Coastal Elevations and Sensitivity to Sea level Rise
Final Prospectus for Synthesis and Assessment Product 4.1*

Footnote: Product 4.1 drafting has taken place concurrent with completion of the prospectus, as the Guidelines for Producing CCSP Synthesis and Assessment Products were finalized. This approach was taken in order to coordinate work on the product with other international efforts—in particular, as input for the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report development process.

Also available:
CCSP Synthesis and Assessment Products. Four-page background document (dated September 2007). In addition, it is available as a PDF file and can be ordered in hardcopy from the GCRIO Online Catalog

This prospectus also is available as a PDF file.

1. Overview: Description of Topic, Audience, Intended Use, and Questions to be Addressed

Sea level is rising 2-3 mm/yr along most of the U.S. coast (NOAA 2001). Rising water levels are converting wetlands into open bodies of water, while allowing wetlands to take over low lying forests and farms. Ocean beaches are eroding, leading most states to initiate beach restoration projects in which dredges or dump trucks replace the sand lost to erosion. Shoreline erosion along estuaries has led many property owners to defend their back yards by erecting shore protection structures such as bulkheads, which eliminate the intertidal wetlands and beaches that would otherwise be found between the water and the dry land. As sea level rises, coastal flooding is becoming more frequent. In some older low-lying communities, high tides during new and full moons flood streets that were above the tides when originally paved. Rising global temperatures are likely to increase the current rate of sea level rise by 1-7 mm/yr in the next century (IPCC 2001). The federal Coastal Zone Management Act states: "Because global warming may result in a substantial sea level rise with serious adverse effects in the coastal zone, coastal states must anticipate and plan for such an occurrence." 16 US Code � 1451(l).

Studies over the last two decades have identified numerous decisions that may be sensitive to sea level rise (e.g. NRC 1987; Williams et al. 1995; Section 3.1 of Titus and Narayanan 1996.) To inform those decisions, better information about the implications of sea level rise is needed at various scales. For analyzing national decisions (e.g., incorporating shoreline retreat into flood insurance or wetland protection programs), nationwide estimates are important, perhaps with a state-by-state breakdown. Shore-protection and land-use decisions, by contrast, are mostly made at the local level or on a parcel-specific basis; those decisions require maps that show site-specific implications. Researchers may require fine-scale maps for process-specific analysis and coarse-scale data for analyzing broader implications.

During the 1980s and 1990s, quantitative assessments of the implications of sea level rise generally proceeded on two independent tracks to meet the very different needs of national decision makers (Park et al. 1989; Leatherman 1989; Weggel et al. 1989; FEMA 1991; Titus et al. 1991; Gornitz and White, 1992; Yohe et al. 1996) and state or local decision makers (Kana et al. 1984; Leatherman 1985; State of Maine 1995, Kearney and Stevenson 1985). The evolution of geographic information systems (GIS), however, now makes it more feasible to use the information developed in one study for another purpose later. GIS systems also make it easier to develop information that can be useful for a variety of scales (Kemelis et al. 2003).

These recent advances do not, however, imply that all of the implications of a rising sea are well understood. The effects of sea level rise include tidal inundation of low lying areas; coastal erosion of wetlands, beaches, and other types of shores; vertical accretion of wetlands; barrier island migration; increased coastal flooding during storm surges and periods of extreme rainfall; and increased salinity of aquifers and estuaries, especially during droughts. Providing maps that predict effects other than tidal inundation is scientifically challenging at best, and in some cases, impossible. Scientific literature may provide the basis for a qualitative prediction, but not always with the precision--or in the form--that decision makers prefer.

Many agencies and individuals are developing data that can provide insights regarding the implications of sea level rise. For example, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Army Corps of Engineers, and several states are developing elevation data for floodplain management. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) are developing Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) that use a common vertical reference frame for both topographic and bathymetric maps (NOAA , 2004). Local governments and major coastal land conservancies are developing GIS land-use data for managing ecosystems and economic growth. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) develops wetland data. NOAA's coastal change analysis program periodically provides a comprehensive assessment of land cover changes in the coastal zone of the United States. USGS collects high resolution LIDAR elevation data for coastal areas for use in producing assessments of shoreline erosion and other coastal processes through its National Assessment of Coastal Change Hazards (e.g. Morton et al. 2004 ; Morton and Miller, 2005; Thieler and Hammar-Klose 1999, 2000a, and 2000b); and FEMA has conducted similar analyses. USGS also evaluates the ability of wetlands to keep pace with rising relative sea level (Rybczyk and Cahoon 2002). The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been working with local governments to create county-scale maps that identify the areas likely to require shore protection as sea level rises (Titus 2004). Except for FEMA, all of these agencies will contribute authors to this report.

Synthesis and Assessment Product 4.1 will synthesize information from the ongoing mapping efforts by federal and non-federal researchers related to the implications of rising sea level. It will overlay the various data layers to develop new results made possible by bringing together researchers that are otherwise working independently. Because of time, data, and resource limitations, the synthesis will focus on a contiguous portion of the U.S. coastal zone (New York to North Carolina). The report will also develop a plan for sea level rise research to answer the questions that are most urgent for near-term decisionmaking. This report will provide information that supports the specific goal in Chapter 9 of the Strategic Plan for the Climate Change Science Program (CCSP, 2003) to analyze how coastal environmental programs can be improved to adapt to sea level rise while enhancing economic growth.

This report will address the implications of sea level rise on three spatial scales by providing:

• An introductory section that puts the report within the nationwide context.
• Data overlays and a state-of-the-art quantitative assessment concerning coastal elevations, shore erosion, wetland accretion, and the areas where shores are likely to be protected for a multi-state study area along the U.S. Atlantic Coast: New York to North Carolina.
• Qualitative discussions that document in greater detail the impact of sea level rise on smaller areas within the mid-Atlantic study area.

