Source: RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY submitted to NRP
CHANGES IN LAND AND WATER POLICIES INSIDE AND OUTSIDE GOVERNMENT
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
HATCH
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0232370
Grant No.
(N/A)
Cumulative Award Amt.
(N/A)
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Jan 1, 2013
Project End Date
Dec 31, 2017
Grant Year
(N/A)
Program Code
[(N/A)]- (N/A)
Recipient Organization
RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY
3 RUTGERS PLZA
NEW BRUNSWICK,NJ 08901-8559
Performing Department
Human Ecology
Non Technical Summary
Responsibilities for natural resources and the environment shift back and forth between the government and private parties. For instance, an agency may out-source a task to a private firm or it may regulate a business activity that had been unregulated. In this research project, I will study how decisions like these are producing an increasingly complex array of resource policies that challenge the daily work of all involved. This array includes not only policies created and administered by government agencies but also policies that nongovernmental organizations, business firms, and land-owners have adopted to guide their own actions. What is new is the number and scope of formal policies in organizations outside government and the interplay of policies made inside and outside of government. Policy innovation is often assumed helpful for creating human systems that are resilient in the face of climate change. Because agencies and other organizations would benefit from learning how innovation affects their organizations functions, project findings will be shared with organizations that are studied. The project will characterize the policies of governmental, business, and nongovernmental organizations, identify legal or other principles guiding these policies (such as redress for damages), trace how these organizations have changed their structures or purposes as they have developed these new policies, and investigate why groups outside government have increasingly become involved in setting their own policies for land and water.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
61003993080100%
Knowledge Area
610 - Domestic Policy Analysis;

Subject Of Investigation
0399 - Watersheds and river basins, general;

Field Of Science
3080 - Sociology;
Goals / Objectives
The project will 1) characterize the range and types of land and water policies developed by government agencies and organizations outside government, 2) identify the principles, such as the precautionary principle or redress for damages, that are most often used to justify environmental management and restoration policies, 3) examine how the structures and functions of these agencies and other organizations have changed as they have created new policies, and 4) investigate how and why nongovernmental organizations and firms came to develop their own policies and how government policies changed in response. Output will include scholarly articles and a co-edited book about how governments and nongovernmental organizations are responding to hurricane Sandy and whether they link it to climate change. Events include a session for sharing research findings with municipalities and nongovernmental organizations in the Rahway River basin concerning biological conditions along the river and local policies. A rapid response study about Sandy funded by the NSF (PI James Mitchell, Rutgers Geography) will share findings informally with municipal officials.
Project Methods
Methods used in this project include case studies, comparative and historical analysis of trends in policy tools, and analysis of the enforcement powers and objectives of policies. Data collection methods include interviews, surveys, legal research, and the collection of documents from government and other organizations. Data analysis methods include mathematical analysis of interorganizational networks, legal analysis, content analysis of official municipal documents, and historical and comparative analysis.

Progress 01/01/13 to 12/31/17

Outputs
Target Audience:The audience for work on land use planning focusing on coastal resilience includes policy makers and nongovernmental organizations in coastal areas, sociologists in the fields of disaster and environmental studies, and other researchers of resilience. The audience for work on land use planning focusing on urban biodiversity includes ecologists, sociologists in the fields of environmental studies and globalization, and urban planners. This analysis of coastal resilience strategies addresses audiences such as policy makers and nongovernmental organizations in coastal areas, sociologists in the fields of disaster and environmental studies, and other researchers of resilience. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Angela Oberg, Decentralized Systems and the Urban Metabolism of Sewage in India, granted May 2018. Susan Feinstein Dissertation Award winner. Research assistance by a graduate student provided additional training in research methods, for the Changing Course project and for preparation of the final manuscript of the book. The SESYNC project included a graduate student in ecology and involved training of team members across disciplines in analytic techniques. Consultation on student water well development projects in Africa, Engineers Without Borders, Fall 2017. Karen O'Neill, lecture to Environmental Economics course for Dimitrios Ntarlagiannis, Rutgers-Newark, November 8, 2017. Karen O'Neill, lecture to Transdisciplinary Resilience course (linked to NSF coastal training grant), for Robert Kopp and Carrie Ferraro, Rutgers University, November 21, 2017. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?"Resilience and the Beach" presentation of Sasaki/Rutgers/Arup plan, Office of Coastal and Land Use Planning, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, June 8, 2017, New Brunswick, NJ Data and research: http://www.rebuildbydesign.org/research/ The Rebuild by Design project involved a series of public outreach events in three communities where we are proposing to design new land uses that will be more resilient to coastal storms. The three communities are Union Beach/Keansburg, Asbury Park, and Toms River. An additional presentation was made to the Jersey Shore Partnership. To mark the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, a public symposium about the book Taking Chances and about future policy options was held at Rutgers, New Brunswick, with about 120 registered attendees. Karen O'Neill gave the introductory address about findings from the book. Panelists included chapter authors as well as a former governor of New Jersey and two former leaders of the state's environmental agency. Panelists were asked to discuss whether agencies and organizations in the northeast and the Caribbean were taking lessons from Hurricane Sandy in preparing for climate change and future storms. The symposium included participation by attendees. Karen O'Neill talked to Christopher Flavelle of Bloomberg news to inform several editorials about coastal climate change, public housing vulnerabilities to flooding, and federal flood insurance. Media: Interviews with Jeff Goodell (Rolling Stone) for his book, with Nick Corasantini for ongoing reporting for the New York Times, The Atlantic Monthly about urban development, and WBGO-FM about sea barriers in New Jersey. Interview broadcast on New Jersey 101.5 FM during the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Sandy concerning whether people are still in recovery mode. Article in Vice News on New York City and climate change in 2050. Articles in the San Francisco Public Press, NJ.com, Press of Atlantic City, The Medium, Huffington Post, and Scientific American about coastal development and climate change. Interview as part of podcast on the history of flooding on the Mississippi River for Back Story radio. Panelist discussing moving from the coast in response to climate change, New York City's Municipal Arts Society Summit, October 16, 2017, Morgan Library, NYC. Outreach about social science findings about social conditions to professionals and academics in other disciplines. Guest lecture visits to classes in multidisciplinary planning and assessment of climate change, communication of science were conducted at Rutgers New Brunswick and Rutgers Newark. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The project addressed these issues through the study of coastal resilience, especially since the time of Hurricane Sandy. Major projects covered the New Jersey Shore, planning for the Louisiana coast in the face of massive sediment loss (due to river changes, oil and gas exploration, and storm surge damage), and coastal resilience in the planning and landscape architecture fields. Data and designs from Changing Course were integrated into the State of Louisiana's Coastal Plan. Data from the rapid response study about Hurricane Sandy was shared with FEMA field staff, informing them how the three selected case study communities had taken steps up to that time in planning for their future rebuilding. Our preliminary findings have been that small towns in New Jersey are under-resourced for handling the complex process of rebuilding and assessing future risk, but that lower-income communities face gaps in capacity and expertise that go beyond their relatively low tax streams.

Publications

  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Karen M. O⿿Neill and Heather Fenyk. 2019. Engaging the Community to Envision the Coastal Climate Future. Pp. 155-169 in Elizabeth Mossop (ed.). Sustainable Coastal Design and Planning. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.


