Mass ECAN September News
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Here we are at the end of summer?! It's a time of transition for many with the start of school, only made more confusing by the late-season heat wave this week. In fact, the Northern Hemisphere (and the planet) just experienced the hottest summer ever on record. Here in Massachusetts, we have many colleagues working to reduce extreme heat impacts on communities and ecosystems through nature based solutions and outreach (such as hosting Heat Preparedness weeks, sharing resources, or creating municipal plans). Thanks for all you do to promote trees and green spaces, and provide access to shade, water and cooling! Stay cool out there!
As we look forward to the Fall, it's clear that climate adaptation events will be filling our calendars in September and October, including our field trips. Hope to see you around the community soon!
See below for our newsletter that's specifically curated for our community of practice:
Feel free to share this newsletter with a colleague and invite them to join us!
Best,
Melissa Ocana
Climate Adaptation Coordinator, UMass Amherst
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Join us for a series of field trips showcasing amazing climate adaptation and watershed-scale collaboration!
Ipswich Field Trip
Sep 7 (rain date Sep 11), 11am-12:30pm
With the PIE-Rivers Partnership & Ipswich River Watershed Association
Learn about community engagement, climate adaptation and ecological benefits related to the Ipswich Mill Dam Removal and nearby green infrastructure projects. This field trip includes an optional paddle with IRWA to/from the project site at 10am and optional snack/networking time at 12:30pm. There are still a handful of spots left, so if you are interested RSVP now here!
Mystic River Boat Tour
Oct 13, 10am-12pm
With the Resilient Mystic Collaborative and the Mystic River Watershed Association
Join us for a charter boat tour of the Lower Mystic leaving from Charlestown. Hear from community partners about a variety of adaptation projects addressing extreme heat, flooding, habitat degradation, environmental justice, and access to green space.
Mattapoisett River Valley Field Trip
Oct. 24 (Rain date Oct. 30), 10am-12pm
With the Buzzards Bay Coalition
Join us for a trail walk to learn about the coordinated multi-town watershed land conservation efforts as well as a large wetland/stream ecological restoration project. These projects buffer flooding and drought, and enhance the resilience of a regionally important drinking water supply, fish/wildlife resources, outdoor recreation opportunities and local agriculture. RSVP here.
These events are organized by Mass ECAN, the MA Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Program, the MA Division of Ecological Restoration, local project partners and watershed collaboratives.
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Every month, we highlight someone in our community of practice so you can learn about a variety of adaptation work and "meet" a new colleague!
Kerry Malloy Snyder
Managing Director of Community Resilience,
Neponset River Watershed Association
 Bio: Kerry (she/her) leads NepRWA’s efforts on reducing stormwater pollution and increasing the resilience of our communities and water resources to climate change, with an emphasis on involving environmental justice and climate-vulnerable residents in decision-making. For most of her career, she has focused on policy work and has lead NepRWA's advocacy initiatives since 2017, including advancing stronger environmental policies at the federal, state, and local levels as well as ensuring responsible development within the watershed. Kerry earned her J.D. through Suffolk University Law School and B.A. from Boston University.
Climate Adaptation Project: Kerry has been leading an effort to build consensus around collaborative climate adaptation planning and implementation projects, and to deepen community engagement with residents, along with a team that included Weston & Sampson, MAPC, the Town of Dedham and 11 other watershed communities. Funded by MVP, Phase 1 concluded in June with a watershed-wide flood model, including modeling of nature-based strategies to reduce flooding, and a proposed framework for a Neponset River Watershed Climate Resilience  Collaborative. Phase 2 will formalize the Collaborative, establish a Community Advisory Group with significant representation from community organizations working with environmental justice neighborhoods and other priority populations, and further enhance the watershed-wide flood model. To learn more, contact Kerry.
Reflections on the Peer Learning Program: "It's so valuable to connect with colleagues in other regions. We're all working towards the same goals, and sharing lessons learned will help us all get there more effectively and efficiently. I'm already learning about different strategies like-minded organizations have used to to engage the public, which is crucial to our work. I'm looking forward to trying some of them out!"
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Awards Announcement - Congrats to all of the MVP Awardees!
