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Jamaica Bay Task Force Science and Resilience Institute update October 15, 201

Jb task force meeting 10.15.14

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Page 1: Jb task force meeting 10.15.14

Jamaica Bay Task Force Science and Resilience Institute update

October 15, 2014

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Updates

1. Institute mission and structure

2. Institute development

3. Research

4. Extension and community

5. Agency planning and coordination

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Institute mission1The Institute increases understanding of how disturbances impact natural and human systems in urban watersheds through resiliency-focused research of Jamaica Bay, and engages government and community stakeholders in the translation of that knowledge toward a more resilient system.

Conducts research to:

• understand the temporal nature and robustness of the resilience of Jamaica Bay, New York Harbor, Hudson Raritan Estuary and Gateway National Recreation Area,

• develop models for studying the fundamental nature of resilient systems, and

• determine how best to manage ecosystems to ensure resilience and sustainability;

•Provides technical assistance and guidance to the institute’s governmental partners, including the National Park Service, New York City Parks and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection; and

•Serves as a center for education and the dissemination of knowledge about processes that affect resilience and contribute to the changes in the urban ecosystem.

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City University of New York

Columbia University

Cornell University

Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University

NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies

New York Sea Grant

Stevens Institute of Technology

Stony Brook University (SUNY)

Wildlife Conservation Society

Consortium members1

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Institute structure1Institute

Public Agencies

Community Stakeholders

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Bill Solecki currently serving as the Interim Director

Search for Founding Director is in the final stages

Consensus that good candidates have emerged from the search process. Plan is to have someone start sometime near the beginning of the new year.

Institute development - Search for Founding Director

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Interim location of the Institute is on the campus at Brooklyn college

Planning for a new facility on Jamaica Bay, location to be determined.

The SRI will provide lab facilities for researchers and students, as well as hold events and host visiting scientists.

Institute development - Facilities

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Research projects

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Research – Projects funded by DOI/NPS Hurricane Sandy Mitigation Funding4

Goal: support research projects that will advance knowledge of resilience in urban coastal ecosystems

Priority research themes of selected projects• climate change and resilient ecosystems

• water quality

• restoration science

• storm damage reduction

Kick off meeting held September 23rd. Research duration for two years.

Institute will be to help coordinate some of the outcomes of these efforts into information that can be used in practice.

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• Public mission of the Institute emphasizes community engagement around science

• Existing extension programs within the Consortium: Cornell Cooperative Extension, CUNY-Sustainable Cities, Rutgers, and NY Sea Grant

• Initial research and planning for an extension service program supported by Rockefeller Foundation

• Community resilience needs assessment

• Building initial relationships through outreach

• Best practices research

Extension and community3

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Potential roles for extensions service program:

•Work with community partners to identify research priorities and establish good working relationships between community groups and SRIJB scientists as well as area managers

•Disseminate and translate science based research generated about JB to community members

•Provide training, technical assistance, and resources to community partners

•Develop educational curricula

Extension and community

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Upcoming SRI@JB Report: “Resiliency Practice in the Jamaica Bay Watershed: Building a Research and Policy Agenda for Action”

The purpose is to create a document of record:

• synthesize what is known about the resilience of the Jamaica Bay watershed

• identify gaps in knowledge

• suggest future directions for the Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay.

• policy-relevant not prescriptive

Interim Product – 31 December 2014

Resilience Practice Assessment report

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Planning and coordination

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Agency planning and coordination: RAND project4

Develop an integrated, cross-agency master plan scope for Jamaica Bay in collaboration with the SRI Public Agency Council and Stakeholder Advisory Council

Create a participatory, stakeholder-informed decision framework and decision support tool

Use framework to evaluate tradeoffs among a variety of proposed resilience strategies and projects

Inform a longer-term research agenda to support adaptive management and continued stakeholder engagement

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Members of the SRI Public Agency Council2

City

State

Federal

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Precedent: 2012 Louisiana Coastal Master Plan2Goals: Flood risk reductionRestoration and reversal of land loss trendConsideration of a wide range of other issues

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Precedent: 2012 Louisiana Coastal Master Plan2RAND’s decision support tool:

Compared and ranked individual projectsDeveloped different combinations of projects for comprehensive strategyUsed interactive visualizations to display tradeoffs and support decisionmaking

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Planning Process Timeline

Phase I Phase II

5/14Kickoff

12/14 4/16

• Set goals for long-term plan

• Identify candidate projects

• Build decision support tools

• Provide input to USACE Reformulation Study

• Increase stakeholder engagement

• Expand analysis to assess contributions of projects to goals (new modeling)

• Understand tradeoffs among goals

• Inform long-term agency decisionmaking

Two-phase planning processto develop a long-term master plan for Jamaica Bay

6 months 12-18 months

2

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Thank you!

Please contact us with any questions:

Peter Vancura, program manager – pvancura @ gmail.com

Bill Solecki, Interim Director – wdsolecki @ gmail.com

Website: www.srijb.org