from Sea Grant and the NOAA North Atlantic Regional Team (NART) identifies some best practices that communities can use locally for adapting to climate change. “Cost-Efficient Climate Change Adaptation in the North Atlantic” is a compilation of best practices shared by 34 towns and cities (ME to VA) willing to share the steps that they have taken towards successful adaptation. The report also contains an interactive map.
Using South Kingstown Land Trust as a pilot, tools have been identified for use by local conservation organizations in Rhode Island and beyond to assess vulnerability and identify strategies to begin to implement adaptation actions through conservation, management, and investment.
The Maine Beaches Conference provides continuing opportunities for communication and exchange of the most current information among beach stakeholders with diverse interests, and presents the findings from the state’s beach monitoring programs.
The coastal property guide is a publication and web-based tool for property owners, navigating them through 10 key questions related to issues from coastal erosion and sea level rise, to buffers and septic systems.
The Chester Climate Adaptation Team, including Pennsylvania Sea Grant, has the capacity to assist with community engagement to assess climate vulnerabilities, consider solutions, and to plan steps for a more resilient community.
We support an array of interdisciplinary research in the biological sciences, including topics such as coastal geomorphology mapping and assessments on the cumulative effects of sea level rise and increased wave heights.
This report considers past change over geologic time, recent evidence of accelerated rates of change, and the implications of continued climate change in Maine during the 21st century as a result of greenhouse gas emissions and their associated pollutants. Maine Sea Grant’s Communication Coordinator, Catherine Schmitt worked with a multidisciplinary team to compile and edit the 2009 Report and several follow-up features on specific topics, and she is currently working on an update to the original report.
Oregon Sea Grant has a number of social scientists among our faculty and staff skilled in conducting surveys, interviews, and other forms of social science research, including vulnerability analyses.
Beach profiling is a simple surveying technique used to measure changes in the contour of the monitored beach. The Southern Maine Volunteer Beach Profile Monitoring Program is a unique collaboration among local volunteers, participating municipalities, and scientists, resulting in 15 years of critical data on the status of one of Maine's most vital and valuable natural resources.
This workshop series featured municipal officials who survived Superstorm Sandy and Maine municipal officials and residents from Wells, Saco and Old Orchard Beach who traveled to New Jersey to see the aftermath of the storm first hand. During “The Sandy Dialogues” workshops in Wells and Saco presenters shared personal experiences about the storm, its aftermath and recovery.
Maine Sea Grant has organized a number of tours, during which Southern Maine coastal property owners, local officials, and community members visit coastal properties in Saco, Wells, and Ogunquit where action has been or could be taken to make them more resilient to flooding, erosion, and extreme storm events.
The project created, tested and applied models to forecast how anthropogenic (land use, invasive species) and natural (climatic variability) stresses influence hypoxia formation and ecology, with an emphasis on fish production.
Decision-support tools to help make decisions on managing a key fishery by incorporating information, accounting for uncertainties, or evaluating trade-offs between alternative choices.
Four fact sheets addressing distinction between weather and climate, preparing for extreme conditions, variable lake levels, and climate variability
Climate Ready Great Lakes consists of three modules designed to help create a Great Lakes region that is “climate ready”.
This online Guide was created by Maine Sea Grant to help coastal property owners and municipal officials identify features and different types of hazards on the Maine coast, and evaluate potential responses and actions. This guide is an outcome of the project, Coastal Community Resilience: Developing and Testing a Model of State-based Outreach.
The Climate and Water Quality diagram is used for public outreach to show interaction of climate, water quality, land use and invasive species.
This video was created for Maine citizens to hear and see what their neighbors, town officials, and local scientists have to say about sea-level rise, coastal flooding, and erosion; what it means to them; and what individuals can do about it in the five-part documentary, Building a Resilient Coast: Maine Confronts Climate Change, produced in partnership with Oregon Sea Grant.
Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant has a climatologist on staff who conducts workshops and interacts with local resource managers along southern Lake Michigan to help the region become more resilient. We have produced or participated in the creation of number tools to help communities.
An integrated assessment research project and deliverables to support Clinton River watershed decision-makers in water resources management.
The Great Lakes Beach, Tributary, and Nearshore Water Quality: Hydrologic and Hydrodynamic Data and Model Assimilation website hosts a water quality forecasting system for use at targeted beaches throughout the Great Lakes.
Michigan Sea Grant has created a customized user interface for the NOAA CoastWatch data reporting system, evolving as a cooperative project between the NOAA CoastWatch Great Lakes Regional Node (NOAA GLERL) and the Great Lakes Sea Grant Network.
Lake Michigan provides a reliable supply of drinking water for a large population in the greater Chicago area of northeastern Illinois and northwestern Indiana, but is being tapped to its legal limit. Water supply planning can increase preparedness for droughts and climate change, reduce regional conflicts, and promote conservation. Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant has tools to help communities with sustainable water pricing, outdoor conservation, sample ordinances, etc.