Funding Opportunity - SNEP Opportunity to Advance Resilience in Disadvantaged Communities (SOAR), Southeast New England Program (SNEP) Network. Fund is meant to improve and support the resilience of disadvantaged communities by means of community involvement as it relates to the design and implementation of projects to address the anticipated effects of climate change and the historic, long term impacts of environmental and social injustices. Applications due by 9/15.
Event - Accelerating Climate Resilience 2023 Speaker Series. Join us to learn more about microgrids, including what they are, how community-driven microgrids provide resilient energy, how they serve as a community aid disaster response, and about their connection to climate resilience planning. Register here to attend via zoom from 12pm-1pm on 9/7.
Event - EBC Fifth Annual New England Climate Change and Resiliency Summit. Bringing together leaders at the national, regional, and state level to answer questions surrounding climate change. Register here to meet in person at Foley Hoag LLP in Boston or over Zoom from 9am - 3pm on 9/26.
Events - Climate Preparedness Week, CREW. A variety of community-oriented groups come together to host events and raise awareness of extreme weather threats. They provide resources and space to think about how climate change impacts everyone, and how it disadvantages some communities more than others. 9/23-9/29.
Event - Virtual Open House, Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center (NE CASC). Engage in conversations with the team, learn more about their relationship-driven approach to climate adaptation science, offer input to help shape a research portfolio that is responsive to the community and more. Hosted on Zoom at 4pm on 10/4.
Webinar - Invasive Species Management in the Anthropocene, NE CASC Fellow Annette Evans will highlight how climate change affects habitat for invasive plant populations and summarize the evidence for temperature-driven shifts in the efficacy of biological control agents. Hosted via Zoom at 4pm on 9/20.
Training - Stormwater Planning Series, SNEP Network. Free 6-month training and technical assistance to help guide your community through the process of developing a conceptual design for a nature-based stormwater retrofit in a selected drainage area in your community. Submit applications by 9/8.
Call for Proposals - National Adaptation Forum. Present at the 2024 Forum in St. Paul MN, May 14-16! NAF especially encourages sessions that illustrate collaboration and submissions from those with diverse lived experience. This event brings together practitioners across sectors, so that as a field, we spend more time innovating than reinventing. Submit proposals by 9/22.
Job - Principal Environmental Planner, Southeast Regional Planning & Economic Development District, Taunton. Act independently as the creative and technical lead on numerous plans and civic engagement efforts. With a team, design projects, set deliverables and deadlines, and review work products.
Job - Executive Director, Sustainable Solutions Lab, UMass Boston. Provide leadership on all major areas of the Lab’s policy, research, communications and policy-impact agendas. Supervise and orchestrate SSL activities, shape partnerships, coordinate and engage in fundraising, organize and hold public and educational events. Applications due 10/2.
Job - Executive Director, OARS, Concord. Lead the organization in restoring the health and building the resilience of the Sudbury, Assabet, and Concord River watershed.
Job - Director of Climate Solutions, Kim Lundgren Associates Inc., Boston. Oversee client projects in the Northeast, as well as provide leadership and support to deliver data-driven, equitable, and actionable climate solutions to clients across the country.
Job - Communications Director, MA Department of Fish and Game, Boston. Contribute to work and leadership on climate solutions, biodiversity, sustainable marine fisheries, ecological restoration and other important initiatives.
Job - Stream Continuity Program Manager, MA Department of Fish and Game, Boston or Westfield. Lead and support strategic coordination to increase the magnitude and pace of stream continuity restoration activities.
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In case you've been wondering what to read next...
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Have Something to Add?
Sharing in the Newsletters
Do you have something related to climate adaptation that you would like to see in a future newsletter? If you have project, job posting, event, outreach product, or something else that you’d like to submit for consideration, you can fill out this google form. Please note that this does not guarantee inclusion. We’ll select the climate adaptation items most relevant to our community of practice to continue to provide a curated newsletter. We look forward to hearing from you!
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Why am I getting this email?
Welcome to Mass ECAN!
You are receiving this email because you joined Mass ECAN.
Welcome to a supportive community of 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. Mass ECAN is coordinated by UMass Extension. |
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