SCDRP Newsletter: May 15, 2025

SCDRP is pleased to announce a new workshop series entitled Pathways to Resilience: Learning from Leaders, Connecting with Peers taking place May-August 2025. This series, which is an extension of the SCDRP Mentorship Program, will provide students, early career professionals, and others who are new to the field of resilience with an opportunity to learn from experts in the field (mentors) in a virtual small group setting. Group size will be limited in order to allow for maximum interaction.

Workshop Schedule: 

Manuel Laboy, NovaForge Consulting Partners LLC

(Former Executive Director of the Central Office for Recovery, Reconstruction and Resiliency in Puerto Rico and as the Governor's Authorized Representative from 2021 to 2024) 

Friday, May 30: 3:00 pm-4:00 pm 

Allyssa Zebrowski, Southeast Regional Preparedness Coordinator, NOAA Disaster Preparedness Program 

Friday, June 6: 12:00 pm-1:00 pm 

Hilary Lohmann, Coastal Resilience Coordinator, U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources, Division of Coastal Zone Management 

Friday, June 20: 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Brian Byfield, Resilience Planner, State of North Carolina  

Friday, July 11: 12:00 pm -1:00 pm

Meagan Jones, Coastal Resilience Specialist, University of Georgia Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant

Thursday, July 31: 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm

The U.S. Chamber Foundation and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have launched a survey to gain insights on America’s disaster preparedness to better understand resilience needs and investment opportunities across the country. The survey takes approximately 15 minutes to complete, and your responses will be used for research purposes only. All feedback will contribute directly to a national report focused on strengthening community resilience and disaster preparedness.

SCDRP is an incubator network housed under the Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing Association (SECOORA). SECOORA is one of eleven Regional Associations in NOAA's Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS). Federal funding cuts recently proposed by the Executive Branch would eliminate next year's budget for IOOS. The work of SCDRP is financially sustained by SECOORA with federal funds through the IOOS Program; eliminating the IOOS program will disable SECOORA's ability to fund SCDRP.

Learn more about the proposed cuts and you can help here.

Do you have an announcement, question, or a request for information, resources, or connections that you’d like to send out to SCDRP’s wide network of disaster resiliency and climate professionals? Email us at scdrp@secoora.org with your request and contact information, and it may be featured in our next newsletter!

Join us! Discover SCDRP Membership options and benefits by clicking below:

New! 2025 Aylesworth Scholarship Award, Florida Sea Grant 

The competition is open to any undergraduate or graduate student who is enrolled full-time at one of Florida’s institutions of higher education, and pursuing any academic discipline having direct application in ocean science, ranging from biology, engineering and economics to food science, journalism and education. Aylesworth scholarships are available to students in all Florida universities that conduct research in the marine sciences. The scholarship is a career award that supports recipients each semester until their education goals are met. The award is approximately $2,500 per semester, though the selection committee may adjust the award depending on the student’s need. 

Application Deadline:  June 9, 2025  

2025 IAEM Scholarship, International Association of Emergency Managers

Undergraduate and graduate scholarships will be awarded, including a special $10,000 scholarship award for doctoral research students named to honor Dr. E.L. Quarantelli, a pioneering scholar in the field of disaster research and emergency management. 

Applications due May 30, 2025

Foreverglades Research Enhancement Grants - Everglades Foundation

These grants provide graduate students up to $30,000 for research-related expenses in areas related to the Everglades ecosystem. Research topics on the Florida Bay ecosystem, climate change, habitat restoration, fisheries or wildlife ecology, and resource management are of special interest to several of our named awards. ForEverglades Research Enhancement Grants will also support research related to the physical, chemical or biological processes of freshwater or estuarine ecosystems of the Everglades, or research in resilience, climate change, economics, policy or social interactions as they relate to the greater Everglades ecosystem. Applicants need to have a Faculty Advisor that oversees the work and the grant budget.

