The SCDRP 8th Annual Meeting was held on January 23-24, 2024 in the Historic District of downtown Savannah, Georgia. With 127 registered attendees, 18 meeting sponsors, and 8 sessions led by 43 speakers, this was SCDRP's largest annual meeting yet!
Throughout the 2 days of sessions, we talked about how can we partner across sectors and work across political and geographic boundaries within our region. We heard speakers and panelists highlight case studies and successful climate resilience initiatives, innovative public-private partnerships, strategies to address inequities, and the application of cutting-edge data tools and technologies. We used the time together to make strides towards our vision that communities across the U.S. Southeast and Caribbean will be significantly more resilient to episodic and chronic impacts due to climate change, natural hazards, and disasters. We moved the needle!
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Gallery from the SCDRP 8th Annual Meeting
8th Annual Meeting Session Recordings
Opening Remarks and Keynote
Heather McCarthy, Executive Director, SCDRP
Mayor Van Johnson, City of Savannah, Georgia
Reverend Dr. Gerald Durley, Waterkeeper Alliance, Interfaith Power & Light
Session 1: Resilience Updates from the States and Territories
Moderator: Lindy Betzhold, NOAA Office of Coastal Management
Brian Byfield, North Carolina DPS Office of Recovery and Resiliency
Alex Butler, South Carolina Office of Resilience
Jennifer Kline, Georgia DNR Coastal Resources Division
Dr. Duane De Freese, Indian River Lagoon Council and National Estuary Program
Dr. Yasmin Detres, CARICOOS, Puerto Rico
Hilary Lohmann, U.S. Virgin Islands DPNR Division of Coastal Zone Management
Session 2: Regional Resilience
Moderator: Jon Philipsborn, Atlanta Regional Commission
Kimberly Brown, Miami-Dade County
Katherine Zitsch, Atlanta Regional Commission
Dr. David Iwaniec, Georgia State University
Session 3, Part 1: Effective Community Engagement & Equitable Access to Resources and Funding
Moderator: Courtney Reich, Georgia Conservancy
Kait Morano, Coastal Equity and Resilience Hub, Georgia Tech Jazz Watts, One Hundred Miles and Vulnerable Communities Initiative
Nick Deffley, Southeast Sustainability Directors Network
Dawud Shabaka, Harambee House: Citizens for Environmental Justice
Session 3, Part 2: Equitable Access to Data & Technical Assistance and Capacity-Building Programs
Moderator: Henry Saxon, Center for Sustainable Communities Keisha Long, South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control
Robert Reese, Lower Richland Community, South Carolina
Dr. Daniel Kilpatrick, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina
Skip Mikell, Rosemont Neighborhood Council, South Carolina
Session 4: Finding Solutions Together: Equitable Resilience in our Communities
Moderator: Rev. Dr. Gerald Durley, Waterkeeper Alliance, Interfaith Power & Light
Facilitator: Garry Harris, Sustainability Solutions Group and Institute
Kait Morano, Coastal Equity and Resilience Hub, Georgia Tech
Jazz Watts, One Hundred Miles and Vulnerable Communities Initiative
Nick Deffley, Southeast Sustainability Directors Network
Dawud Shabaka, Harambee House: Citizens for Environmental Justice Keisha Long, South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control
Robert Reese, Lower Richland Community, South Carolina
Dr. Daniel Kilpatrick, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina
Skip Mikell, Rosemont Neighborhood Council, South Carolina
Full Partnership Business Meeting
Heather McCarthy, Executive Director, SCDRP
Tina Jackson, Program Coordinator, SCDRP
Lindy Betzhold, Chair, SCDRP Advisory Board
Jon Phillipsborn, Vice-Chair, SCDRP Advisory Board
Data Tools and Technology Exhibition Table 1: Zulu Marine and Aerial (Rusty Batey, Jamie King, Zulu) Table 2: KnowYourRiver.com and HowsMyWaterway.com (Tonya Bonitatibus, Savannah Riverkeeper) Table 3: NOAA Digital Coast and NOAA CCAP (Coastal Change Analysis Program) (Matt Pendleton, NOAA) Table 4: MapSpot community engagement tool (Kait Morano, GA Tech Coastal Equity and Resilience Hub) Table 5: Tetra Tech Tools (Dr. Vamsi Sridharan, Tetra Tech) Table 6: Table of Low-cost Tools Useful to Communities (Dr. Russell Clark, GA Tech CEAR Hub) • Table 7: Real Time Hurricane Decision Support (Dr. Jason Fleming, Seahorse Coastal Consulting) Table 8: Designing for Sea Level Change: Simple Adaptation Techniques for Communicating Uncertainty (Chris Mack, Moffatt & Nichol) Table 9: Climate Mapping for Resilience & Adaptation tool (Dr. Lydia Olander, Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environmental and Sustainability, Duke University) Table 10. USGS Coastal Change Hazards Tools (Dr. Donya Frank-Gilchrist, USGS)
Session 5: Nature-Based Solutions: Evaluations of Succes
Sponsor: Zulu Marine and Aerial
Moderator: Dr. Michelle Covi, Georgia Sea Grant Marine Extension & Georgia Sea Grant
Dr.Lydia Olander, Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment and Sustainability, Duke University
Dr. Mariko Polk, North Carolina Sea Grant
Dr. Brian Haus, University of Miami
Joy Brown, The Nature Conservancy
Session 6: Initiatives that Support Community Resilience
Moderator: Aranzazu Lascurain, NOAA Office for Coastal Management
Dr. Kim Waddell, University of the Virgin Islands
Damon Mullis, Ogeechee Riverkeeper
Andrea Young Jones, Georgia WAND
Alicia Brown, City of Savannah, Georgia
Christian Kamrath, Miami-Dade County, Florida
Session 7: Financing and Funding for Resilience
Moderator: David Johnston, Hamilton Advisors
Pamela Williams, FEMA
Alan Robertson, AWR Strategic Consulting
Tonya Bonitatibus, Savannah Riverkeeper and Waterkeeper Alliance
Patrick Howell, Institute for Building Technology & Safety (IBTS)
Mary Boyer, The World Bank
Session 8: Resiliency in a Changing Risk Landscape
Moderator: David Johnston, Hamilton Advisors
Pamela Williams, FEMA
Ray Farmer, former Director of South Carolina Department of Insurance
Raghuveer Vinukollu, Munich RE
Jonathan Gonzalez, Raincoat Insurance Inc.
Closing Remarks
Heather McCarthy, Executive Director, SCDRP
Congratulations to our Scholarship Winners:
Susannah Tuttle, NC Council of Churches Eco-Justice Connection (EJC)
Uchenna Osia, North Carolina State University
Michelle Reckner, Georgia Institute of Technology
Yui Omori, North Carolina State University
Lady Lee Volmar Claudio, Savannah State University
Knellee Bisram, AHAM Education Inc,
Kayla Gilligan, North Carolina State University
Cameron Goetgeluck, Emory Rollins School of Public Health
