SOUTHEAST & CARIBBEAN DISASTER RESILIENCE PARTNERSHIP

DAY 1: Tuesday, January 26, 2021​

STATES & CARIBBEAN TERRITORIES RESILIENCE UPDATES & REGIONAL LESSONS LEARNED

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9:30 - 9:50 AM      Welcome and Presentation of the new SCDRP Strategic Plan and membership details 

The SCDRP Advisory Board has been working hard this year to develop a formal Strategic Plan for the organization.  This brief welcome includes opening remarks from the executive director of the SCDRP parent-program, and an introduction to the SCDRP strategic plan and membership structure.

Speakers:

• Debra Hernandez, Executive Director, Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association

• Barbara Bischof, Director & Coordinator, Southeast & Caribbean Disaster Resilience Partnership 

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9:50 - 12:00 PM     SESSION 1: Status of Resilience: Updates from the SE States & Caribbean Territories

To set the stage, states and territories of the SCDRP region will provide updates on the current situation of ongoing and near-term resilience and climate adaptation activities, recent successes, and ways in which they are managing resilience strategies. Representatives from NC, SC, GA, FL, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands will then  participate in a panel discussion, followed by Q&A from the audience. 

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Speakers:

• Amanda Martin, Deputy Chief Resilience Officer, NC Office of Recovery & Resiliency

• Emily Bentley, Chief of Recovery & Mitigation, SC Emergency Management Division

• Jennifer Kline, Coastal Hazards Specialist, GA Dept. of Natural Resources Coastal Resources  

• Whitney Gray, Administrator, FL Resilient Coastlines Program, FL Dept. of Environmental Protection   

• Pablo Méndez-Lázaro, Associate Professor of Environmental Health, University of Puerto Rico

• Hilary Lohmann, Coastal Resilience Coordinator, US Virgin Islands                                   

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2:30 PM - 4:00 PM:   SESSION 2:  What's it take to be resilient? Lessons learned from LA, NJ, and  VA

More and more states throughout the Southeast and nationwide are adopting a statewide resilience approach but are achieving it through different means. This panel features three states outside of the Southeast and Caribbean (Virginia, New Jersey, and Louisiana) that are moving the needle on resilience in different ways. Discussion will focus on successes and lessons learned, and what kind of internal and external support each approach needs.

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Speakers:

• Charles Sutcliffe, Chief Resilience Officer, Louisiana Office of the Governor: Coastal Activities  

• Dave Rosenblatt, Chief Resilience Officer & Assistant Commissioner, Climate and Flood Resilience, New Jersey Dept. of Environmental Protection

• Ann Phillips, Special Assistant to the Governor for Coastal Adaptation and Protection, Virginia

•  Mark Wilbert, Chief Resilience Officer, City of Charleston, Charleston, South Carolina

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DAY 2: Wednesday, January 27, 2021​

RESILIENCE IN ACTION: TOOLKITS, RESEARCH & APPLICATIONS

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10:00 AM - 12:00 PM:  SESSION 3: Green Infrastructure & the Evolution of BRIC

A discussion on green infrastructure practices that are paving the way for resilient communities through the support of FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure & Communities (BRIC) program. 

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Speakers:

• KEYNOTE: Camille Crain, BRIC Section Chief, FEMA

• Heidi Stiller, South Regional Director, NOAA Office for Coastal Management 

• Rod Braun, Manager, Climate & Coastal Resilience Program, The Nature Conservancy  

• Andy Fox, Professor, North Carolina State University   

• Danielle Irwin, Director, Cummins and Cederberg Coastal and Marine Engineering

                               

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12:45 PM - 2:45 PM:   SESSION 4: Building Coastal and Stormwater Resilience

This session will include three separate discussions on the importance of building flood resilience in coastal communities through infrastructure development and planning, and living shorelines development.

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--PART 1: A panel discussion with four representative experts on the topic of why Coastal and Stormwater Resilience is important, describing some of the actions they are involved with to help build a more resilient environment, detailing some of the successes and challenges.

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Speakers:

• Alex Reed, Office of Resilience & Coastal Protection, Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection  

• Carolina Maran, District Resilience Officer, South Florida Water Management District

• Jay Borkland, Lloyds Register Marine & Offshore Living Reef Program

• Trevor Lancaster, US Army Corps of Engineers GIS Program

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--PART 2: The Florida Dept. of Transportation (FDOT) oversees the planning, design, and implementation of approximately $ 8 billion in annual capital improvements.  FDOT has recently established the FL Transportation Plan Resilience Subcommittee and is in the process of establishing a planning guidelines for implementation of resilience measures and is prioritizing resilience in their long-range plans. Speakers will elaborate on what this means for the state and how this process is being advanced and implemented.

