Getting ready for Class 24

It's that time of year again! The NRLI project team, along with several alumni, spent many hours putting together the schedule for Class 24 and we are excited to finally share it with you! Applications are open and we will start actively recruiting in January. Our alumni make the best spokespeople for NRLI so start thinking about who you think would be a good fit. Applications are due on April 15, 2024.

Tidal Challenges: An In-Depth Look at Sea Level Rise

By Robby Creech and Stephanie Verhulst, NRLI Class 23 Fellows

The NRLI 23 class reconvened for Session 4 in the historic city of St. Augustine. We were greeted with typical NRLI rainy and windy weather which queued up the session perfectly to talk about natural resources and human dimensions facing sea-level rise. Being the week before Thanksgiving, we were in a thankful mood that pouring rain held off during our walking tour of the historical district.

The walking tour was led by Jessica Beach, St. Augustine’s Chief Resilience Officer, to show us climate adaptation measures the city and some local residents are taking to reduce flooding impacts. The nation’s oldest city has been challenged with flooding for hundreds of years. Historic pictures from the 1800s shared with us showed residences using small boats to navigate flooded streets. Today, the city is upgrading infrastructure including stormwater sewer capacity and waterproofing electrical boxes powering wastewater pump stations. Private homeowners are elevating their houses, some at their own expense and some after receiving grant funding. Adaptation measures taken thus far have not lessoned the occurrence of flooding but has made recovery faster and with less damage. We saw firsthand how the sea is never far from mind in historic St. Augustine. Pulsing puddles in the grassy median by Castillo de San Marcos in tune with the lapping waves against the seawall and water flowing towards City Hall in the street brought to life challenges coastal towns are facing from our changing climate.

Welcome to the "Groan Zone!" During Session 4, we tackled the art of facilitation and the role of the facilitator. Given it's derived from the Latin word "facilis," meaning easy, when navigating contentious issues, we learned it can be anything but. In an exercise geared toward the importance of dialogue in group decisions, after catching fire, the boat we were all vacationing on sank along with all our gear while we intently debated whether or not we needed to grab our sunglasses! After the sunken boat fiasco, we learned that participation is critical when navigating complex issues and how vital dialogue can be when reaching group decisions. Our dilemma in the Atlantic Ocean taught us that every boat needs a Captain, just like every complex discussion needs a facilitator; when things get dicey, someone must step up and help folks achieve what they cannot or will not do on their own.

The pinnacle NRLI activity is completing a practicum to practice and apply the skills we have learned over the course of the year. Session 4 dedicated substantial blocks of time towards discussing practicum topics, ideas, and alumni experiences. We discussed practicum ideas amongst ourselves and began initial practicum group development. Entering the session, questions still remained on what a practicum looks like and the process to ensure successful completion. The leadership team, knowing the concern of the unknowns we feel about the practicum, three NRLI 22 and one NRLI 9 alumni joined us to share their experiences and provide advice and guidance. Even after a day filled with touring the city and talking with St. Augustine leaders and sea-level rise experts, we were energized to meet alumni and talk with them about their practicum experience. The alumni talked to the whole group to explain their practicum topics and then the Fellows had small group discussions with 2-3 of the alumni. Hearing directly from alumni who worked through the process from practicum idea development to completion was invaluable setting many of us at ease that practicums should not induce stress or involve substantial added workweek challenges. Three main takeaways (or enlightenments) bestowed on us were:

·        Don’t overthink it.

·        Keep it simple.

·        Work with opportunities already available.

Rachel Rhode

Manager of Climate Resilient Coasts & Watersheds Strategic Initiatives, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)

As a manager for EDF’s climate resilient coasts and watersheds strategic initiative, Rachel works to build resilience for coastal communities facing unprecedented threats from climate change. She seeks opportunities for innovation and collaboration that engage communities from the ground up and governments from the top down by using science-based solutions. Committed to developing and implementing locally-supported solutions, Rachel aims to help vulnerable communities in Louisiana and Florida bounce forward — rather than back — from disasters and other climate change impacts.

Previously, Rachel was a program assistant and analyst for EDF's Coastal Resilience team supporting the EDF team involved in the Restore the Mississippi River Delta coalition. She also led the coordination of the coalition's Projects and Science Committees dealing with grant reporting and tracking as well as project management. Rachel received both her BA and Master’s Degree in Marine Science in Florida and did her thesis work on river diversions and wetland loss in the Mississippi River Delta and their associated effects on oysters.

