Connecticut Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation (CIRCA)<\/a> is working\u00a0to\u00a0close\u00a0that\u00a0expertise gap. They have created a\u00a0collaborative network of scientists, engineers, policy experts,\u00a0and\u00a0other\u00a0stakeholders to\u00a0provide communities with the critical data, improved models,\u00a0and\u00a0technical standards\u00a0they need to develop and implement climate-resilient policy and strategies. Other partners include the University of Maine, Stevens Institute of Technology, and Brooklyn College (City University of New York),<\/p>\nThe project \u2013 Identifying Community Need-Based\u00a0Adaptation\u00a0and\u00a0Resilience\u00a0Priorities in the U.S. Northeast \u2013 recently won a $500,000, two-year award from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Its goal is to\u00a0identify\u00a0obstacles to using the results of modern earth sciences\u00a0required to accelerate the adaptation of neighborhoods and municipalities to the effects of severe weather and climate\u00a0change.<\/p>\n
The funding will support the development of\u00a0the\u00a0network of scientists, engineers, policy experts,\u00a0community\u00a0leaders\u00a0and contractors,\u00a0who will\u00a0work\u00a0cooperatively to\u00a0identify\u00a0and prioritize research needs, and then chart a research plan for future projects.\u00a0Ultimately, researchers\u00a0hope the project creates a\u00a0replicable\u00a0model for environmental adaptation nationwide.<\/p>\n
UConn Marine Sciences Professor James O\u2019Donnell is the lead PI on the project and Executive Director of CIRCA. He says that UConn faculty\u202fspearheaded the initiative to ensure that communities have access to the advances and modern methods in geosciences – and the resources of leading Research universities \u2013 to increase their resilience to the effects of extreme weather and climate change.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to make people safer, ready for the future, and effectively\u202fprotect the environment,\u201d O\u2019Donnell says.<\/p>\n
The network would be a\u00a0regionally coordinated\u00a0entity spanning\u00a0Maine\u00a0to New Jersey.\u00a0Researchers will employ a 10-step plan that engages collaborators from academia, the private sector and government agencies and promotes knowledge-sharing through specialized Technical and Policy (TAP) and Municipal, Agency, and Private sector (MAP) teams.<\/p>\n
Collaboration will take place through\u00a0a series of structured\u00a0meetings, working groups, and other consensus-building activities. Teams will\u00a0address\u00a0environmental challenges such as coastal erosion, flood prediction\u00a0and risk reduction,\u00a0localized heat-risk assessment, and\u00a0regulatory\u00a0barriers.<\/p>\n
The project will emphasize the development of\u00a0practical solutions using\u00a0environmentally friendly\u00a0or \u201cliving\u201d designs that employ natural materials,\u00a0like\u00a0plants, sand, and oyster reefs, to stabilize coasts, offering a more resilient and ecologically beneficial alternative to hard structures like\u00a0bulkheads and seawalls.\u202fAcademic partners will contribute\u00a0expertise\u00a0on high resolution wave and flood modeling, machine learning-enabled flood alerts, and the latest policy\u00a0protocols.<\/p>\n
Awards through Regional\u00a0Resilience\u00a0Innovation Incubators (R2I2) –\u00a0a cross-directorate solicitation led by the National Science Foundation\u2019s (NSF) Directorate of Geosciences and the Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships \u2013 differ from other NSF grants. They leverage recent advances in Earth system science research with projects that address a specific regional climate challenge and proposed solutions that can be effectively applied in real-world settings.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe intent is to support the development of a bridge between basic geoscience and climate research, and local knowledge to support informed decision-making and technological innovations that have direct societal implications,\u201d O\u2019Donnell says. \u201cCIRCA and UConn have been at the forefront of the approach within\u00a0Connecticut,\u00a0and the project will broaden collaborations across the northeast.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coastal zones and river valleys of the\u00a0northeastern\u00a0U.S. are being flooded more\u00a0frequently\u00a0due to an increase in the occurrence of high-precipitation\u00a0events and extreme coastal water levels, according to the proposal. Using an optimistic estimate of reduced emissions, the projected cost of flood-related damage in the U.S. is around\u00a0$32.1 billion\u00a0a year. By 2050, the figure is expected to rise to\u00a0$40.6 billion, an increase of approximately 28%.<\/p>\n
Based on a 2019 study led by O\u2019Donnell, Connecticut has adopted a requirement that\u00a0coastal municipalities include an increase in\u00a0mean sea level\u00a0of up to 20 inches by 2050\u00a0in their plans. Though sea level rise is unlikely to reach 20\u00a0inches\u00a0by 2050, \u201cwe should design for the upper bound of what\u2019s\u00a0possible in the near future,\u201d O\u2019Donnell says. Similar studies in Massachusetts and Maine recommend planning for\u00a0a sea level rise of between\u00a01.5\u00a0and\u00a02.5\u00a0feet\u00a0by\u00a02050.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Donnell says Phase I of the project will create the framework for a\u00a0separately funded\u00a0Phase II proposal focused on implementation.\u00a0Phase I results\u00a0will\u00a0include\u00a0prioritization of\u00a0the environmental challenges of the region\u00a0that geosciences can help address, co-designing solution strategies,\u00a0a workforce\u00a0needs assessment, workforce\u00a0training\u00a0and development plans, and creating a blueprint for sustainable continued collaboration.\u00a0Sixteen groups across the country will compete for\u00a0the Phase II projects\u00a0which will have a\u00a0duration of\u00a0up to\u00a0five years and budgets of approximately $10 million.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Funded by a $500,000 NSF grant, the two-year initiative spearheaded by researchers at UConn-based Connecticut Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation (CIRCA) will ensure coastal communities have access to the expertise and tools needed to develop and implement strategies and policies that make them more resilient to the effects of extreme weather and climate change<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":238713,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1805,2226,1715,2460,2192,2649,2668,2466,2196,2194,2199,2076,2387,2235,173,2227],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2381],"class_list":["post-238712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate-change","category-clas","category-community-impact","category-faculty","category-fairfield-county","category-blue-pride","category-institute-enviro-energy","category-marine-sciences","category-middlesex-county","category-new-haven-county","category-new-london-county","category-research","category-sustainability","category-today-homepage","category-uconn-avery-point","category-uconn-edu-homepage"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-07 04:41:59","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238712"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238712\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":238888,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238712\/revisions\/238888"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/238713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238712"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=238712"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=238712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}