Within the multi-state study area, the synthesis product will examine four key questions that address four of the most commonly cited factors contributing to the sensitivity of coastal lands to rising sea level: low elevations, coastal erosion, wetland accretion, and human modifications of the coastal zone. The four key questions are:

1. Which lands are currently at an elevation that could lead them to be inundated by the tides without shore protection measures?
2. How does sea level rise change the coastline? Among those lands with sufficient elevation to avoid inundation, which land could potentially erode in the next century? Which lands could be transformed by related coastal processes?
3. What is a plausible range for the ability of wetlands to vertically accrete, and how does this range depend on whether shores are developed and protected, if at all? That is: will sea level rise cause the area of wetlands to increase or decrease?
4. Which lands have been set aside for conservation uses so that wetlands will have the opportunity to migrate inland; which lands have been designated for uses requiring shore protection; and which lands could realistically be available for either wetland migration or coastal development requiring shore protection?

The product will answer as many of those questions as possible with a state-of-the-art quantitative analysis for the range of uncertainty regarding current coastal elevations and how much sea level may rise along the mid-Atlantic Coast. Where such an analysis is not feasible, the product will rely on older quantitative assessments if possible, or provide a qualitative evaluation. The quantitative assessment may exclude estuarine shores in the case of question 2, and Long Island Sound and North Carolina in the case of question 3.

To ensure comparability with other assessments, the magnitude of sea level rise considered will be expressed in round numbers such as 25, 50, and 100 cm. Although this product will focus on the impacts of a rise between 25 cm and 1 meter, it will also consider the implications of a two meter rise in sea level, for two reasons. First, in much of the United States, the lowest contour on available topographic maps is 10 feet above the National Geodetic vertical datum of 1929, that is, roughly two meters above the upper edge of tidal wetlands. Therefore, the area inundated by a two meter rise can be more accurately estimated than the area inundated by a rise of 25-100 cm. Second, a two meter rise in sea level is possible over the next two centuries (See e.g. Section 11.5.4 of IPCC 2001). To the extent that impacts depend on the timing of sea level rise, the product will focus primarily on the implications for the 21st century, but it will also consider land potentially vulnerable during the next two centuries.

Questions 1-4 are not the only important questions about coastal elevations and sensitivity to sea level rise. EPA, NOAA, and USGS have solicited contributing authors to help address several additional questions:

5. What are the potential impacts of sea level rise on coastal floodplains? What issues would FEMA, coastal floodplain managers, and coastal communities face as sea level rises? [1]
6. What are the population, infrastructure, economic activity, and value of property within the area potentially inundated by rising sea level given alternative levels of shore protection? [2]
7. How does sea level rise affect the public's access to—and use of—the shore? [3]
8. Which species depend on habitat that may be lost due to sea level rise given various levels of shore protection and other response options? [4]
9. Which decisions and activities (if any) have outcomes sufficiently sensitive to sea level rise so as to justify doing things differently, depending on how much the sea is expected to rise? [5]
10. What adaptation options are being considered by specific organizations that manage land or regulate land use for environmental purposes? [6] What other adaptation options are being considered by federal, state or local governments? What are the specific implications of each option? [7] What are the institutional barriers to preparing for sea level rise?

2. Contact Information and Role of Participating Agencies

2.1 Contact information.

The following table lists the designated contact person for each agency supporting this effort.

2.2 Agency Roles and Responsibilities

EPA is solely responsible the final CCSP deliverable and will perform, or ensure that others perform, the necessary work to ensure project completion. EPA's responsibilities include development of the draft report, as well as the nomination and obtaining of authors and expert reviewers. EPA is responsible for overall project coordination. In addition to these overall responsibilities, the three key participating agencies have specific responsibilities:

EPA is responsible for compliance with the Information Quality Act (IQA) and Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA):

1. EPA is the overall project lead agency for project management and as such has responsibility for official reporting purposes for the requirements of the Information Quality Act.
2. EPA is responsible for Federal Advisory Committee Act compliance.
3. EPA is responsible for managing the formal literature review portion of the project.
4. EPA is responsible for coordinating the acquisition of the authors' time as needed for this project, except for those authors that are employed by Contributing Agencies and their grantees.

NOAA is Responsible for Logistics:

1. NOAA is responsible for setting up and hosting four meetings for the authors, with the first meeting to be held in Silver Spring, MD and the other three to be held at suitable locations in the mid-Atlantic regions to provide stakeholder input to the authors. NOAA will manage the invitational travel for the authors as required.
2. NOAA is responsible for managing the compilation and production of the final report. This includes editing, report layout, and printing.

USGS is Responsible for the Research Plan:

In addition to the three key agencies, DOT, USFWS, and the Corps of Engineers will each provide a contributing author.

3. Lead Authors and Expert Reviewers: Required Expertise and Biographical Information

3.1. Authors

The team generating the product (hereinafter "synthesis team") will have at least five lead authors. The lead authors will be jointly responsible for the entire product, including the text itself and any analysis required to synthesize the underlying studies on which the product is based. The lead authors will decide how best to manage the team, including division of responsibility, time requirements, and whether to designate a managing author.

The team will also have as many contributing authors as necessary. Contributing authors will either be responsible for preparing a case study, contributing analysis of a specific issue, or drafting a portion of the research plan that will constitute the final chapter of the product. Contributing authors will be responsible solely for their own contributions.

3.2. Required Expertise of Authors and Expert Reviewers

Contributing authors should have the expertise required to complete proposed contributions that answer one or more of the supplemental questions, or provide essential text for the report. Contributing authors for the research plan must have a general familiarity with key uncertainties regarding the implications of sea level rise, familiarity with at least one federal research agency, and an understanding of the general principles of how to set priorities for information collection.

Expert reviewers should have well-established and documented education, experience, and credentials in at least one of the topics that this product will examine (e.g. coastal geomorphology, tidal wetlands, land use planning, coastal zone management.) In addition, several of the reviewers will have a broad level of experience with the issue of sea level rise. To ensure independence and avoid conflicts of interest, reviewers will not be employees or recent contractors of the Environmental Protection Agency.