When not working, she loves spending time with her Duck Tolling Retriever, Rusty, and exploring new areas in the Tampa Bay area. 

Jeffrey Smith

Environmental Specialist, Florida Power and Light

Jeff Smith is an Environmental Specialist with FPL where he manages the planning and implementation of the Solar stewardship program. FPL’s solar stewardship program is a voluntary partnership with Audubon Florida to preserve, enhance, and restore native habitats and ground cover on our solar sites. In this role, Jeff develops site-specific stewardship plans to increase biodiversity and maximize habitat opportunities for a wide variety of pollinators and wildlife.

Before joining FPL, Jeff was an environmental consultant, where he specialized in pollutant loading characterization of tributaries to the Indian River Lagoon and St Johns River, ecological and water quality restoration, environmental resource permitting, wetland jurisdictional determinations, habitat functional assessments, and wildlife studies. Jeff received his Master of Science from the UF Soil and Water Sciences Department Wetland Biogeochemistry Laboratory. 

Tarana Solaiman

Lead Project Manager, Ecosystem Restoration Planning, South Florida Water Management District

Tarana is a Lead Project Manager in the Everglades and Local Project Coordination Section of the Ecosystem Restoration Planning Division in South Florida Water Management District. She has been with SFWMD for over 5 years. She is a licensed professional engineer with over 12 years of experience in both private and public sectors in Canada and Florida. Over these years she worked in various water resources engineering projects, enhancement of stormwater treatment areas, flood vulnerability - prioritization and mitigation studies, sub-watershed studies, stormwater management master plan, design of water infrastructures, and climate vulnerability projects.

Tarana earned PhD in Water Resources Engineering from Western University, Canada (2011) where her research aimed at reducing uncertainties in the estimation of extreme precipitation events under climate change.

At her current role in SFWMD, she provides project management support to water quality improvement, flood control, water supply and resiliency projects. She is currently working on multiple Restoration Strategies regional projects, local projects for reducing nutrient loads at source and C-51 Reservoir Phase 1 Project for delivery of offset water to 8 (eight) participating Lower East Coast (LEC) Utilities in the South Florida. In addition, she assists the District Resiliency Division where she is currently managing project to develop future climate drought indexes for Water Quality Vulnerability Assessment Planning.

Tarana lives in West Palm Beach with her husband and daughter. Outside of work, she enjoys cooking, hiking, travelling, and spending time with her friends and family. Her favorite pass time is to spend time with her daughter - reading books and walking along the beaches collecting shells together. 

Andrea Albertin Regional Specialized Agent in Water Resources, UF/IFAS Extension

Stephanie Armstrong Environmental Scientist IV, Suwannee River Water Mgmt District 

Steven Beck Biologist IV, Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission 

Ben Butler Partner & Vice President, Butler Oaks Farm, Inc.

Allegra Buyer Natural Resources Program Coordinator, Seminole County Lands Program 

Robby Creech Captain, Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission

Michele Curts Leadership Programs Coordinator, Florida Farm Bureau Federation

Chris Denmark Environmental Administrator, Florida Dept of Ag & Consumer Services 

Rianna Elliott Director of Land Stewardship, North Florida Land Trust, Inc. 

Samuel Erikson Natural Resources Specialist, Highlands County 

Jessica Ferris Government Consultant; Carr, Riggs, and Ingram, LLC

Gregory Garis Program Administrator, Florida Department of Environmental Protection

Erica Hall Volunteer Executive Committee Vice Chair, Sierra Club Chapter

Daniel Lamson Executive Director, Indian River Neighborhood Association 

Lindsey Pavao Senior Environmental Specialist, Alachua County Env Protection Dept

Callie Register Senior Hydrologist, St Johns River Water Management District

Laura Reynolds Assistant Professor, University of Florida

Rachel Rhode Manager, Climate Resilient Coasts & Watersheds, Environmental Defense Fund 

Jeffrey Smith Senior Environmental Specialist, Florida Power & Light Company

Tarana Solaiman Lead Project Manager, South Florida Water Management District

Stephanie Verhulst Biologist, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers