SCDRP Newsletter: September 23, 2025

Join SCDRP on Thursday, September 25, to learn about the 3rd Annual Southeast Environmental Justice Summit from Pamela Fann, Founder & CEO of Integrated Solutions, and Alicia Scott, CEO of Coalitico LLC. Their presentation will discuss outcomes of the Southeast Environmental Justice Summit, including creating a 10-year strategic plan for environmental justice.

Join us at: https://www.gotomeet.me/secoora/scdrp-monthly-meeting

Please join by opening the link above in Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge

or by downloading the app.

You can also dial in using your phone: United States: +1 (571) 317-3112

Access Code: 606-545-293

Save the Date to see SCDRP at Florida Climate Week!

Register Here

Don't miss SCDRP's Virtual Panel Discussion at Florida Climate Week! "When the Storm Hits Home: Local Leadership in a Changing Climate" will spotlight local leaders tackling resilience challenges in Florida.

Here are just a few of the topics we'll be covering:

• The complimentary roles of resilience and emergency management in keeping communities safe from extreme weather
• The Resilient 305 Collaborative
• Northeast Florida's Regional Resilience Action Plan
• The use of reef arches for Water Reclamation Facility Shoreline Enhancement in Cape Canaveral
• Incorporating Department of Health data into Regional Scale Risk Assessments
• Monitoring resilience impacts over time

And many more!

Version 2 of NOAA's Sargassum Inundation Event (SIE) Disaster Guide

NOAA's Southeast and Caribbean Regional Collaboration Team (also known as SECART) is pleased to announce the release of Version 2 of NOAA's Sargassum Inundation Event (SIE) Disaster Guide, now available in both English and Spanish. This updated guide is designed to assist partners in preparing for and responding to SIEs. Version 2 includes updated contact information for key NOAA personnel who can provide support during an SIE. By centralizing contacts and resources, the guide helps ensure a faster and more coordinated response to inundation events. You can access the updated guide here on our website here under "Sargassum Inundation Event Disaster Guide", along with the rest of SECART's Sargassum resources. More general information about Sargassum can be found on NOAA's Sea to Shore Sargassum webpage.

NOAA Fisheries Seeks Recommendations for Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness

NOAA Fisheries is seeking recommendations to enhance the competitiveness of American seafood and invites your input on improving fisheries management and science, specifically on the following issues:

• Regulations that govern fishing activities that may be suspended, revised, or rescinded
• Challenges specific fisheries are facing, suggestions for innovative improvements, and examples of existing federal fishery regulations that could be modified to enhance U.S. fishing businesses
• Ways to improve fisheries management and science, including:
• How can less expensive and more reliable technologies and cooperative research be used to support fisheries assessments?
• How can NOAA Fisheries modernize data collection and analytical practices to improve the responsiveness of fisheries management to real-time ocean conditions?
• What types of data, forecasting tools, or information products are most needed by U.S. fishing businesses to adapt their operations effectively to changing economic and/or environmental conditions and maintain access to fishery resources, and how can NOAA Fisheries best support the development and dissemination of such resources?
• How to expand exempted fishing permit programs to promote fishing opportunities nationwide?

Input can be submitted via email to nmfs.seafoodstrategy@noaa.gov.

Comments are due by October 14, 2025.

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

Just Added: Mountains to Sea Graduate Research Fellowship

North Carolina Sea Grant, in collaboration with the North Carolina Water Resources Research Institute, is accepting applications for proposals focused on North Carolina coastal and freshwater resources. Graduate students in good academic standing who attend an accredited North Carolina college or university are eligible to apply. Applicants should propose one-year research projects that they will conduct under the guidance of a faculty advisor. The award amount for selected projects is $10,000. Proposals should align with the strategic plans of NC Sea Grant and/or NC WRRI, and are encouraged to address one or more of the following focus areas: 

• Algal bloom processes and impacts
• Aquatic invasive species 
• Community resilience planning 
• Economics, planning, and/or policy related to water resources management 
• Emerging regulated and unregulated contaminants of concern 
• Erosion and sediment control 
• Green stormwater infrastructure & nature-based solutions 
• Innovative uses of machine learning 
• Microplastic pollution 
• Surface and groundwater quality and/or quantity 
• Trash, litter, and marine debris 
• Urban flooding 
• Water treatment, including aquaculture effluent 

Deadline: November 17, 2025 

Vista Award - VoLo Foundation

Applications due: October 31, 2025

Resilience Resources

The Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center has uploaded all of the National Climate Assessment reports to its website. Find all downloadable PDFs online now.

Workshops, Trainings, and Events

Calls for Information, Comments, Surveys, Applications:

Building Integrated Communities (BIC) invites applications from NC local governments for the six-month program, Language Access Planning for Emergencies and Disasters.

The course is designed to build capacity in NC local governments to communicate with residents in community languages, particularly in preparation and response to local emergencies and disasters. Participating local governments will create a language access plan. The program will start in January 2026 and consist of a combination of virtual workshop exchanges, one in-person gatherings, and technical assistance. Meetings will take place on Thursdays between 9:30-10:45am. As part of the course, participants will:

Learn about promising practices from immigrant and language access leaders and practitioners,

Conduct internal assessments and collect community data with support from bilingual UNC students,

Design a language access plan for local government, and

Initiate implementation of recommendations from that plan.

The program has no cost to local governments.

Deadline to apply: October 15th, 2025

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.

National Adaptation Forum Call for Proposals: Submit a proposal to share your work at the National Adaptation Forum, held May 12-14, 2026, in Pittsburgh, PA. 

Deadline to Submit: October 1, 2025

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

Thank you to our Supporting Group Members!

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