{"id":10455,"date":"2018-09-01T16:23:00","date_gmt":"2018-09-01T20:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/coastwatch\/?page_id=10455"},"modified":"2024-08-15T15:00:12","modified_gmt":"2024-08-15T19:00:12","slug":"adapting-to-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/coastwatch\/adapting-to-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Coastal Connections: Adapting to Climate Change"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n
The American Society of Adaptation Professionals<\/a> has recognized John Fear, deputy director of North Carolina Sea Grant and the state\u2019s Water Resources Research Institute, and Holly White, principal planner for the Town of Nags Head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both received honors at the Carolinas Regional Adaptation Leadership Awards ceremony at the Carolinas Climate Resilience Conference in October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The awards celebrate the exceptional work of people who have spearheaded climate change adaptation, and nominees included distinguished leaders from all sectors. White won the top regional honor. Fear received an honorable mention for building capacity and fostering connectivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWith John\u2019s thoughtful input, climate change topics \u2014 and related adaptation responses at a variety of levels – are integrated not only into strategic plans but truly into daily operations,\u201d says Susan White, executive director for the state\u2019s Sea Grant and WRRI programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fear\u2019s foresight matches an ability to set up projects for real-world success, she adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJohn leads by initiating significant funding, engagement and educational opportunities that enable others to work on the ground, implementing adaptation options,\u201d she says. \u201cWithout these opportunities that John strategically develops, in funding and in partnerships, the breadth of adaptation impacts in North Carolina would be much more limited.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The society honored Holly White, a longtime partner of North Carolina Sea Grant, in large part for driving the Town of Nags Head\u2019s planning for sea level rise<\/a> and helping to nest that process within a broader planning effort for the town. For the past four years she has served as the town\u2019s principal planner, following positions with Currituck County and the Town of Kitty Hawk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWord about Nags Head is getting out,\u201d says Jessica Whitehead, coastal communities hazards adaptation specialist with North Carolina Sea Grant. \u201cWithin the last month, North Carolina Sea Grant has received four requests from communities throughout the state for similar assistance, and all have cited Nags Head as the driving example leading them to ask us for help. None of this would be possible without Holly White’s commitment to co-producing this work- to understand the science and to find solutions that work on the ground in a way only a true practitioner can.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n