3.3. Authors and Reviewers

Lead Authors

• James G. Titus, EPA (coordinating lead author)
• Stephen Gill, NOAA
• Donald R. Cahoon, USGS
• E. Robert Thieler, USGS
• S. Jeffress Williams, USGS

Contributing Authors

• K. Eric Anderson, USGS
• Mark M. Brinson, East Carolina University
• Peter Conrad, City of Baltimore
• Michael Craghan, Middle Atlantic Center for Geography and Environmental Studies
• Brian Czech, USFWS
• Jeff DeBlieu, The Nature Conservancy
• Duncan FitzGerald, Boston University
• Benjamin Gutierrez, USGS
• Daniel Hudgens, Industrial Economics Incorporated
• Nancy Jackson, New Jersey Institute of Technology
• Zoë P. Johnson, Maryland Department of Natural Resources
• Robert Kaflenos, USDOT
• Michael S. Kearney, University of Maryland
• Danielle Kreeger, Partnership for the Delaware Estuary
• Alexander S. Kolker, State University of New York
• Curt Larsen, USGS
• Christopher Linn, Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission
• Doug C. Marcy, NOAA
• Laura J. Moore, Oberlin College
• Andrew Morang, US Army Corps of Engineers
• Denise Reed, University of New Orleans
• Ann Shellenbarger Jones, Industrial Economics Incorporated
• Elizabeth Strange, Stratus Consulting
• Jay Tanski, New York Sea Grant Program
• E. Robert Thieler, USGS
• Michael Weinstein, New Jersey Marine Sciences Consortium
• Robb Wright, NOAA
• Jue Wang, Pyramid Systems Incorporated

Expert Reviewer Nominees

The Environmental Protection Agency has designated a "peer review leader" who will be responsible for ensuring the creation of a balanced and qualified set of expert reviewers. Under the close scrutiny of the peer review leader, an EPA contractor will propose a list of reviewers, based on the public nomination process and other qualified individuals identified by the contractor. The peer review leader will revise the list based on three considerations. First, the peer review leader will ensure that the nominees are technically qualified, based on documented education, experience, publications, and other credentials in their areas of expertise. Second, the peer review leader will screen for real or perceived conflict of interest and independence from the lead and contributing agencies. Finally, the peer review leader will ensure that all nominees comply with the CCSP peer review nomination process. The peer review leader will provide the contractor with the revised list of experts, and the contractor will make the final selection of expert reviewers.

4. Stakeholder Interactions

This report will be primarily written and produced by a subset of stakeholders. The Army Corps of Engineers, USFWS, NOAA, USDOT, and EPA, make decisions that affect the coast and produce data needed by decision makers. Each of these agencies (with the possible exception of the Corps) will contribute writers to this product; the participation of the Corps will depend on the availability of resources. In addition, at least two state coastal programs will contribute writers. The Nature Conservancy will also contribute an author.

State and local governments that will not participate directly in this assessment have participated in the creation of the underlying products. NOAA's coastal zone management program will obtain reviews of the product outline, and each of the underlying products, from all of the state coastal zone management and state wetland regulatory programs within the study area. The Army Corps of Engineers may assist by seeking comments from district wetland regulatory and shore-protection offices. USFWS may seek comments from the coastal refuges and national parks. Sixty city and county planning departments have reviewed the sea level rise/shore protection maps of the EPA planning study; EPA will seek comments on the synthesis product from all localities highlighted by the synthesis product.

EPA, NOAA, and USGS have solicited case study contributions in a variety of forums, including the draft prospectus. The contributing agencies will make available the data being developed to answer the key questions (discussed in the next section) for use in developing case studies that need such data. NOAA will coordinate a stakeholder review of the draft report, which will include meetings in three communities vulnerable to a rise in sea level of 2 feet or less, and the lead authors will incorporate stakeholder concerns before the "first draft" for expert review is produced. Public input will also be solicited on a draft of the product following the expert review period.

Public input was also solicited on this prospectus through a notice in the December 14, 2005 edition of the Federal Register. The draft of this prospectus was available for public comment from December 14, 2005 until February 13, 2006. Commenters included representatives from the coastal zone management agencies of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, Maryland, Virginia, Texas, and California, a county manager in North Carolina, a regional planner in Florida, 4 professors, a coastal consultant, an oil company researcher, and a climate scientist representing an NGO.

5. Drafting, including Materials to be Used in the Product

This product will use GIS databases from a variety of sources. The best data for answering the four key questions will be developed specifically for this product. NOAA and EPA are both producing the specific elevation and shore protection maps enunciated in the CCSP Strategic Plan, which announced this synthesis product. Those studies are essential for answering Key Questions 1 and 4 (Section 1 of this prospectus). For other questions, the product will rely on best available information.

USGS also has ongoing efforts that could support this product—most significantly the ongoing national assessment of coastal change hazards (Key Question 2).

The lead agencies will make all of the underlying products available for reviewers so that they can examine the data and assumptions. They will also make the data available to those researchers interested in contributing case studies to the synthesis.

As the principal agency for "The National Map" [8], USGS may also take on the task of facilitating the exchange of GIS data that may be used in any case studies that might be conducted. In cooperation with other parts of the Department of the Interior (DOI), USGS will also investigate the feasibility of contributing GIS layers for subsidence, wetland erosion and accretion, and beach erosion and accretion (Key Questions 3 and 4), and provide GIS layers for as much of the study area as possible. USGS may also provide user-friendly data files that explicitly define those tidal wetlands that tend to be above mean sea level, and those that may be technically inter-tidal but below mean sea level.

EPA, NOAA, DOI, and DOD may collaborate to improve EPA's GIS layer responsive to Key Question 4.

6. Review

EPA will then submit the product to a peer-review panel of experts selected from those nominated in the process described in section 3.3 above. To ensure that the peer review panel has the required expertise to review this report, the peer review leader will ensure that at least three reviewers are qualified to review each answer to the key and supplemental questions. Nevertheless, each reviewer will read the entire report and review the document as a whole. Given that few people have expertise in all of these issues, the panel is likely to have more than ten people, but the precise number of reviewers can only be established as the reviewers are identified and selected.

A Contractor, under the guidance of the EPA peer review leader, will be responsible for organizing the peer review, conducting and facilitating panel meetings, and documenting the review process, findings, and resulting responses. Typical meeting logistics, including travel arrangements, will also be coordinated and facilitated by the Contractor, when appropriate.

Reviewers will be asked to address the following questions in formulating their comments.