With funding from the Great Lakes Integrated Sciences and Assessments center, Michigan Sea Grant led a team in developing a new unit for the Clean Marina Classroom (an online training tool for marina, harbor and boatyard operators in pursuing Clean Marina certification).
Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant maintains a buoy off the coast of Lake Michigan in Indiana and will soon be installing a second buoy in waters on the Illinois side. The buoys are equipped with sensitive scientific instruments that help scientists, managers, and local community members understand how the lake works, how things look today, and how things will look in the future.
Michigan Sea Grant website to host Great Lakes Environmental Response Management Application (ERMA) tool, an online mapping tool for coastal pollution cleanup, restoration, and response efforts in the Great Lakes Basin, from Minnesota to New York in the United States and from Ontario to Quebec in Canada.
This congressional act provides matching funds to communities to speed up the pace of cleanup of contaminated sediments within Great Lakes Areas of Concern. Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant conducts workshops, provides local community support, and has developed numerous products including curricula, economic development strategies, and fact sheets.
North Carolina Sea Grant and the N.C. Coastal Resources Law, Planning and Policy Center cover a variety of topics related to resiliency.
North Carolina Sea Grant funded research to determine impacts of rerouting water into the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge as part of a proposed wetland restoration project.
During extreme high tide events, known as king tides, Californians get an idea of what future sea level may look like in their coastal communities. USC Sea Grant has had the privilege to be part of several collaborative projects that are tracking, recording and analyzing these high tides events in order to predict future sea level rise.
Today NOAA Sea Grant is announcing new grants totaling $2.6 million for 15 projects to support the development of environmentally and economically sustainable ocean, coastal, or Great Lakes aquaculture. Sea Grant has been involved in research to support sustainable aquaculture since its inception in 1966. This year’s National Strategic Investment competition focused on aquaculture research projects that will have immediate beneficial impacts by: informing regulatory decisions; increasing production technology, or understanding the socio-economic issues that limit aquaculture development.
Texas Sea Grant, with funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), has launched a pilot program to help shrimpers correctly install and operate turtle excluder devices, known as TEDs, and to develop a process to certify those that do. This vessel certification will help consumers choose “turtle-safe” wild-caught Gulf shrimp at their local supermarkets.
Impacts, Challenges and Opportunities of the National Sea Grant College Program
This beach manager’s manual provides the latest information and management strategies for harmful algal blooms, type E botulism outbreaks, and other topics in the future.
Lawn and garden chemicals applied in the Lake Michigan basin can wind up in the water, polluting the lakes with pesticides and excess fertilizer. The program promotes healthy landscape practices, offering communities, landscapers, residents, and others, tips for maintaining healthy lawns and landscapes without over-relying on chemicals.
This web-based GIS decision system is designed to improve comprehensive land use planning so that economic, ecological, social, and cultural resources are integrated with future development in a sustainable way.
Since 2001, Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant has hosted workshops pertaining to various aspects of river and stream restoration, including dam removal. The River Restoration: Practices and Concepts workshops provide the opportunity to hear about the latest restoration projects from experts nationally as well as from the region, and communicate with other professionals with similar interests.
Details stakeholder outreach activities for the Climate Change and the Visitor Industry project, summarizing the state of knowledge of current and potential impacts of climate change on Hawai‘i’s tourism industry and coastal communities; identifying opportunities for adaptation and sustainability of the tourism industry; informing Hawai‘i’s decision-makers in the public and private sector of the potential impacts of climate change, and; providing an opportunity for the visitor industry stakeholders to provide feedback on the findings and assist in the identification of priority sectors for adaptation.
Provides a summary of the actions boaters and other members of Hawai‘i’s maritime community can take before, during, and after a hurricane or tsunami, to prepare for and mitigate the effects of these hazards.
As a technical report for the Kaua‘i County General Plan update, the KC3HA looks to improve the community’s resilience and preparedness to coastal hazards and changing climate through the better understanding and utilization of coastal hazard information and planning tools. The report compiles and summarizes available science-based coastal and climate hazard information to assist in information the General Plan update.
Helps homeowners prepare for a natural hazard so that risks to family and property may be reduced. The handbook focuses on tsunami, hurricane, earthquake, and flood hazards.
This guide focuses on basic question to consider as an investor in coastal real estate, emphasizing the importance of having an understanding of the potential risks and consequences of living on the ocean’s edge.
This nationwide effort implemented in the Pacific Islands Region funded several projects that foster community resiliency through outreach, education, and product development.
The purpose of the 242 page guidebook is as a resource to reduce the risk to coastal development by planning for natural hazards such as erosion, flooding, tsunami, and hurricanes. The guidebook uses scientific and technically-based standards for hazard mitigation and provides recommendations for implementation (e.g., guidance, industry standards, policy and the use of existing regulations) that minimize burden to the regulated community.
A report on resident’s attitudes, perceptions, preferences, and values towards a variety of socio-environmental topics. The study is part of a regional beach management and climate change adaptation planning efforts, and informs implementation and future modification of the 2010 Kailua Beach and Dune Management Plan.