Progress 10/01/16 to 09/30/17

Outputs
Target Audience:The audience for work on land use planning focusing on coastal resilience includes policy makers and nongovernmental organizations in coastal areas, sociologists in the fields of disaster and environmental studies, and other researchers of resilience. The audience for work on land use planning focusing on urban biodiversity includes ecologists, sociologists in the fields of environmental studies and globalization, and urban planners. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Cultivating graduate student participation in publications. Integrating two undergraduate researches into research about moving from the coast to avoid climate change effects. Promoting students in Environmental History class to participate in river cleanup projects and other efforts of mutual interest with our community partner in historical research, the Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We continued to distribute copies of the book Taking Chances to some members of the media, to public policy organizations and to academics. Media: Interviews with Jeff Goodell (Rolling Stone) for his book, with Nick Corasantini for ongoing reporting for the New York Times. Interview broadcast on New Jersey 101.5 FM during the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Sandy concerning whether people are still in recovery mode. Article in Vice News on New York City and climate change in 2050. Panelist discussing moving from the coast in response to climate change, New York City's Municipal Arts Society Summit, October 16, 2017, Morgan Library, NYC. Ideas from all research projects were shared on Twitter. Outreach about social science findings about social conditions to professionals and academics in other disciplines. Guest lecture visits to classes in multidisciplinary planning and assessment of climate change, communication of science were conducted at Rutgers New Brunswick and Rutgers Newark. An invited presentation to Drexel University was given in October 2016. Karen O'Neill discussed how structures, including buildings and infrastructure, communicate information about the safety, or hazards, of an area. Ideas for using structures to communicate about hazard zones were presented. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?A chapter in press for a book regarding the roles of landscape architects and urban planners in coastal climate adaptation. Data is being compiled about efforts from around the world to move away from hazardous coastlines.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Coastal communities worldwide are faced with climate change effects that include sea level rise and increases in the severity and frequency of storms. We presented a framework for coastal adaptation to these impacts in planning efforts, using the landscape of the Toms River-Barnegat Bay ecosystem in New Jersey (eastern coast of United States, 90km south of New York City) as a case study. This plan is a proof-of-concept, showing that collaborative design can improve the ability of shore regions in many regions to recover from storms and sea level rise if it uses a broad concept of the shore's ecological and geomorphological structures. Publications and outreach to planning and public policy organizations extended my ongoing work to analyze the capacities of municipalities and nonprofit organizations for creating policies to foster adaptation to climate change and other environmental changes.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: James K. Mitchell, Karen ONeill, Melanie McDermott and Mariana Leckner. 2016. Towards a transformative role for local knowledge in post-disaster recovery: Prospects for co-production in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Journal of Extreme Events 03(1), DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1142/S2345737616500032.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Joanna Burger, Karen M. ONeill, Steven N. Handel, Brie Hensold, and Gina Ford. 2017. The shore is wider than the beach: ecological planning solutions to sea level rise for the Jersey Shore, USA, Landscape and Urban Planning 157:512-522. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2016.08.017.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Myla F. J. Aronson, Manisha V. Patel, Karen M. ONeill, and Joan G. Ehrenfeld. 2017. Urban riparian systems function as corridors for both native and invasive plant species. Biological Invasions (online October 23, 2017). DOI 10.1007/s10530-017-1583-1.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Jaime D. Ewalt Gray, Karen O'Neill, and Zeyuan Qiu. 2017. Coastal residents' perceptions of the function of and relationship between engineered and natural infrastructure for coastal hazard mitigation. Ocean & Coastal Management 146:144-56. DOI: 10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2017.07.005.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Charles H. Nilon, Myla F. J. Aronson, Sarel S. Cilliers, Cynnamon Dobbs, Lauren F. Frazee, Mark A. Goddard, Debra Roberts, Emilie K. Stander, Karen M. ONeill, Peter Werner, Marten Winter, Ken P. Yocum. 2017. Planning for the future of urban biodiversity: A global review of city-scale initiatives. Bioscience 67:332-342.