1. Is the charge, outlined in the prospectus, clearly described in the product? Are all aspects of the charge fully addressed? Do the authors stay within their charge and expertise? If not, are such departures reasonable?
2. Are the conclusions and recommendations adequately supported by evidence, analysis, and argument? Are uncertainties or incompleteness in the evidence explicitly recognized? If any recommendations are based on value judgments or the collective opinions of the authors, is this acknowledged and are scientifically defensible reasons given for reaching those judgments?
3. Are the data and analyses handled competently? Are statistical methods applied appropriately?
4. Are the product's exposition and organization effective? Is the title appropriate?
5. Is the report fair? Is its tone impartial?
6. Does the executive summary concisely and accurately describe the key findings and recommendations? Is it consistent with other sections of the product?
7. Are supporting papers or appendices, if any, relevant to the charge? If the product relies on supporting papers to support consensus findings or recommendations, do the papers meet criterion 3 above?
8. What other significant improvements, if any, might be made to the product?

Once the revisions are complete, the Environmental Protection Agency will certify compliance with the Information Quality Act and submit the third draft of the synthesis and assessment product to the CCSP Interagency Committee. If the CCSP Interagency Committee review determines that no further revisions are needed and that the product has been prepared in conformance with the Guidelines for Producing CCSP Synthesis and Assessment Products, they will submit the product to the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) for clearance. Clearance will require the concurrence of all members of the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources. NSTC review comments will be addressed by the CCSP Interagency Committee in consultation with the lead and contributing agencies and the lead authors.

EPA has established the Coastal Elevations and Sea Level Rise Advisory Committee (CESLAC) to advise on the specific issues this synthesis and assessment product should address, appropriate technical approaches, the nature of information relevant to decision makers, the content of the final report, compliance with the Information Quality Act, and other matters important to the successful achievement of the objectives of the study. All meetings will be open to the public unless otherwise specified in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which will afford the public with the opportunity to provide input to the advisory committee's advice. The committee will have separate meetings to (1) provide advice relevant to the initiation of the study; (2) review and comment on a substantive draft intermediate product; and (3) review and comment on the draft final product. A fourth meeting will be held if the advisory committee considers such a meeting necessary.

After the public review, the authors will revise the report. The lead Agencies will forward the product to the CCSP interagency committee and the NSTC for final approval and dissemination.

7. Related Activities

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is conducting a multi-year National Shoreline Study, which will examine inundation, erosion, flooding, shore protection, and other coastal processes throughout the United States. Synthesis and Assessment Product 4.1 will examine a subset of the National Shoreline Study's issues, for a portion of the nation, and be completed sooner. Therefore, this synthesis product may serve as an initial pilot effort for the longer-term National Shoreline Study.

8. Communications

9. Timeline

The following schedule is proposed for the completion of this product. The final deadline is contingent on completion of review deadlines following completion of the draft products.

References

Federal Emergency Management Agency. 1991. Projected Impact of Relative Sea Level Rise on the National Flood Insurance Program. Report to Congress. Washington, D.C.: Federal Insurance Administration.

Gornitz, V.M. and White, T. W. 1992. A coastal hazards database for the U.S. East Coast. ORNL/CDIAC-45, NDP-043A. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 2001. Climate Changes 2001: The Scientific Basis. New York and Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Maine State Planning Office. 1995. Anticipatory Planning for Sea-Level Rise Along the Coast of Maine. Maine State Planning Office and US Environmental Protection Agency

Kana, T.W., J Michel, M.O. Hayes, and J.R. Jensen. 1984. "The Physical Impact of Sea Level Rise in the Area of Charleston, South Carolina." In: Barth, M.C. and J.G. Titus (eds). 1984. Greenhouse Effect and Sea Level Rise: A Challenge for This Generation. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.

Kearney, M.S. and J.C. Stevenson. 1985. "Sea Level Rise and Marsh Vertical Accretion Rates in Chesapeake Bay." in O.T. Magoon et al. (eds) Coastal Zone '85. New York: American Scociety of Civil Engineers.

Kemelis, J.A., DeMulder, M.L., Ogrosky, C.E., Van Driel, N.J., Ryan, B., 2003, The National Map From Geography to Mapping and Back Again, Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 60, 10, 1109-1118.

Leatherman, S.P. 1985. Geomorphic Effects of Accelerated Sea-Level Rise on Ocean City, Maryland." In Potential Impacts of Sea Level Rise on the Beach at Ocean City, Maryland. Washington, D.C.: Environmental Protection Agency.

Leatherman, S. P. 1989. "National Assessment of Beach Nourishment Requirements Associated with Accelerated Sea Level Rise" In The Potential Effects of Global Climate Change on the United States. Report to Congress. Appendix B: Sea Level Rise. 1989. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. EPA 230-05-89-052.

Morton, R.A., Miller, T.L., and Moore, L.J., 2004, National Assessment Of Shoreline Change: Part 1 Historical Shoreline Changes And Associated Coastal Land Loss Along The U.S. Gulf Of Mexico, US Geological Survey, Open-File Report 2004-1043, 48 pages.

Morton, R. A., and Miller, T. L., 2005, National assessment of shoreline change: Part 2: Historical shoreline changes and associated coastal land loss along the U.S. Southeast Atlantic coast, U.S. Geological Survey Open-file Report 2005-1401, 40 p.

NOAA 2001. Sea Level Variations of the United States 1854 � 1999. Prepared by C. Zervas. NOAA Technical Report NOS CO-OPS 36, NOAA, National Ocean Service, Silver Spring, MD, 19-23, 2001.

NOAA, 2004. North Carolina Sea Level Rise Project: Interim Technical Report, NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS CS 5, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce, National Ocean Service, Coast Survey Development Laboratory, September 2004.

NRC, 1987: Responding to Changes in Sea Level: Engineering Implications. Committee on Engineering Implications of Changes in Relative Mean Sea Level, Marine Board, National Research Council. National Academies Press, Washington, DC, 160 pp.

Park, R.A., M.S. Treehan, P.W. Mausel, and R.C. Howe. 1989. "The Effects of Sea Level Rise on U.S. Coastal Wetlands." In Environmental Protection Agency. 1989. Potential Effects of Global Climate Change on the United States. Washington, D.C.: Environmental Protection Agency.

Rybczyk, J. M. and D. R. Cahoon. 2002. Estimating the potential for submergence for two subsiding wetlands in the Mississippi River delta. Estuaries 25: 985-998

Thieler, E.R., and Hammar-Klose, E.S., 1999. National assessment of coastal vulnerability to sea-level rise: Preliminary results for the U.S. Atlantic coast. U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 99-593, 1 map sheet.

