CICEET Awards $958,274 for Place-based Solutions to Land Use and Climate Change

November 23, 2009

DURHAM, N.H. -- The Cooperative Institute for Coastal and Estuarine Environmental Technology (CICEET) has awarded $958,274 to fund four place-based technology development, refinement, and demonstration projects that focus on a priority environmental challenge with a direct impact on the well-being of those who live in coastal communities. Each project names a person within the National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) as principal investigator or co-investigator. This will be the last cohort of projects funded by the CICEET program.

These projects apply research to challenges related to the dual forces of climate change and land use change, and emphasize the use of sound, collaborative practices that facilitate the transfer of research into practical application.

• In New Jersey: The Center for Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis at Rutgers University is partnering with the Jacques Cousteau NERR to develop the Coastal Vulnerability Decision Support System (CVDSS). This tool will address sea level rise specific to the New Jersey coast. It will improve on existing map-based decision support tools to help local land use planners evaluate management options to target best management practices. Principal investigator: Richard Lathrop, lathrop@crssa.rutgers.edu
  
  
• In New Hampshire: The Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space at the University of New Hampshire is working together with the Great Bay NERR and Antioch University to develop and refine a methodology for assessing flood risk associated with land use and climate change. This methodology will guide coastal community decision makers and regional planners in planning for effective infrastructure investments, and will provide improved, up-to-date scientific information regarding flood risk in the Lamprey River watershed. Team members will collaborate with planners and other stakeholders to shape the research approach and results interpretation, as well as product development, dissemination, and training. Principal investigator: Cameron Wake, cameron.wake@unh.edu
  
  
• In Oregon: The project at the South Slough NERR will demonstrate the Coastal Watersheds Ecosystem Management Process, an integrated ecosystem decision-support process. The process brings together science, resource management, and community members to respond to local problems associated with climate change and changing land use patterns. A partnership of scientists, land managers, and outreach specialists will build on existing local and regional ecosystem management efforts to demonstrate an exportable decision-support process focused on adaptively managing the effects of land use and climate change in the South Slough and Coastal Frontal watersheds. Principal investigator; Craig Cornu, craig.cornu@state.or.us

• In California: A project at the Elkhorn Slough NERR will develop, refine and implement tools to help coastal managers understand and manage salt marsh sustainability in the face of sediment changes resulting from land use and sea level rise associated with global climate change. The project team will develop a method to map the ancient, natural extent of marshes at Elkhorn Slough, and create geospatial models of marsh sustainability. Results will be combined with existing data on sediment accumulation, marsh elevation, vegetation cover, and tidal inundation, and shared through visualization tools, to be used as a basis for conservation targets. Principal investigator: Kerstin Wasson, kerstin.wasson@gmail.com