Accelerated sea-level rise and increased coastal flooding caused by storms is threatening groundwater sustainability, agricultural land use, and infrastructure. Rural coastal communities are particularly vulnerable to these threats and face unique challenges that are exacerbated by lack of access to scientific information, geographical and social isolation, and ineffective government and institutional capacity. This project integrates environmental and socio-economic data with hydrological and coastal flooding models to quantify climate risks. It engages traditionally underserved and vulnerable communities by working with community members to define needs, contribute lived experience, and co-produce an interactive, open-source platform called the Climate Equity Atlas that will provide data visualization tools to empower stakeholders to make effective, equitable climate adaptation decisions. By creating an integrated and sustainable network of researchers, policy makers, community members and educators, and a toolkit for decision makers, this Climate Equity Project equips rural communities to build capacity and reduce inequities of climate risk and promote long-term climate adaptation strategies – rather than short-term responses – that support local economies and livelihoods.

Karen McGlathery is the Sherrell J. Aston Professor of Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia (UVA), Director of UVA’s Environmental Institute, and Lead of both the NSF-funded Virginia Coast Reserve Long Term Ecological Research project and the Eastern Shore of Virginia Climate Equity project. Her research focuses on climate change impacts on coastal ecosystems and communities, and nature-based solutions for climate resilience. She collaborates with NGOs, universities, and regional stakeholders to co-produce coastal adaptation and resilience strategies. McGlathery’s group is an international leader on coastal ‘blue carbon’ sequestration. She serves on the Virginia Governor’s Technical Advisory Committee for Coastal Resilience.

CCPO Innovation Research Park Building I 4111 Monarch Way, 3rd Floor Old Dominion University Norfolk, VA 23508 757-683-4940