Guest experts: Sonia Vedral, Renee Collini, Mikaela Heming, and Sara Martin
Sonia Vedral, Renee Collini, Mikaela Heming, and Sara Martin, Northern Gulf of Mexico Sentinel Site Cooperative
Date of Webinar: December 4, 2019 at 4pm Eastern
Topic/Title: Preparing Communities for Sea-Level Rise
Description: The webinar will cover the basics of flooding and sea-level rise, regulatory and natural solutions to sea-level rise and flooding, and synthesize information to achieve community resilience through planning.
Guest Expert Bios:
Sonia Vedral is an education coordinator and extension associate with the Northern Gulf of Mexico Sentinel Site Cooperative and the Mississippi State University Coastal Research & Extension Center. Currently, she is collaborating with scientists and educators to develop a high school science curriculum that focuses on sea-level rise and flood resilience. She works to help teachers and students along the northern Gulf increase their knowledge about sea-level rise and to help communities become more resilient. Sonia has a bachelor’s degree in biology from Northeastern University and a master’s degree in marine biology from Nova Southeastern University.
Renee Collini is the Program Coordinator for the Northern Gulf of Mexico Sentinel Site Cooperative and is a Climate Extension Associate. Focused on sea-level rise, Collini works throughout the northern Gulf to facilitate the flow of information between researchers and decision-makers to improve science application. She integrates a multi-state network of stakeholders, researchers, NGOs, and state and federal agencies to build tools, programs, and projects to address gaps in sea-level rise observing, research, and decision-making in the northern Gulf of Mexico.
Mikaela Heming is a Project Coordinator specializing in science communication, sea-level rise science, and coastal resilience. Heming coordinates many efforts to help northern Gulf communities consider future flood hazards on a local level and encourages the use of appropriate climate resilience tools.
Sara Martin is a wetland specialist and extension associate with the Northern Gulf of Mexico Sentinel Site Cooperative and Mississippi State University Coastal Research & Extension Center (CREC). She works with surface elevation table (SET) practitioners across the northern Gulf of Mexico, facilitating communication and collaboration among constituents that need to understand vertical changes in the region’s wetlands due to erosion and accretion processes. Sara holds master’s and bachelor’s degrees in biology from the University of Alabama, where she conducted research in wetland plant ecology and marsh processes.
Additional Resources:
Northern Gulf of Mexico Sentinel Site Cooperative (NGOM SSC)
NGOM SSC Youtube
Tides & Currents
Sea Level Rise Viewer
Enwright et al. Marsh Migration
Hydro-MEM
GOM Surge
Project Drawdown