Thieler, E.R., and Hammar-Klose, E.S., 2000a. National assessment of coastal vulnerability to sea-level rise: Preliminary results for the U.S. Pacific Coast. U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 00-178, 1 map sheet.

Thieler, E.R., and Hammar-Klose, E.S., 2000b. National assessment of coastal vulnerability to sea-level rise: Preliminary results for the U.S. Gulf of Mexico Coast. U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 00-179, 1 map sheet.

Titus, James G. "Maps that Depict the Business-as-Usual Response to Sea Level Rise in the Decentralized United States of America." In Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Global Forum on Sustainable Development: Development and Climate Change. Paris. November 11-12, 2004.

Titus, J.G. and V. Narayanan, 1996: The risk of sea level rise. 33 Climatic Change, 151-212.

Titus, J.G., R.A. Park, S. Leatherman, R. Weggel, M.S. Greene, M. Treehan, S. Brown, and C. Gaunt, G. Yohe. 1991. Greenhouse Effect and Sea Level Rise: The Cost of Holding Back the Sea. Coastal Management. 19:3:171-204.

Weggel, J.R., S. Brown, J.C. Escajadillo, P. Breen, and E.L. Doheny. 1989. "The Cost of Defending Developed Shorelines Along Sheltered Waters of the United States from a two-meter rise in mean sea level.

In Environmental Protection Agency. 1989. Potential Effects of Global Climate Change on the United States. Washington, D.C.: Environmental Protection Agency.

Williams, S.J., Dodd, K., and Gohn, K.K., 1995, Coasts in Crisis, U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1075. 30 p.

Yohe, Gary, James Neumann, Patrick Marshall, and Holy Ameden. 1996. "The Economic Cost of Greenhouse-Induced Sea-Level Rise for Developed Property in the United States." 32 Climatic Change 387-410.

Appendix A. Biographical Information for Authors

K. Eric Anderson

K. Eric Anderson
B.S. Purdue University (Economics)
M.S., Ph.D. Northwestern University (Geography)

Eric Anderson is a senior research geographer with the US Geological Survey (USGS). His research focuses on the development of tools and techniques involving integrated multidisciplinary data sets and their application across a range of scales from global to local. Current projects have particular emphasis upon techniques for mapping and communicating coastal hazards including seismic risk, coastal flooding, and storm surge. At the USGS, he has worked in digital cartography, geographic research, and the development and applications of geographical information systems. He served as Chief of the Eastern Region of the National Mapping Division until 2000. He is a Past President of the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping and was one of the founding editors of the International Journal of Geographical Information Systems. He served as the Director of Auto-Carto 9 and co-Director of Auto-Carto 2005.

Mark M. Brinson

Mark M. Brinson
B.S. 1965, Heidelberg College, Tiffin, Ohio, Biology
M.S. 1967, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, Botany
Ph.D. 1973, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, Botany

Mark Brinson is a Professor of the Biology Department, East Carolina University. He and his colleagues study the relationship of hydrology and hydroperiod to wetland ecosystem structure and function, classification and assessment of wetlands, and the effects of rising sea level on coastal wetlands. He participates in research at the Virginia Coast Reserve site of the Long Term Ecological Research program and was a Fulbright Fellow in Argentina. Current projects include the ecological effects of rising sea level and the development of reference-based condition assessments for estuarine and riparian ecosystems in the North Carolina coastal plain. He serves on several committees in North Carolina advisory to the Division of Marine Fisheries and the Division of Coastal Management. He served as president of the Society of Wetland Scientists and received the society's Merit Award in 1998. He chaired the Public Policy Review committee of the American Institute of Biological Science, was a member of the National Research Council committee on Wetland Characterization, and chaired the NRC committee on Riparian Zones. He has provided testimony before U.S. Senate and House committees on the identification of wetlands.

Donald R. Cahoon

Donald R. Cahoon
B. A., Botany, with Honors, Drew University, 1972
M.S., Plant Ecology, University of Maryland, 1975
Ph.D., Plant Ecology, University of Maryland, 1982

Don Cahoon, a senior research ecologist with the U. S. Geological Survey, has more than 25 years experience investigating wetland plant ecology, wetland accretionary processes, and wetland restoration and management; and has published his findings in more than 100 research papers and reports. With his colleagues, he has developed a research approach for measuring wetland elevation dynamics (surface elevation tables (SET) used in conjunction with artificial soil marker horizons), which is being used in 18 countries by 65 coastal scientists. He and his colleagues have developed: 1) a global network of elevation monitoring sites using standard measurement protocols (SET and marker horizons) on coastal wetlands to give an advance warning of change, 2) new predictive models to determine the long-term potential for submergence of coastal wetlands, and 3) new elevation monitoring technology to improve our understanding of subsurface process influences on elevation. These developments are being used to determine: 1) the vulnerability of coastal wetlands to global change (e.g., sea-level rise and storms), 2) the critical driving forces and subsurface processes controlling elevation for a wide range of wetland types, and 3) the impact of current wetland management and restoration practices on elevation dynamics and wetland stability. The SET-marker horizon methodology is described on the USGS website

Michael Craghan

Michael Craghan
B.S. Rutgers University (Civil Engineering) 1989
M.S. Geography, Rutgers University (1995).
Ph.D. Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J. (Geography). 1999

Michael Craghan has expertise in floodplain modeling, estuarine sedimentation processes, coastal zone land use planning, and civil engineering. He was an engineer and GIS floodplain modeler for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's regional office in Philadelphia until the middle of 2006. His Ph.D. Dissertation was entitled "An Investigation of Sediment Delivery and Accumulation on a Developed Estuarine Shore." He has also prepared a report analyzing land use planning for sea level rise in New Jersey, and serves on the Environmental Conservation Board of the Town of Manasquan, New Jersey.

