Adapting to Climate Change in the Mid-Atlantic
Hyatt Regency Hotel, Cambridge, Maryland
Click here to view the conference agenda.
Tuesday, March 23
Pleanary Session 1
9:30 am Opening Address -
Kit Batten, Ph.D., Science Advisor to the Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior
Objective: Provide a challenge to the group and briefly describe DOI efforts in organizing to understand and adapt to climate change impacts.
10:00 am Keynote Addresses- Adapting to a Changing World
Marcia McNutt, Director, US Geological Survey
Objective: USGS Director McNutt will review the range of scientific climate change assessment tools, resources and techniques available for state, federal and non-governmental land and ocean resource managers to make adaptation decisions.
Introduction of speaker by Dennis Reidenbach, Regional Director Northeast Region, National Park Service
Jon Jarvis, Director National Park Service
Objective: NPS Director Jarvis will discuss climate adaptation in protected areas from a planning, policy and management perspective. Issues such as cultural resource and recreational impacts, invasive species and species migration will be addressed.
12:45 pm Assessing the Risk: Review of Risk Assessment Techniques for infrastructure, cultural and natural resources in the aquatic environment -
Donald Cahoon, U.S. Geological Survey – Overview of assessment techniques for aquatic systems.
1:15 pm Review of Risk Assessment Techniques for infrastructure, cultural and natural resources in the terrestrial environment – Christopher Pyke, Director of Research, U.S. Green Building Council
Objective: Speakers will present an overview of assessment tools and techniques to determine climate impacts to infrastructure, cultural and natural resources. Time for questions from the audience will be included
Concurrent Sessions on Assessing Climate Change in Terrestrial/Forest and Coastal/Marine Areas
Track 1: Assessing climate impacts to terrestrial/freshwater ecosystems Forests in the Mid-Atlantic
Objective: Overview of the anticipated changes to forests and other biotic communities, and discussions of planned adaptation techniques to achieve specific objectives.
2:15 pm Interactions between Forests, Carbon and Climate Change – Chris Swanston, USDA Forest Service - Northern Research Station
3:30 pm Assessing Effects of Climate Change and Atmospheric Chemistry on Mid-Atlantic Forests - Richard Birdsey, Project Leader, Climate, Fire and Carbon Cycle Sciences, USDA Forest Service - Northern Research Station
4:00 pm Forest Trends in the Mid-Atlantic States and how Climate Change Might Affect Them - Will McWilliams, USDA Forest Service - Northern Research Station
4:30 pm Linking Climate, Ecosystem Services, and Ecosystem Services Markets – Sara Hines, USDA Forest Service Northeastern Area
5:00 pm An Evolutionary Approach to Understanding Native and Non-native Species Responses to Climate Change using Phenological Data - Charles Davis, Assistant Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Curator of Vascular Plants, Harvard University
Track 2: Assessing climate impacts to Coastal and Marine resources in the Mid-Atlantic
Objective: Overview of expected climate change impacts on coastal and marine resources.
2:15 pm Overview of coastal and marine issues in the Mid-Atlantic- Norbert P. Psuty, Director, Sandy Hook Cooperative Research Programs, Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University
2:45 pm Assessing the potential impacts to Gateway National Recreation Area - Barry Sullivan, Superintendent, Gateway National Recreation Area, National Park Service
3:30 pm Scenario Planning and Climate Change Response at Assateague Island National Seashore - Carl Zimmerman, Assateague Island NS, National Park Service
4:00 pm Climate Adaptation in the Delaware Estuary: Risks, Opportunities and Tough Choices -
Danielle Kreeger, Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, part of the EPA Climate Ready Estuaries Initiative
4:30 pm Facilitated discussion, brain storming, Q+A, sharing of other tools and ways to think about and plan adaptation; audience encouraged to participate - Michael P. De Luca, Reserve Manager, Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve, Institute of Marine & Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University