Progress 10/01/15 to 09/30/16

Outputs
Target Audience:The audience for work on land use planning focusing on coastal resilience includes policy makers and nongovernmental organizations in coastal areas, sociologists in the fields of disaster and environmental studies, and other researchers of resilience. The audience for work on land use planning focusing on urban biodiversity includes ecologists, sociologists in the fields of environmental studies and globalization, and urban planners. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Cultivating graduate student participation in the publication of the book. Outreach about social science findings about social conditions to professionals and academics in other disciplines A presentation was made to post-doctoral students visiting Rutgers University from a regional engineering ministry in China. The students were sponsored by the GMAC International Corp., a training organization authorized by the China State Administration of Foreign Expert Affairs (SAFEA). How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Karen O'Neill presented a position paper (Adapting to Climate Change on the Coast, noted above), and participated in subsequent debate, at a public forum about the future of the shore in the United States. The event, organized by The Institute on Science for Global Policy, took place in Toms River, NJ, in November of 2015. http://scienceforglobalpolicy.org/conference/future-of-shore-living/ Copies of the book Taking Chances were distributed to some members of the media, to public policy organizations, and to academics. To mark the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, a public symposium about the book Taking Chances and about future policy options was held at Rutgers, New Brunswick, with about 120 registered attendees. Karen O'Neill gave the introductory address about findings from the book. Panelists included chapter authors as well as a former governor of New Jersey and two former leaders of the state's environmental agency. Panelists were asked to discuss whether agencies and organizations in the northeast and the Caribbean were taking lessons from Hurricane Sandy in preparing for climate change and future storms. The symposium included participation by attendees. Karen O'Neill talked to Christopher Flavelle of Bloomberg news to inform editorials about coastal climate change, public housing vulnerabilities to flooding, and federal flood insurance. Ideas from all research projects were shared on Twitter. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?A new study is being pursued concerning the roles of landscape architects and urban planners in coastal climate adaptation. The potential for new research on Jamaica Bay, NY will be explored. Efforts from around the world to move away from hazardous coastlines are being compiled for a study about the policies and strategies that are being used so far.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Publications and outreach to planning and public policy organizations extended my ongoing work to analyze the capacities of municipalities and nonprofit organizations for creating policies to foster adaptation to climate change and other environmental changes. The topic of our talk with visiting Chinese post-doctoral students was very relevant to this research as it presented strategies for sustainable coasts, including the effects of upstream dams and coastal development on coastal erosion. Flooding risks produced by upstream dams and downstream development were also discussed, focusing on the Mississippi River watershed as well as implications for Chinese dam development were discussed.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2017 Citation: Joanna Burger, Karen M. ONeill, Steven N. Handel, Brie Hensold, and Gina Ford. 2017. [published online in 2016] The shore is wider than the beach: ecological planning solutions to sea level rise for the Jersey Shore, USA, Landscape and Urban Planning 157:512-522. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2016.08.017.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: Karen M. ONeill, Myla Aronson, and Charles H. Nilon. Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Planning in Cities: A Global Survey of Urban Plans. American Sociological Association, Seattle, August 22, 2016.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2016 Citation: Karen M. ONeill and Heather Fenyk. Moving Communities to Avoid Sea Level Rise: The Role of Local Planning. Rural Sociological Association, Toronto, August 8, 2016.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Jill Allen Dixon, Rob Nairn, Brie Hensold, Gina Ford, and Karen M. ONeill. 2016. Innovative, Place-based Solutions: The Value of Interdisciplinary Perspectives. 14th International Workshop on Wave Hindcasting and Forecasting, 5th Coastal Hazards Symposium, 2nd International Storm Surge Symposium. http://www.waveworkshop.org/14thWaves/Papers/Dixon_Nairn_Hensold_ONeill_Ford_%20The%20value%20of%20interdisciplinary%20perspectives.pdf.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Karen M. ONeill, Adapting to Climate Change on the Coast: Changing Values, Behavior, and Policies, position paper. http://scienceforglobalpolicy.org/publication/adapting-to-climate-change-on-the-coast-changing-values-behavior-and-policies/
  • Type: Books Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Karen M. ONeill and Daniel J. Van Abs (eds.). 2016. Taking Chances: The Coast after Hurricane Sandy. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Karen M. ONeill, Daniel J. Van Abs, and Robert B. Gramling. 2016. Introduction: A Transformational Event, Just Another Storm, or Something in Between? In Karen M. ONeill and Daniel J. Van Abs (eds.). Taking Chances: The Coast after Hurricane Sandy. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Mariana Leckner, Melanie McDermott, James K. Mitchell, and Karen M. ONeill. 2016. Local Responses to Hurricane Sandy: Heterogeneous Experiences and Mismatches with Federal Policy. In Karen M. ONeill and Daniel J. Van Abs (eds.). Taking Chances: The Coast after Hurricane Sandy. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Daniel J. Van Abs and Karen M. ONeill. 2016. Conclusion: Emerging Responses to Life on the Urbanized Coast after Hurricane Sandy. In Karen M. ONeill and Daniel J. Van Abs (eds.). Taking Chances: The Coast after Hurricane Sandy. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2016 Citation: James K. Mitchell, Karen ONeill, Melanie McDermott and Mariana Leckner (in press). Towards a transformative role for local knowledge in post-disaster recovery: Prospects for co-production in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Journal of Extreme Events.