Application Deadline: June 6, 2025 

Resilience Resources

SEAP DATA HUB, Southern Economic Advancement Project 

This resource includes demographic, education, employment, health, and housing data.

If you’re an individual (maybe a researcher, resident or broadly an interested party), you may want to learn more about the socio-economic landscape of your community. Using this data can help you learn about who lives in your community and its overall needs. 

If you represent an organization and its interests (maybe a community organizer,  strategic partner, or elected official), you can use this dashboard to inform policy priorities, supply information for grant applications, or learn more about where to allocate resources.

Workshops, Trainings, and Events

Calls for Information, Comments, Surveys, Applications:

SASMI Project Identification Survey This questionnaire is a tool to identify and gather information about potential Salt Marsh conservation, protection, and restoration projects along the Georgia Coast.

Request for Public Input on Experiences With FEMA Disaster Responses

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Review Council requests information and comments from the public and other interested stakeholders to gain an understanding of their experience with FEMA during disasters. The public information and comments will ensure that the FEMA Review Council's findings and recommendations are informed by a broad spectrum of perspectives, experiences, and ideas.

Submit comments by May 15, 2025.   

The National Hazard Mitigation Association (NHMA) is inviting abstract submissions for their 2025 Practitioners Meeting taking place on July 17, 2025. The organizing committee is calling on practitioners, researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders to submit ideas for sessions that address this year’s theme The Mitigation Revolution: Practical Ways Communities are Reducing Risk. 

The submission deadline is May 16, 2025.

The Aquaculture Information Exchange (AIE) and the National Aquaculture Association (NAA) are teaming up to host a Virtual Job Fair scheduled for Wednesday, July 23 at 12 PM EST, and they are seeking employers to take part. Click here to fill our interest form by June 1st.

Applications now open for the The Continuum Ocean Enterprise Studio and Incubator (Seaworthy Collective) 

This program offers U.S.-based BlueTech startups tailored support to develop ocean data solutions, backed by NOAA scholarships. ​ 

This year, the Studio and Incubator will exclusively support US-based startups developing ocean data technologies and services, in alignment with the priorities of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Ocean Enterprise Initiative. 

This 3-month program activates our community to contribute to and grow scalable companies and impact. We build cohorts of two types of participants: 

• Current founders growing their existing early-stage startups
• Aspiring founders co-creating a new startup with Seaworthy. 

We aim to support 5 to 7 existing early-stage startups and co-create 1 new startup for each cohort.​ NOAA supported scholarships (a $25,000 value) enable NO COST or equity requirements for each participant.

Apply by June 26, 2025

Call for Papers - Co-production and Coastal Resilience Collection in Estuaries and Coasts - NOAA RESTORE Science Program

The NOAA RESTORE Science Program has partnered with researchers from Florida State University and the RESTORE Act Center of Excellence for Louisiana to propose a special collection on co-production and coastal resilience in the journal Estuaries and Coasts. The submission window for the collection is now open through August 31, 2025.

The University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) is seeking applicants and internship partners for the new Professional Science Master (PSM) degree as part of UVI’s Marine and Environmental Science program (MMES).

NOAA’s Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS) is gathering input from users of tidal datums and coastal tools, like flood forecasting models and inundation maps, on the upcoming National Tidal Datum Epoch (NTDE) update. This quick, 3-minute survey will help NOAA understand how these changes may affect coastal practitioners and guide the creation of resources to better support communities facing coastal flooding and other challenges. Your feedback will be valuable in shaping tools to meet the needs of those working along our coasts.

The Southeast Regional Climate Center (SERCC) requests feedback on "Expanded Caribbean Section of Southeast Quarterly Impacts and Outlook Report"

The American Society of Adaptation Professionals invites its members and organizations with experience in environmental justice and community advocacy to sign-up to provide technical assistance for communities impacted the most via the EPA Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers (“TCTAC”) Program.

Thank you to our Supporting Group Members!

SCDRP updates and news on Social Media!