The American Planning Association, Hawaii Chapter awarded the Hawaii Office of Planning and Sustainable Development, Coastal Management Program and its partner the University of Hawaii Community Design Center the 2021 Urban Design Award for their project "South Shore Promenade and Coastal Open Spaces Network Study."

Hawaii's Office of Planning and Sustainable Development. Coastal Management Program also received the 2021 Environmental Planning Award for the Hawai‘i Ocean Resources Management Plan 2020.

NOAA Fisheries and partners assessed the vulnerability of marine, estuarine, and riverine habitats in the Northeast United States to climate change. The findings were recently published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE. We found salt marshes, shellfish reefs, deep-sea corals, seagrasses, kelp, and intertidal habitats to be among the most vulnerable. The coastal habitats with the highest climate vulnerability are also those most often at risk from degradation due to coastal development and pollution. The assessment highlights the importance of prioritizing habitat protection and restoration to support resilience and adaptability to climate change. Learn more here.

NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) has released a new mapping tool that provides county-level information on natural disaster hazards across the United States. Developed by NCEI with data from NOAA, FEMA and academic institutions, this interactive NOAA mapping tool provides detailed information on a location’s susceptibility to weather and climate hazards that can lead to billion-dollar disasters—such as wildfires, floods, drought and heat waves, tornado outbreaks, and hurricanes. The tool expands upon FEMA’s National Risk Index to provide a view of a location’s risk for, and vulnerability to, single or multiple combinations of weather and climate hazards for every county and county-equivalent in all 50 states, and the District of Columbia. Learn more here.

FEMA released a new FEMA Resources for Climate Resilience guide to assists state, local, tribal, and territorial partners in navigating the FEMA resources that are available to support communities in adapting to the impacts of climate change and build resilience. The document offers a description of available FEMA resources communities can use to plan for, respond to, recover from, and mitigate against the adverse impacts of climate change. Read more here.

The 2022 Hazard Mitigation Partners Workshop is the annual gathering of hazard mitigation experts and partners with the purpose of informing and updating stakeholders about mitigation grants and floodplain management, strengthening those relationships, and providing knowledge transfer between FEMA and our attendees from state, local, tribal, and territorial governments, other federal agencies, and FEMA stakeholders. FIMA’s Hazard Mitigation Assistance Division invites abstract submissions for the 2022 Hazard Mitigation Partners Workshop by January 14, 2022. Learn more and submit here.

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), in coordination with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), announces the 2021 Emergency Coastal Resilience Fund (ECRF) to support projects that increase the resilience of coastal communities impacted by hurricanes and wildfires in 2020 and 2021. The fund supports conservation projects that create and restore natural systems to help protect coastal communities from the impacts of coastal storms, floods, sea-level rise, inundation, coastal erosion, wildfires and associated landslides/debris flows, and enable communities to recover more quickly from these events, all while improving habitats for fish and wildlife species. The ECRF seeks to fund shovel-ready projects to improve wildlife habitat that also improves community resilience and recovery both in and around impacted areas. Proposals are due February 3, 2022. Learn more and apply here.

Any U.S. citizen who will complete a master’s or other advanced degree at an accredited U.S. university between August 1, 2020, and July 31, 2022, is eligible to apply for the Coastal Management and Digital Coast Fellowships. A variety of degrees are applicable to the fellowship because the projects are new and different each year. Previous fellows have had degrees in environmental studies, natural resource management, marine affairs, marine science, geology, public affairs, communications, social sciences, and regional land management. The most important prerequisite is an interest in coastal issues. Application packages must be submitted to the Sea Grant program office in the state where you earned your degree by January 21, 2022. Learn more about the Fellowships and how to apply here.

The Hollings Scholarship Program and the EPP/MSI Undergraduate Scholarship Program are accepting applications until Monday, January 31, 2022. The Hollings Scholarship Program provides successful undergraduate applicants with awards that include academic assistance (up to $9,500 per year) for two years of full-time study and a 10-week, full-time paid ($700/week) internship at a NOAA facility during the summer. The EPP/MSI Undergraduate Scholarship provides funds for two years of undergraduate study to rising junior undergraduate students majoring in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields that directly support NOAA's mission. Participants conduct research at a NOAA facility during two paid summer internships. Since 2001, 219 students have completed the program and over 75% go on to graduate school.