WASHINGTON — The Gulf Research Program (GRP) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine today announced awards totaling $997,523 to support 10 projects that will engage communities in co-developing full proposals to advance nature-based solutions to mitigate climate-related hazards.

Communities across the U.S. Gulf Coast and Alaska are facing numerous complex and interrelated challenges associated with climate change. Impacts from climate-related events such as sea level rise, flooding, severe storms, wildfires, and erosion have already affected many of these communities.

Nature-based solutions are practices that use or imitate natural processes to reach a desired outcome, for example, by using wetlands, living shorelines, and municipal green infrastructure to support natural hazard resilience and climate change adaptation. Although resources exist to assist communities in becoming more resilient to climate impacts, these resources often favor traditional mitigation measures such as dams, levees, and floodwalls.

“Responding to climate change requires both mitigation and adaptation actions across various levels of governance. Nature-based solutions are a promising approach for action at the community level,” said Charlene Milliken, senior program manager for the GRP’s Enhancing Community Resilience (EnCoRe) program. “This funding opportunity supports partnerships between subject matter experts and local or tribal governments in collaboration with communities that are disproportionately impacted by the effects of climate change to design nature-based approaches to mitigating climate-related hazards.”

The projects selected for the planning phase of this grant opportunity are (listed in alphabetical order):

Cedar Key ShOREs (Shoreline Options for Resilience and Equity)
Project Director: Savanna Barry, University of Florida
Project Location: Cedar Key, Florida
Award Amount: $99,954

Co-developing Nature-Based Solutions for Climate Adaptation in Rural Coastal Communities: Case of Refugio County, Texas
Project Director: Arsum Pathak, National Wildlife Federation
Project Location: Refugio County, Texas
Award Amount: $100,000

Co-development of Nature-Based Solutions for Resilience Planning on a Gulf Coast Barrier Island
Project Director: Ryan Bare, Houston Advanced Research Center
Project Location: City of Galveston, Texas
Award Amount: $98,293

Community Ownership Model for the Design of Nature-Based Solutions Along the North Claiborne Corridor
Project Director: Angela Chalk, Healthy Community Services
Project Location: North Claiborne Corridor, New Orleans, Louisiana
Award Amount: $100,000

Engaging a Coastal Community to Collaboratively Design Nature-Based Solutions for Climate Resilience in Coastal Alabama
Project Director: Judy Haner, The Nature Conservancy
Project Location: Mobile County, Bayou la Batre, Mississippi Sound, Alabama
Award Amount: $99,751

Exploring Innovative Nature-Based Approaches to Regional Stormwater Management in Ocean Springs, Mississippi
Project Director: Renee Collini, Mississippi State University/Sea Grant
Project Location: Ocean Springs, Mississippi, and unincorporated Jackson County, Mississippi
Award Amount: $99,790

Mitigating Flood Risks on the Mississippi Gulf Coast Using Equity-Based and Stakeholder-Informed Multiscale Nature-Based Solutions
Project Director: Wei Wu, University of Southern Mississippi
Project Location: City of Moss Point, Mississippi
Award Amount: $100,000

Nature-Based Solutions to Mitigate Climate Change Impacts in Port St. Joe, Florida
Project Director: Michael Volk, University of Florida
Project Location: Port St. Joe, Florida
Award Amount: $100,000

Planning for a Nature-Based Solutions Approach to the Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe’s Climate Change Adaptation Efforts
Project Director: Matthew Bethel, Louisiana Sea Grant
Project Location: Pointe-au-Chien, Lower Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes, Louisiana
Award Amount: $99,999

Planning for Community-Engaged Design of Climate-Resilient Nature-Based Solutions Along Vulnerable Hillsborough River, Tampa, Florida
Project Director: Ping Wang, University of South Florida
Project Location: City of Tampa, Florida
Award Amount: $99,736

The National Academies’ Gulf Research Program is an independent, science-based program founded in 2013 as part of legal settlements with the companies involved in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. It seeks to enhance offshore energy system safety and protect human health and the environment by catalyzing advances in science, practice, and capacity to generate long-term benefits for the Gulf of Mexico region and the nation. The program has $500 million for use over 30 years to fund grants, fellowships, and other activities in the areas of research and development, education and training, and monitoring and synthesis.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine are private, nonprofit institutions that provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions related to science, technology, and medicine. They operate under an 1863 congressional charter to the National Academy of Sciences, signed by President Lincoln.

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