Progress 10/01/14 to 09/30/15

Outputs
Target Audience:The audience for work on land use planning focusing on coastal resilience includes policy makers and nongovernmental organizations in coastal areas, sociologists in the fields of disaster and environmental studies, and other researchers of resilience. The audience for work on land use planning focusing on urban biodiversity includes ecologists, sociologists in the fields of environmental studies and globalization, and urban planners. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Research assistance by a graduate student provided additional training in research methods, for the Changing Course project and for preparation of the final manuscript of the book. The SESYNC project included a graduate student in ecology and involved training of team members across disciplines in analytic techniques. Undergraduate student honors project completed on users responses to ecology exhibits at Duke Farms, NJ, May 2015. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Stakeholder workshop, New Orleans, Changing Course teams, October 10, 2014. Led a tour of Hurricane Sandy sites and discussed Rebuild by Design proposals for Asbury Park, NJ, for participants in the annual meeting of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning, October 31, 2014. The Rebuild by Design book has been circulated to the planning community. Rutgers TV interview about Climate Change and Inequality conference, March 2, 2015. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The book will be published and public events held to discuss the significance of Hurricane Sandy for coastal planning. Articles have been submitted. Work with the Institute on Science for Global Policy on outreach about coastal climate adaptation.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The final copyedited manuscript for the book about responses to Hurricane Sandy was submitted during this reporting period. It will be published by Rutgers University Press in June 2016. Co-organizer and moderator, Global Climate Change and Inequality: Local to Global Perspectives, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, April 10, 2015, funded under the First 100 Days Initiatives, Rutgers University, Steven R. Brechin, Robin Leichenko, Thomas Rudel, and Karen O'Neill, July 2014-April 2015. In addition, a new project was funded: Karen O'Neill participant; PIs Myla Aronson and Charles Nilon, "Urban Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services--Group Collaboration" National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) with the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research and the Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (Germany), travel expenses, 2014-2015. https://www.sesync.org/project/urban-biodiversity-ess

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Karen M. ONeill, Myla Aronson, and Charles H. Nilon. Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in Municipal Plans of the Worlds Cities, With and Without Adjacent Rural Lands. Rural Sociological Association, Madison, WI, August 8, 2015.
  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Sasaki Associates, Rutgers University [J. Burger, S.N. Handel, and K. ONeill], and ARUP. 2015. Resilience + The Beach. Pages 162-177 in Rebuild By Design. J. Bisker, A. Chester, and T. Eisenberg, editors. NY: Rebuild By Design, http://www.rebuildbydesign.org/book/


Progress 10/01/13 to 09/30/14

Outputs
Target Audience: The audience for work on coastal resilience includes policy makers and nongovernmental organizations in coastal areas, sociologists in the fields of disaster and environmental studies, and other researchers of resilience. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Research assistance by a recent undergraduate and graduate student provided additional training in research methods, for the Changing Course project. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? The Rebuild by Design project involved a series of public outreach events in three communities where we are proposing to design new land uses that will be more resilient to coastal storms. The three communities are Union Beach/Keansburg, Asbury Park, and Toms River. Karen O'Neill made an additional presentation to the Jersey Shore Partnership on January 1, 2014. Articles quoting Karen O'Neill concerning the Rebuild by Design project: Roxanne Palmer, One Year After Sandy, Many Ideas For Building More Resilient Coastal Communities, International Business Times, October 25, 2013; http://www.ibtimes.com/one-year-after-sandy-many-ideas-building-more-resilient-coastal-communities-1442206 Kevin Penton, Plan calls for better access to Union Beach lake. Asbury Park Press, April 4, 2014, http://www.app.com/article/20140403/NJNEWS33/304030090/Plan-calls-better-access-Union-Beach-lake For the Changing Course teams, a meeting with stakeholder representatives was held in September 2014 in New Orleans. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? The book manuscript will be revised and submitted in final. Articles from other elements of research are anticipated. A conference on climate change and inequality will be held at Rutgers University in the spring of 2015, featuring international and national speakers.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? In addition to activities already noted in previous reports, activities for a new grant project under NY/NJ Sea Grant are to assess how local emergency managers in Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey assess information as they prepare for storms. The project will contribute to developing best practices in communicating about risk in coastal areas. Goals for a new design project for the Mississippi River in Louisiana are to provide innovative design solutions for this vulnerable coastal area, where hunting grounds, aquaculture, fishing, and oyster beds are under threat from coastal wetlands loss due to subsidence and sea level rise. The book manuscript about responses to Hurricane Sandyunder contract to Rutgers University Press was submitted for peer review, including a chapter from the project led by James K. Mitchell studying how three towns in New Jersey are making decisions about rebuilding after Hurricane Sandy. In addition, a new project was funded. Interviews with local emergency managers have been completed.: Cara Cuite, Steven Decker, William Hallman, Chris Obropta, Karen O'Neill, David Robinson. Best Practices in Coastal Storm Risk Communication, CSAPP-26, NY/NJ Sea Grant, January 2014+, project awarded, $149,000. Another new contract for a design competition to improve coastal resilience, for the rural southeastern portion of Louisiana: Karen O'Neill, with Baird Associates. Changing Course competition team, designs for the Mississippi River delta to supplement Louisiana's 2012 Coastal Management Plan, Environmental Defense Fund, Van Alen Institute, Greater New Orleans Foundation, $7,000 sub-contract, September 2014-March 2015.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Climate Change Versus Public Health and Contaminated Communities as Local Social Problems. American Sociological Association, San Francisco, CA, August 16, 2014.


