​Climate Change in America's National Parks ​​Coastal Adaptation is a Journey of Research, Repairs, and Restoration

Thursday, March 9, 201​7
2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. EDT
Registration Link ​

Overview​
​While many of us venture to national parks for our vacations or solitary walks on the seashore, the coasts of our national park system provide a home for and preserve the history of many other voyagers. From the seafaring history preserved in our maritime parks to the iconic lighthouses that guided those journeys, the changes in our coast are part of the journey. This webinar will discuss the strategies the National Park Service is implementing to protect and document these special places. Case studies of archeological research from Alaska to Florida and engineering work to protect and repair the legacy of our military fortifications will be discussed. Restoration of our coastal wetlands also plays an important role in habitat and species conservation. Through these stories, the journey of coastal adaptation is documented in new National Park Service handbook that will be discussed.​

About the Speaker
​​Rebecca Beavers, Ph.D. ​ ​Since 2000, Rebecca has served as coastal geology and coastal adaptation coordinator for the National Park Service, where she is the point of contact for sea level change, coastal adaptation to climate change, and coastal geomorphology related issues. Rebecca coordinates coastal adaptation efforts underway at the park level and with Department of Interior (DOI) initiatives, including the DOI All Hazards Resource Advisor Training program to prepare natural and cultural resource specialists for incident response. Rebecca worked as a geologist and oceanographer in a variety of upland and submerged coastal areas with the U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Rebecca has a Ph.D. in Geology from Duke University (NC) and a B.A. in Biology and Geology from Williams College (MA).

She got her start in coastal research tromping through the marshes, playing on the beaches, and boating offshore in South Carolina as a child. She considers Hurricane Hugo in 1989 as the defining event that led her to study geology on the ocean floor, along beaches of the US, and (even) in the mountains of Montana. She has visited and worked along the coastline of every coastal US state and several countries.

Outside of work, she continues her hydrologic studies on snow-covered slopes while skiing and enjoys hiking Colorado’s trails with her friends and family.

Recent publications:

• National Park Service Coastal Adaptation Strategies: Cases Studies
• Handbook