As in previous years, FCI and the University of Florida coordinated a Spring Break Field course designed to bring students together from a range of disciplinary backgrounds to put the skills they are learning in their own disciplinary fields together to solve problems in a real-life situation in Florida. The course, in partnership with the Florida Resilient Cities project, connected a range of disciplines through collaborative research and field-based exploration in the City of Port St. Joe where the ravages of Hurricane Michael are still being felt. Lectures, readings, and research prepared students for a one-week intensive spring break workshop in the City of Port St. Joe. 

	Port St.Joe Field Course video

In the first part of the semester, students were introduced via lecture to fundamentals of the planning & design, law & policy, engineering, and communications challenges facing coastal cities in relation to sea-level rise, storm risk, and other factors that affect their long-term resilience. The Panhandle city of Port St. Joe is this semester's case study community and host students for a spring break field study. The course focused on elements of long-term recovery and community resilience following a catastrophic hurricane. Working in interdisciplinary teams, students undertook a scenario analysis exercise in which they use knowledge gained from the readings and lectures to envision how Port St. Joe not only recovers from Hurricane Michael but builds back better and more equitably and resiliently than before. From this scenario analysis exercise, students  developed alternative policy, design, infrastructure, and communication paths that this coastal city might pursue to address several discrete challenges and will assess the efficacy of these various paths. During spring break, students spent five intensive days in Port St. Joe visiting relevant sites and hearing from experts in a variety of fields to inform their understanding and their scenario analysis and associated work product. The multi-disciplinary field-course introduced students to the challenges that communities face following disasters to recovery effectively and achieve long-term resilience.

Students in the University of Florida's environmental journalism class spent their spring semester on an in-depth report on climate change and public health in Florida -- The Human Hazard -- now published in full on WUFT.ORG, the UF College of Journalism and Communications' public media platform. The four-part series, which included stories on the expansion of vector-carrying mosquitoes, rising heat-related hospitalizations, and other public-health trends, found that vulnerable populations are particularly susceptible to these risks, now amplified by coronavirus as basic programs have been suspended to contend with the emergency. FCI affiliate faculty member Cynthia Barnett taught the class, beginning the semester with lectures and database workshops by Florida Climatologist David Zierden and other experts. The College of Journalism is also a member of the Florida Climate Reporting Consortium, which picked up some of the stories in major media outlets in Tampa and Miami.

The Army Corps of Engineers' Draft Feasibility Report with Integrated Environmental Impact Statement for the Miami-Dade Back Bay Coastal Storm Risk Feasibility Study was released June 5. Residents have until July 20 to comment and provide feedback to the Army Corps on the plan.

The United States Army Corps of Engineers' Miami-Dade Back Bay Coastal Storm Risk Management Study is a 3-year study that is at an important milestone; the Draft Feasibility Report. The study is investigating solutions that will reduce the damage and risks from flooding that comes from storm surges associated with hurricanes and tropical storms amplified by sea level rise. The study focuses on critical infrastructure and areas of the county that are vulnerable to coastal storms. The proposed structural measures in the plan are localized and include large storm surge walls or gates that cross roads and water bodies like the Miami River, Little River and Biscayne Canal. Other proposed measures are called non-structural measures and are in seven focus areas spread throughout the county. The nonstructural measures include flood-proofing buildings, and raising buildings. The Army Corps also proposes to protect critical infrastructure like hospitals, fire stations and police stations all throughout the county with flood-proofing measures.

The ultimate goal of this process and later phases is to determine if the Army Corps will recommend the proposed projects for funding to Congress. If Congress chooses to appropriate money, then the federal government would fund 65% of the project costs. At that phase, the local sponsor (Miami-Dade County and partners) would need to commit to providing the remaining 35% of project costs. Once funding is in place, the project would enter a more detailed design phase to refine the design specifications for different parts of the project. Visit the Army Corps' Miami-Dade Back Bay website to read the Draft Plan and integrated EIS, get answers to frequently asked questions, watch a short video describing the plan, and get more information here.

EcoAdapt is assessing the state of climate adaptation planning and implementation for climate-related threats to marine and coastal systems and communities in the United States and its territories and commonwealths. This initiative is an update and expansion of their 2009-2011 survey of marine and coastal adaptation in North America. This survey was created to better understand the needs of marine and coastal professionals working in the United States to help prepare for the effects of climate change. The survey is intended to assess marine and coastal professionals' concerns about climate change impacts; identify activities -- planned and underway -- to prepare for, respond to, and recover from these impacts; and compile needs, opportunities, and barriers in planning for climate change. To participate, go to https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FQRM3TK

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Climate Scientist, Climate Central

Climate Change Action Program Manager | San Francisco, CA

Climate Resilience Program Manager, City of Boston | Boston, MA

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