Mass ECAN July News
|
|
|
|
Summer is in full swing and I hope you are getting out and enjoying it! That said, the weather lately hasn't exactly made it easy to plan outings. This past week we saw the hottest day on record globally. And then again and again. Here in Western Mass, we had intense flooding from extreme precipitation events. And we're all adjusting to the new reality of unhealthy air quality from drifting wildfire smoke.
With all these climate impacts in the news, the optimist in me sees great opportunity for outreach and communications on how climate change affects us all and what we can do about it. Now is the time to tell a story about how the nature-based solutions project you've implemented proved effective under intense flooding, or in turn, how an undersized culvert blew out because it didn’t meet stream crossing standards. Our Slow the Flow Work Group was just discussing how the terminology can be misleading when we see 1-in-500 or 1000 year storms happening as often as they have been in recent years. And the visceral reality of wildfire smoke affecting our day-to-day lives could result in renewed thinking about the connections between wildfires and climate change, and forest health and public health. Thanks for all you do to tell these stories and elevate climate adaptation in conversations!
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
|
|
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!
Sara Morrison MLA, WEDG
Business Line Manager
Fuss & O’Neill
Bio: Sara specializes in Climate Adaptation and Nature Based Solutions at F&O, centering on flood risk reduction, extreme heat, and coastal resilience. With a background in systems-based, urban landscape architecture and large-scale climate resilience design and planning, Sara’s expertise is integrating natural and engineered systems using nature-based solutions to achieve social resilience, economic viability, and environmental sustainability. She has led the management, planning, and design of climate adaptation projects of varying scales across the Northeast including interdisciplinary urban coastal resilience projects in NYC in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy as well as large-scale floodplain restoration and buy-out programs.
Climate Adaptation Project: Sara was the Technical Lead on a multidisciplinary team, including the Town of Manchester-by-the-Sea (“Manchester”) and Woods Hole Group, who recently completed the Manchester-By-The-Sea Coastal Vulnerability Action Plan. With the support of a Coastal Resilience Grant from CZM, the Plan was developed as a conceptual roadmap to reduce flood risks and increase coastal resilience in the downtown and inner harbor. The Plan was formed using a phased approach that included an updated vulnerability assessment and establishing targeted, action-oriented measures at the site- and neighborhood-scale for short-, medium-, and long-term planning scenarios. Contact Sara to learn more about the project.
|
|
|
Funding Opportunity - Climate Resilience Regional Challenge, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA). Funding in coastal areas for 1) Regional Collaborative Building and Strategy Development (including watershed collaboratives!) and 2) Implementation of Resilience and Adaptation Actions. Read more here. Letters of intent are due by 8/21. There is a Zoom information session at 7pm on 7/12.
Funding Opportunity - Climate Ready Workforce, NOAA. Open to state, tribal, territorial, and local governments, higher education institutions, and non-profits in coastal states/territories. Aim is to build a workforce that is climate literate, informed by climate resilience, and skilled at addressing consequent challenges. Letters of intent are due by 8/30.
Workshop - Stormwater Financing Workshop Series, Mass Rivers Alliance. First workshop of the series will cover topics including the direction for the next MS4 permit, regulatory compliance costs, grant funding opportunities, and asset management for municipal stormwater projects. Register here to attend via Zoom at 11:30am on 7/13.
Webinar - Coastal Management Tool Talk, Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center (NECASC). The event is designed to better understand the tool needs of managers and help managers gain a clearer understanding of the coastal management tool landscape. Register here to attend via Zoom at 1:00pm on 7/19.
Call for Abstracts - 2023 massFM Annual Conference, Massachusetts Association for Floodplain Management (massFM). If you would like to be a part of a panel or prepare a presentation for the 4th annual conference in October, submit an abstract here by 7/17.
Survey - Climate Resilience Story Collection Survey, Barr Foundation. Help capture the difficulties, hopes, and solutions of how people are protecting and preparing for climate change. How are you affected? Share with those around you to lift up and understand stories from those that are most impacted.
Job - Project Manager, Mystic River Watershed Association (MyRWA), Arlington. Join a dynamic, collaborative team in managing the development, design, and implementation of projects focused on climate resilience, stormwater management, and community benefits in the Mystic River watershed. The position is open until filled (applications preferred by 7/14).
Job - PT Green Infrastructure Specialist/Environmental Scientist, Neponset River Watershed Association, Canton. Includes working with communities on green infrastructure and providing field and technical support on issues related to stormwater and climate adaptation.
|
|
|
In case you've been wondering what to read next...
- New MVP Resource: The Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Program has launched a new planning resource, GEAR: Guides for Equitable and Actionable Resilience. The goal is to provide communities with access to climate data and guidance to assess local climate change impacts, as well as suggested actions and case studies for building community resilience.
- White House Fact Sheet: See an overview of what the Biden-Harris administration has put into place to enhance climate resilience in this Fact Sheet.
|
|
|
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!
|
|
|
|
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. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
