Jennifer McCann, CRC’s U.S. program director, will take part in Open Channels’ live chat about ocean planning today at 1 p.m.
The chat focuses on a new series of video interviews, “Insights from Leaders: Practical Solutions on Ocean Planning,” captured at URI/GSO last October at the 2015 International Marine Spatial Planning Symposium: Sharing Practical Solutions/14th Annual Rhode Island Sea Grant.
Greenfire Productions produced the film project. Click here to join the chat.
Join us Tuesday, March 29 from 5-8 p.m. at URI’s Narragansett Bay Campus for a special special stakeholder meeting to celebrate the past five years of the Rhode Island Ocean Special Area Management Plan (Ocean SAMP). This is an opportunity to get up to speed on the latest Ocean SAMP news, including information about the Block Island wind farm pilot project (Aileen Kenney/Deepwater Wind), research about birds, lobsters and underwater archaeology (Drs. Peter Paton, Jeremy Collie, John King/URI) and the effort to ensure that the Ocean SAMP contributes to the regional effort to protect and enhance ocean resources (Grover Fugate/CRMC and John Weber/Northeast Regional Ocean Council).
The Ocean SAMP is the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council’s (CRMC) chief regulatory document for managing the uses and resources of Rhode Island’s offshore waters. CRC and Rhode Island Sea Grant are facilitating this meeting and many aspects of the public process.
This event will be held at GSO’s Coastal Institute (Hazard Rooms. A & B), Narragansett Bay Campus, Narragansett, RI. Pizza and cake will be served — RSVP now to oceansamp@etal.uri.edu or call (401) 874-6107 for information.
Click here to learn more about the Ocean SAMP.
African news outlets, including Ghana’s Graphic Online and All Africa.com have been reporting on the multi-day African Journalists for Sustainable Fisheries workshop in Accra, Ghana, and quoted CRC’s Dr. Brian Crawford, chief of party for the USAID/Ghana Sustainable Fisheries Management Project (SFMP), regarding policies that have led to overfishing, the need for measures to reverse over-exploitation and the need to share stories of success in sustainably managing fisheries in Africa.
CRC and partners led climate change workshops in Tanzania and West Africa in 2013 that took a fresh, national–or regional–approach to addressing climate change at the development planning stage. This work and the lessons learned from it are included in the article “A Perspective on Climate-Resilient Development and National Adaptation Planning Based on USAID’s Experience” recently published in the peer-reviewed journal “Climate and Development.”
Charitable foundations and rich folks have sustainable fisheries on their radar. Check out this piece from “Inside Philanthopy,” which mentions CRC-URI’s work under the Rockefeller Foundation, namely: “…Rockefeller has also supported academic research through a $559,000 grant to University of Rhode Island to better understand the root causes of fishery overexploitation.”
Come view the short film “RI’s Salt Pond Ecosystems and Shellfish: A Portrait of Point Judith Pond” Wednesday, March, 9, presented by noted local author and Camp Fuller educator Prentice Stout. He is the author of “A Place of Quiet waters: The History and Natural History of Point Judith and the Harbor of Refuge.”
The film was produced for the Audubon Society of Rhode Island, and the evening’s program will allow the audience to learn about and discuss what activities happen on Point Judith Pond, what the future may hold — including how shellfish farming fits into this environment — and why Point Judith Pond, and all of Rhode Island’s salt ponds, are so important to so many. Refreshments will be served.
RSVP to Azure Cygler, CRC and Rhode Island Sea Grant extension specialist, at azure@crc.uri.edu.
This talk is the second in a series of educational presentations about Rhode Island’s salt ponds and their uses, especially shellfish farming. Join us and hear from experts, tour a working shellfish farm, visit a shellfish nursery, and talk to community members, policy-makers, and researchers. This series is sponsored by Rhode Island Sea Grant and CRC in collaboration with Roger Williams University and the R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council, supported by a grant from the NOAA National Sea Grant College Program.
To see other upcoming events, go to www.rismp.org.
Many factors contribute to building true coastal resilience. The GIS-based Coastal Environmental Risk Index (CERI) tools developed with support from CRC are an important element. Check out this article in The Block Island Times featuring CRC-ers to learn more.
Thanks to the work of CRC and its colleagues at R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council, R.I. State Building Commission and R.I. Sea Grant, the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety is bringing its national Fortified Home program to Rhode Island. The building and remodel certification program requires upgraded standards to make structures more resilient to natural hazards, such as storm damage.
CRC’s Pam Rubinoff has been on the frontlines of this work, not only as a coastal management professional but as a homeowner, and she is sharing her story to help get the word out about the Fortified Home program.
The topic of designing and building coastal homes that can withstand impacts from climate change, increased storminess and sea level rise is a timely one in Rhode Island. Learn more about a Charlestown, R.I., architectural firm’s approach to the issue.
Jennifer Critcher, an executive leader who specializes in both nonprofit and higher education administration, has been named assistant director at CRC. Critcher comes to CRC from URI’s Institute for Immunology and Informatics, where she managed a $6.5 million budget and oversaw human resources functions and business strategy.
Prior to joining URI, Critcher was CFO of The Retreat, a $4.5-million nonprofit comprehensive domestic violence services organization located in Long Island, New York. She co-lead this agency in a manner that prioritized financial stewardship while emphasizing operational, programmatic and strategic planning for the organization.
She committed her tenure at The Retreat to engaging the community and its leaders while thinking creatively and coordinating the support of a diverse team, field staff and consultants. This effort generated significant, multi-year grants from federal agencies for innovative programming. These programs included permanent housing, transitional housing and engaging men in the effort to end domestic violence.
Critcher serves as a board and finance committee member for the Audubon Society of Rhode Island and volunteers and is a board member for Clinica Esperanza, a free medical clinic in Providence. She and her family are relocating to Richmond, R.I., where she plans to be active locally.
Read more about CRC’s efforts to help local communities such as Warwick, RI., make science-informed choices about how best to use green infrastructure — vegetation and other natural elements — to stem flooding and erosion. URI landscape architecture students also gained experience in green infrastructure work through through this project. Read more about the Oakland Beach seawall work.