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Speakers:

• Dana Reiding, Administrator, Office of Policy and Planning, Florida Dept. of Transportation (FDOT)  

• Crystal Goodison, Associate Director, Geoplan Center, University of Florida

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--PART 3: The coast of FL has had much of its natural barrier reef damaged or destroyed.  Living shorelines are one potential solution to fortifying coastal resilience.  This section will examine sea grass restoration, barrier reef and environmentally friendly solutions towards coastal protection.

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Speakers:

• Chris Dailey, RS&H Biologist  

• Michael "Scott" Bartkowski, Living Shoreline Solutions

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3:00 PM - 4:30 PM :  SESSION 5: Applied Research and Community Engagement on Resilience

What previous and ongoing research is being conducted on coastal resilience? How is this research applied towards protecting our communities? Join us for a discussion on the applied work happening throughout the Southeast and Caribbean 

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Speakers:

• David Perkes, Director, Community Design Studio: Building Resilience Through Partnership

• Marci Jackson, Chief, Special Projects Section, US Army Corps of Engineers

• Graciela Rivera, Territorial Hazard Mitigation Office, U.S. Virgin Islands

• Olivia Vila, Ph.D. Candidate, North Carolina State University

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DAY 3: Thursday, January 28, 2021​

REGIONAL PRIORITIES AND FOCUSING ON A RESILIENT FUTURE

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10:00 AM- 12:00 PM:    SESSION 6: Disaster Recovery & Resilience in the Private Sector

This session will focus on extreme weather and disaster recovery from a business perspective. Speakers will discuss lessons learned from recent experiences and helpful resources for disaster preparedness and resilience strategies.

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Speakers:

• Dan Burger, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

• Jennifer Helgeson, National Institutes of Standards & Technology (NIST)

• Ellie Pierel, Carolinas Integrated Sciences & Assessments (CISA) / University of SC 

• Brooks Nelson, US Chamber of Commerce Foundation  

• Lawrence Bowdish, US Chamber of Commerce Foundation   

• Bill Gould, US Dept. of Agriculture, Caribbean Climate Hub   

• Carlos Lee, Lee Engineering                 

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2:00 PM - 4:00 PM     SESSION 7: Justice, Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity in Disaster Management &  Adaptation

The Southeast and Caribbean is a diverse region of people at different levels of readiness for a disaster. Deep and complicated legacies of inequality and injustice along lines of race, gender, and other identities amplify barriers to resilience, recovery, and adaptation. As we concurrently face a national reckoning of systemic racism, a global pandemic reaping disproportionate racial impact, rapidly intensifying hurricanes, and creeping sea level rise, it is a good moment to ask ourselves how we can do better for those hit worst on all counts. This session will explore how we can center the needs of at-risk communities into disaster recovery and resilience efforts. What operations, approaches, or culture do we need to tweak? Where have we had success, and how do we replicate it? Where have we failed, and what can we learn? Speakers will approach this issue from multiple perspectives - emergency management, community organizing, planning, and adaptation.

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Speakers:

• Chauncia Willis, C0-Founder and CEO, Institute for Diversity and Inclusion in Emergency Management  

• Louie Rivers, Associate Professor, Dept. of Forestry and Environmental Resources, NC State University

• Ariadna Michelle Godreau-Aubert, Founder & Director, Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico

• Mayra Cruz, Climate Justice Director, Catalyst Miami

• John Cooper, Assistant Vice President for Public Partnership & Outreach, and Director of Texas Target Communities, Texas A&M University

• Andy Anderson, Disaster Recovery Advocate, Disability Rights North Carolina

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4:00 PM- 4:30 PM:    Wrap-Up: SCDRP: Past, Present and FUTURE

Long-standing SCDRP Advisory Board member Jennifer Kline will give us a brief overview of the history of the SCDRP and a vision for the partnership's future, highlighting the importance and of this partnership and its mission to strengthen regional resilience to mitigate natural hazards, respond to disasters, and address climate-related challenges.  

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Speakers:

• Jennifer Kline, GA Dept. of Natural Resources

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