Brian Czech

Brian Czech
B.S. University of Wisconsin (Wildlife Ecology) 1982
M.S. University of Washington (Wildlife Science) 1988
Ph.D., University of Arizona (Renewable Natural Resources) 1997

Brian Czech is a conservation biologist in the national office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Wildlife Refuge System, Arlington, VA. His major duties include planning and policy development for maintaining the biological integrity, diversity, and environmental health of the Refuge System. He has served as a Refuge System lead for interagency sustainability initiatives pertaining to forests, rangelands, and climate change. Dr. Czech is also an adjunct professor at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, National Capitol Region, Alexandria, where he has taught ecological economics, sustainability science, and endangered species policy and management. Between 1988 and 1993, he was a conservation biologist and Director of Recreation and Wildlife for the Apache Tribe in San Carlos, Arizona.

Jeff DeBlieu

Jeff DeBlieu
B.A. Millsaps College (Political Science) 1971.

Jeff DeBlieu is a project manager in The Nature Conservancy's Global Climate Change Initiative, overseeing the development of a climate change adaptation program ion the Albemarle-Pamlico Peninsula in North Carolina. His responsibilities include building partnerships with major landowners on the peninsula and working with them to test adaptation strategies. He is also working with scientists to implement a coordinated research and monitoring program on long-term climate-driven changes and the effectiveness of various adaptation strategies. He previously directed The Nature Conservancy's Pamlico Sound Oyster Reef Restoration Project and served as director of the Conservancy's Nags Head Woods Preserve.

Stephen Gill

Stephen Gill
B.S. New York University School of Engineering and Science. 1970 (Meteorology and Oceanography)
M.S. New York University School of Engineering and Science. 1975. (Physical Oceanography)

Stephen Gill is Senior Oceanographer for the NOAA/NOS Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS). Mr. Gill has been with NOAA's tides and water levels program in various capacities since 1975 and has operational experience in water level measurement, data processing, analyses and tidal datums, and product development for tides and sea level applications. Most recently, he has been working to develop various training programs in the application of tides and sea level measurement to surveying and mapping as well as to coastal zone management and habitat restoration, and is working to develop the Federal backbone for the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS). Prior to coming to NOAA, Mr. Gill was an oceanographer for three years at the New York Ocean Science Laboratory in Montauk, NY. His educational background also includes one-year of applied research in tides and tidal theory at Scripps Institution of Oceanography under the tutorship of Bernard Zetler.

Daniel E. Hudgens

Daniel E. Hudgens
B.S. Cornell University (Natural Resources) 1996
M.S. University of Massachusetts (Environmental, Coastal, and Ocean Sciences) 1999

Dan Hudgens is an environmental consultant with Industrial Economics Incorporated. His masters research article "Adapting the National Flood Insurance Program to Relative Sea Level Rise," was published in Coastal Management. Since joining Industrial Economics in 1999, Mr. Hudgens has continued to work on projects associated with sea level rise, such as EPA's project to create GIS maps depicting local planner expectations on how communities will respond to sea level rise. He also undertook a GIS-based study for the Electric Power Research Institute estimating the cost of sea level rise along the California coast. Other projects include contracts with National Marine Fisheries Service (Draft Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan Environmental Impact Statement, as well as a GIS model to assess the change in fishing line usage), EPA's Office of Emergency and Remedial Response (evaluating impacts of extreme weather events on subaqueous contaminated sediment sites) and EPA's Office of Policy (draft benefits report for the revised Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations rule).

Nancy Jackson

Nancy Jackson
B.A. Clark University (Geography) 1978.
M.S. Antioch/New England Graduate School (Natural Resource Management and Administration) 1986.
Ph.D. Rutgers University. (Geography) 1992.

Nancy Jackson is a physical geographer and coastal geomorphologist. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science at New Jersey Institute of Technology and Director of the Graduate Program in Environmental Policy. Her research focuses on coastal processes on beaches and dunes with particular emphasis on foreshore processes and sediment transport in estuarine and low wave energy environments. Specific research projects have examined wave activation and sediment mixing, longshore sediment transport, swash - beach water table interactions, and geomorphic-biotic interactions on sandy foreshores in estuaries. Applied research she has undertaken focuses on humans as an agent of coastal landform change and specifically how physical � biological �social processes increase or decrease resilience of coastal environments. Dr. Jackson has published over 40 journal articles on coastal processes and management. She is an Associate Editor of Estuaries: An International Journal of Coastal Science and serves on the Editorial Board of Journal of Coastal Research. She was awarded the 2004-2005 Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Environmental Policy and Legislation at the Politecnico di Torino, Italia.

Zoë P. Johnson

Zoë P. Johnson
B.A. Western Washington University (Urban and Regional Planning) 1992
M.M.A. University of Washington (Marine Affairs) 1998

Zoë Johnson is an in-house coastal planning consultant for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Coastal Zone Management Division and the Maryland Eastern Shore Resource Conservation & Development Council. Current projects include: oversight of Maryland's sea level rise planning and research activities; development of assessment tools for shore protection; and, assistance to local governments for coastal hazard planning and sea level rise response. As a NOAA Coastal Management Fellow for the State of Maryland, she prepared the sea level rise response strategy for the State of Maryland. From 1992-1996, she was an associate planner and shoreline administrator for the Skagit County (Washington) Planning Department.

Michael S. Kearney

Michael S. Kearney
B.A. University of Illinois, 1973, History/Geology
MA, Western Illinois University, 1976, Geography
PhD, University of Western Ontario, 1981 (Geography, specializing in geomorphology and paleoenvironmental reconstruction)

Michael S. Kearney is a Professor in the Department of Geography, University of Maryland, College Park. Since joining the faculty at College Park, Dr. Kearney has focused on coastal processes and environments, particularly problems of marsh loss and sea level rise, reconstructing of recent sea level trends, changes in historical shoreline erosion, and Bay sedimentary processes. He has also worked extensively on barrier islands, focusing barrier island evolution, the impact of storms on beach processes, and aeolian transport. In recent years, he focused on using remote sensing to assess the response of coastal marshes to sea level rise and changes in nutrient concentration in US middle Atlantic estuaries. Dr. Kearney has published over 60 refereed journal articles, book chapters, and proceeding papers and reports, and is co-author of the recent books, Sea Level Rise: History and Consequences, published by Academic Press, and North American Coasts, published by Kendall Hunt.

Alexander S. Kolker

Alexander S. Kolker
B.A. University of California, Santa Cruz (1995)
M.A. Stony Brook University (2000)
Ph.D. Stony Brook University (2005) Marine and Atmospheric Science.

