UMass Sustainable Solutions Lecture: Michael Beck, Center on Coastal Climate Resilience

Join our partners at the University of Massachusetts for their Sustainable Solutions Lecture with Michael Beck, Director of the Center on Coastal Climate Resilience and AXA Chair in Coastal Resilience at the University of California Santa Cruz. He will explore the natural defense benefits of coastal habitats and how to create openings for new investments in conservation and restoration.

The talk will be held online and in person at the UMass Boston Campus Center (CC 3550A) from 3:00 – 4:00pm ET.

Lecture TITLE: 

“Building Coastal Resilience, Naturally”

Abstract:

Local, state and national budgets are increasingly stretched in response to disasters and climate change. Most of these funds are destined for artificial solutions that further degrade ecosystems. In this talk, I will describe our work to rigorously value the natural defense benefits of coastal habitats and to create openings for new investments in conservation and restoration.

More about Michael:

Michael W. Beck is the Director of the Center for Coastal Climate Resilience & AXA Chair in Coastal Resilience at the University of California Santa Cruz. He was Lead Marine Scientist at The Nature Conservancy for 20 years. He collaborates with many agencies and companies including USGS, the World Bank, USACE, FEMA and all of the leading re-insurance firms. He has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers and numerous op-eds in major papers, including the LA Times, NY Times, The Hill, and the Miami Herald. He has been a Fulbright Fellow and a Pew Marine Fellow. You can find more on his lab’s work here.