Progress 01/01/13 to 09/30/13

Outputs
Target Audience: With the arrival of Hurricane Sandy to our region in 2013, research on this project shifted toward coastal resilience strategies. The audience for this work includes policy makers and nongovernmental organizations in coastal areas, sociologists in the fields of disaster and environmental studies, and other researchers of resilience. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Dissertation chair: dissertation defended, September 2013, Heather Mary Fenyk, Citizen Expertise and Advocacy in Creation of New Jersey’s 1987 Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Data and research: http://www.rebuildbydesign.org/research/ Contribution of data to Rebuild by Design: A Regional Analysis http://www.rebuildbydesign.org/research/, released January 2014. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? The book manuscript will be submitted for external reviewers. Articles from other elements of research are anticipated.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Authors have submitted outlines for chapters for the co-edited book about responses to Hurricane Sandy. This book is considering whether the storm has been transformational for major social institutions, ranging from the electric grid to water supply. Although some of the chapter authors have been involved in researching and advising institutions about hazard reduction and disaster response, others are experts in particular sectors who are new to concerns about the reliability of these sectors in the face of extreme storms and sea level rise. The outreach component for this book has been a core justification for the project from the start, offering authors another tool in their ongoing relationships to these institutions and broadening the academic community that is involved in resilience planning. An article about watershed management on the Rahway River has been prepared and another is in preparation. Data from the rapid response study about Hurricane Sandy is being analyzed. Preliminary findings were shared with FEMA field staff in the summer of 2013, informing them how the three selected case study communities had taken steps up to that time in planning for their future rebuilding. Our preliminary findings have been that small towns in New Jersey are under-resourced for handling the complex process of rebuilding and assessing future risk, but that lower-income communities face gaps in capacity and expertise that go beyond their relatively low tax streams. In addition, a major new project was funded: Steven Handel, Karen O’Neill, Joanna Burger, Chris Obropta, co-PIs, with Sasaki Associates and Arup Engineering. Rebuild by Design competition team, Housing and Urban Development (HUD), $200,000 for Phases I and II, research and design preparation, post-Hurricane Sandy, August 2013-March 2014. This program is a major initiative of the U.S. government’s Hurricane Sandy Task Force, which assessed needs for federal responses to the storm and made recommendations for action at all levels of government. The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Shaun Donovan, headed that Task Force. As part of the recommendations, he partnered with the Rockefeller Foundation and others to fund a design competition that would develop innovative designs for resilience in this region as broader examples for U.S. coastal communities. An immediate result of this planning process is that HUD will direct a significant portion of Community Development Block Grants (CDBG-Disaster Relief) to help build the final selected designs. The Sasaki/Rutgers/Arup team was selected with nine other teams, from over 140 applicants, and was subsequently affirmed to create designs for the New Jersey Shore. Activities through September 30 focused on researching the entire Sandy coastal region in the U.S. in preparation for creating designs, including intensive meetings with community groups and officials from Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2013 Citation: Panelist, Fluvial Confluences, American Society for Environmental History, Toronto, April 6, 2013.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2013 Citation: The Limitations of Local Governance in Addressing the Consequences of Climate Change, Presidential Session, Social Science History Association, Chicago, November 23, 2013.