Alexander Kolker is interested in the influence of climate variability and human activities on coastal ecosystems. This work pulls from a variety of disciplines, including sedimentary geology, isotope and biogeochemistry, climatology and plant ecology. His Ph.D. thesis focused on environmental changes in Long Island salt marshes and he has been particularly interested in the causes and consequences of salt marsh loss. Additionally, Alexander Kolker seeks to understand how local and global climatic processes drive sea level changes. His current post-doctoral work involves monitoring salt marsh restoration efforts in Jamaica Bay.

Danielle Kreeger

Danielle Kreeger
B.S., Pennsylvania State University (Biology/Marine Biology, Honors), 1984
M. S., University of Delaware (Marine Biology/Biochemistry ), 1986
Ph.D., Oregon State University (Fisheries Science) 1992

Danielle Kreeger is Science Coordinator for the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, which administers the National Estuary Program for the Delaware Estuary. Although the Partnership is headquartered in Wilmington, DE, she also maintains an office at the Delaware River Basin Commission in West Trenton NJ. Dr. Kreeger leads science and technical teams that address the goals of the Comprehensive Conservation and Management Program for the Delaware Estuary and watershed. Example responsibilities include organizing the bi-annual Delaware Estuary Science Conference, charting science and management needs for the Estuary, and working with science and technical committees to address these needs. Trained as a shellfish ecologist and wetland ecologist, she previously worked as a scientist at the Plymouth Marine Laboratory, U.K. (1992-1994) and the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia (1994-2004). She has authored dozens of papers, mainly on the physiological ecology of filter-feeding animals such as bivalve mollusks. She is also an Associate Research Professor at Drexel University.

Curt Larsen

Curt Larsen
B.S., Geology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 1964
M.A., Sociology, Western Washington University, Bellingham,WA, 1971
Phd., Anthropology, The University of Chicago, 1980

Curtis Larsen is a senior research geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Reston, VA. He is a coastal geologist and geomorphologist with more than 35 years of experience investigating sea level change along the U.S. east and west coasts as well as the Persian Gulf region. He has also studied lake level change and postglacial isostatic crustal adjustments in the Great Lakes region. His current focus is on discerning the sea level history of the Mid Atlantic coast with respect to geologic and historic time scales. Most recently he has been deeply involved with modeling the impacts of prospective relative sea level rise on coastal wetlands and wetland habitats in conjunction with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. Apart from his active interest in reconstructing relative sea level history he is interested in assessing the role of wetlands as contributors of sediment to adjacent water bodies like the Chesapeake Bay. Similarly, he is interested in comparing the responses of marine coastal wetlands to current rates of relative sea level rise to those of fresh water wetlands in the Upper Great Lakes in similar water level rise situations.

Christopher Linn

Christopher Linn
B.S. Pennsylvania State University (Earth Sciences) 1994.
M.S. University of Delaware (Environmental and Energy Policy) 2000.

Chris Linn has been an Environmental Planner with the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) since 2000. In that position, he manages Pennsylvania's Coastal Zone Management (CZM) program in portion of the state vulnerable to sea level rise (as distinct from the Great Lakes), and has undertaken several studies of impacts of sea level rise on the developed communities and natural resources of the Delaware Estuary. He chairs the Urban Waterfront Action Group, a multi-agency task force set up to review permitting decisions for waterfront projects, and was a major contributor to the land use component of Destination 2030, the Delaware Valley's comprehensive long-range plan. Recently, he prepared the Pennsylvania Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program (CELCP) Plan for land acquisition and conservation. Currently, he serves on the Schuylkill River Development Council's Environmental Committee, the Pennsylvania Sea Grant Advisory Committee, and the Philadelphia Open Space Plan Advisory Committee. Before pursuing his master's degree, he worked as a client services manager and staff scientist for a Pennsylvania firm developing hazardous materials emergency response software.

Doug C. Marcy

Doug C. Marcy
B.S. Geology, College of Charleston, 1994.
M.S. Geology, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 1997

Doug C. Marcy is a Physical Scientist at the NOAA National Ocean Service / Coastal Services Center (CSC) in Charleston, SC.
He has been with the CSC since January of 2002 as a NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) employee working on enhancing NWS flooding forecast products and GIS capability, NOAA storm surge assessments, hydrologic modeling to support inland flood forecasting, and coastal hazards assessment projects designed to make communities more resilient to disasters. Before joining NOAA, he was a hydraulic engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Charleston District from 1999 to 2002. His work at the Corps focused on flood control projects, hydrologic and hydraulic modeling, flood inundation mapping, shoreline change analysis, and coastal engineering. From 1997 to 1999 he worked at the South Carolina Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management as a CSC Coastal Management Fellow.

Laura J. Moore

Laura J. Moore
B.A. Colgate University (Geology), 1993
Ph.D. University of California Santa Cruz (Earth Sciences), 1998

Laura Moore is an Assistant Professor of Geology at Oberlin College. Dr. Moore has conducted research in a variety of coastal settings on topics including coastal cliff retreat, shoreline change, nearshore sand bar evolution, coastal barrier development and hurricane overwash deposition. Her most recent research focuses on improving our understanding of linkages between coastal evolution, climate variability and sea-level rise. Before arriving at Oberlin in 2002, she held an appointment as postdoctoral scholar at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, followed by a joint appointment as a research associate at the University of South Florida and the USGS Center for Coastal Geology in St. Petersburg, FL. In addition to authoring over 20 scholarly articles and reports, Dr. Moore has been an invited participant in the Cutting Edge series of pedagogical workshops and she is a member of the Project Kaleidoscope Faculty for the 21st Century.

Denise J. Reed

Denise J. Reed
B.S. Cambridge University (1980).
Ph.D. Cambridge University (Geography) 1986.

