Mass ECAN February News

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Mass ECAN February News

The year has kicked into high gear with climate adaptation opportunities and updates. See below for news specifically curated for our community of practice:

At any point, you can reach out to massecan@umass.edu with ideas about what our Network should tackle this year.
Best,

Melissa Ocana
Climate Adaptation Coordinator, UMass Amherst

Spring Conferences

Come see presentations by fellow Mass ECAN members at the below two upcoming conferences! You can look ahead to other 2020 conferences in our Conferences List here.
 
MACC - Mass Association of Conservation Commissions Annual Environmental Conference, Feb. 29, Worcester. Includes keynote address by Sect. Katie Theoharides focused on climate adaptation challenges and the role of wetlands experts in climate mitigation. Register here.
  • Addressing Climate-Related Threats to Species and Ecosystems
    • Scott Jackson, Toni Lyn Morelli
  • Reducing Coastal Hazards with Nature-Based Infrastructure
    • Eric Roberts, Julia Knisel
  • Beavers and Bogs: Nature-based Vulnerability Preparedness
    • Julie Busa
Mass Land Conservation Conference, Mar. 28, Worcester. Jad Daley, President & CEO of American Forests, will be the keynote speaker. Register here.
  • Implementing Natural Solutions to Climate Change
    • Julie Richburg, Lisa Hayden, Tom Lautzenheiser
  • Land Trusts and the MVP Program
    • Christa Collins, Sara Burns, Hilary King,
  • Resilient Lands: Nature's Value in a Changing Climate
    • Heidi Ricci, Bob Wilber
  • Building Climate Action Ambassadors Through Community Based Land Trusts
    • Alexandra Vecchio
  • Prioritizing Your Landscape Through the Prism of Climate Resilience
    • Abby Hardy-Moss
Mass ECAN Member Spotlight
Every month, we'll highlight someone in our community of practice so you can learn about the variety of adaptation work going on and "meet" a new colleague!
Emily Sullivan
Environmental Planner
Town of Arlington

Bio: Emily works for the Town of Arlington as an environmental planner and conservation agent. She administers environmental permitting and manages climate adaptation projects funded by local, state, and federal agencies. Emily is enjoying playing pond hockey this winter.
 
Climate change adaptation project she's currently excited about: To build community and regional resilience, Emily chairs the Resilient Mystic Collaborative's Upper Mystic Stormwater Working Group. The Group received a Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) grant to create a watershed-wide stormwater model to better understand current and future stormwater flooding. They will identify up to 10 regional opportunities for large scale green infrastructure interventions to improve stormwater quality and manage stormwater flooding. This work ties nicely with Arlington's recent MVP Action grant to build more flood storage capacity and restored riparian habitat through a small constructed wetland channel in Wellington Park.  
Announcements
 
News - Baker-Polito Administration Awards $11.6 Million in Climate Change Funding to Cities and Towns. The FY 20 MVP Program Planning and Action Grant awardees have been announced. The FY21 grant round is expected this Spring.

News - Climate legislation that includes getting the state to net zero energy by 2050 was approved by the Massachusetts Senate.

Job Opportunity - Ecological Restoration Communications Specialist, MA Div. of Ecological Restoration. Communicate the value of DER's work to partners and stakeholders and build public support for ecological restoration and nature-based approaches to climate adaptation. Additional DER positions here.

Webinars - The Northern Institute for Applied Climate Science and the Forest Stewards Guild are hosting a forest adaptation webinar series. The next topic is Climate Refugia, Mar. 3, featuring Mass ECAN members Tony Lyn Morelli, Becca Quinones, and Brian Hawthorne.

Event - Wicked High Tides, a free event hosted by the Museum of Science on how Boston communities can become more resilient to sea level rise. Featuring Mass ECAN member Julie Wormser. Mar. 3, 6:30pm, register here.

Funding Opportunity - The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, along with Wells Fargo, has announced $3 million in grant funding to enhance community ability to implement resiliency projects. Pre-proposals are being excepted until Feb. 18.

Funding Opportunity - The Climate Change Resilience in Fisheries and Aquaculture Grant Program from the MA Div. of Marine Fisheries is accepting proposals until Feb. 28.

Publication - "Regional Invasive Species & Climate Change Management Challenge: Taking Action. Managing invasive species in the context of climate change", a new report from the Northeast RISCC Management Network detailing the steps to incorporate climate change into invasive species management.

Here's to having a supportive community and network!

Having a supportive community of peers can make all the difference. The American Society of Adaptation Professionals (ASAP) has several 2020 member-led groups that may be of interest including:

  • Good Grief Network, Personal Resilience - A group to support members in becoming more personally resilient given the challenging field of climate adaptation. They will follow an adapted version of the Good Grief Network 10-step Program. If interested, you can contact Lily Swanbrow Becker or ASAP members can sign up on their profile.
  • Network of Networks - A group for climate adaptation network coordinators that I started last year. If you organize a climate collaborative/group/network and want to learn more or access network-building resources, just contact me.
In case you've been wondering what to read next....

Protecting Land So It Can Protect Us -- Our colleagues at Mass Audubon connect land conservation and climate adaptation in this newsletter article.

Does your organization have a communications product that does a great job connecting your work on ecosystems resilience, natural resources conservation, etc. with climate adaptation? Our Climate Communications Expert Work Group is collecting best examples to highlight. Send us a written communications output (such as website text, donor letter, infographic, newsletter article) that you are particularly proud of - email it to massecan@umass.edu!
We are looking for more photos!
If you are a photographer, casual or otherwise, send some Massachusetts landscapes our way. They could be included in future newsletters!
Why am I getting this email?
Welcome to Mass ECAN!

You are receiving this email because you joined Mass ECAN.
Welcome to a community of practice for climate adaptation practitioners and researchers who are interested in ecosystem resilience and natural resources conservation in Massachusetts.

Mass ECAN is creating a space for us to learn from and with each other. Together, we can build capacity for climate adaptation that promotes ecosystem resilience and weaves natural resources conservation into actions across sectors.
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