Denise Reed is a Professor at the University of New Orleans. Dr. Reed's research focuses on various aspects of sediment dynamics in coastal wetlands, with emphasis on sediment mobilization and marsh hydrology, both natural and altered, as factors controlling sediment deposition. She has participated in numerous research projects concerning marsh and estuarine sediment dynamics on the Gulf and Pacific coasts of the US as well as in Europe and South America. Dr. Reed has also worked closely with the development of restoration plans in for coastal Louisiana for the last 15 years being involved in incorporating science into efforts under the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act (CWPPRA) and more recently the Louisiana Coastal Area study. Dr. Reed has recently completed publications on altered hydrology effects on Louisiana salt marsh function and restoration of tidal wetlands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin delta. She currently serves on scientific advisory boards for ecosystem restoration in San Francisco Bay and Jamaica Bay NY, as well as the CALFED program and the US Army Corps of Engineers.

Ann Shellenbarger Jones

Ann Shellenbarger Jones
B.A. Washington University in St. Louis (Chemistry) 1995
Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Inorganic Chemistry) 2000

Ann Shellenbarger Jones is a Senior Associate with Industrial Economics, Incorporated, an economic and environmental consulting firm in Cambridge, MA. Her primary area of expertise is natural resource damage assessment and restoration, with a focus on developing methodologies for evaluating impacts to biological resources. Major areas of focus include habitat equivalency analysis and evaluation of ecological impacts of natural resource damage. She has developed and overseen multi-matrix ecological studies, including analyses for the Montrose Settlements Restoration Program. Her work has involved a variety of urban and rural river and estuary systems, including the Delaware River and Bay and the Passaic River. Dr. Shellenbarger Jones has also participated in oceanographic research, including analyzing impacts of sewage outfall on water column properties in Southern California and porewater iron chemistry in a southern Delaware salt marsh.

Jay Tanski

Jay Tanski
B.S. Pennsylvania State University (Geology) 1978.
M.S. State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook. (Coastal Geology) 1981.

Jay Tanski has been the Coastal Processes Specialist with New York Sea Grant since 1983. The program is a marine research, education and technical assistance program run jointly by SUNY and Cornell University. In his position he provides technical information and advisory services to a variety of coastal audiences including federal, state and local officials and agencies, communities, businesses and the public. He was technical advisor to the State and the Long Island Regional Planning in the development of the Long Island South Shore Hazard Management Program. He has served on the Governor's Coastal Erosion Task Force, New York State's Barrier Island Scientific Advisory Committee, and the Atlantic Coast of New York Erosion Monitoring Study Team, a collaborative effort of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York State Coastal Management Program and New York Sea Grant. Following graduate school, he worked as a project supervisor with a South Carolina consulting firm before returning to Long Island as a research associate at SUNY Stony Brook.

E. Robert Thieler

E. Robert Thieler
B.A. Dickinson College (Political Science, Environmental Studies) 1987
M.S. Duke University (Environmental Science) 1993
Ph.D. Duke University (Geology) 1997

Rob Thieler is a research geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. He conducts marine geologic research on the geologic framework and morphodynamics of the coastal zone. This includes understanding relationships between regional geology, sediment transport, and coastal erosion, as well as assessing potential sand and gravel resources. Thieler has worked with several state agencies (MA, MD) to develop long-term shoreline change data for coastal management. He also develops GIS software for measuring historical shoreline change using a variety of statistical techniques. He has completed preliminary assessments of coastal vulnerability to sea-level rise using simple criteria at both the national scale, and more recently for 25 National Park Service units worldwide. He is the author or co-author of over 70 technical publications. Dr. Thieler serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Coastal Research and Marine Geology.

James G. Titus

James G. Titus
B.A. University of Maryland (Economics and Applied Math) 1978
J.D. Georgetown University Law Center 1996

Since 1982, Jim Titus has managed EPA's Sea Level Rise Project, the first government project designed to identify opportunities to adapt to the consequences of global warming from greenhouse gases. His publications include the first probabilistic assessment of future sea level rise, the first assessment to estimate the nationwide impacts of sea level rise and cost of shore protection, and first set of state-specific maps depicting the lands vulnerable to projected sea level rise (posted at www.epa.gov/globalwarming/sealevelrise). He also undertook the first analysis of "rolling easements" and other legal and planning mechanisms that might allow public property rights to survive rising sea level. He has visited the shores of 90 percent of the counties within the case study area, and sailed in the majority of major bays, sounds, and rivers. Before coming to EPA, he developed macroeconomic models and wrote FORTRAN programs for University of Maryland and Congressional Budget Office. In 2004, Governor Robert Ehrlich appointed him to the Maryland Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee.

Jue Wang

Jue Wang
B.S. Henan University (Geography) 1982
M.S. Fujian Teacher's University (Geography: Climate Change, Sea level Change) 1986
Ph.D. University of Kansas (Geography: GIS, Remote Sensing, Biological Geography) 2000

Jue Wang has studied physical geography for more than 20 years and remote sensing and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) for the past nine years. Before coming to the United States, he was an assistant professor in China, where he taught and conducted research in geography. From 1993 to 2000, he was a graduate research assistant in the GIS and Environmental Modeling Laboratory (GEMLab) of the Kansas Applied Remote Sensing Program (KARS) at the University of Kansas. He served as the GIS and remote sensing specialist for the Brunca conservation biology project sponsored by the Organization for Tropical Studies, the Flint Hills-Osage Plains ecoregion GIS project funded by the Nature Conservancy, and the Kansas Ecological Reserves GIS project funded by National Science Foundation. His dissertation research focused on relationship between climate, the normalized difference vegetation index, and net primary productivity. Before joining Pyramid Systems, he was a senior GIS analyst at ICF Consulting, Inc.

S. Jeffress Williams

S. Jeffress Williams
B.S., Geology, Allegheny College, 1967
M.S., Geology/Oceanography, Lehigh University, 1969

S. Jeffress Williams, a senior research marine geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey at the Woods Hole Science Center, has more than 30 years of experience investigating topics such as the geologic origins and evolution of coastal and estuarine and Great Lakes systems, late Quaternary sea-level history, and the geologic character of modern marine sand bodies. He has published more than 200 research papers, reports, abstracts, and chapters and been a member on more than a dozen high-level national and state science advisory committees. Prior to his current research position in Woods Hole, Williams managed the Coastal and Marine Geology Program from1996 to 2000 at the USGS headquarters, Reston, VA. Prior to joining the USGS in 1983, he was a research marine geologist with the Corps of Engineers, Coastal Engineering Research Center and an invited visiting scientist (1980) at the Institute of Oceanographic Sciences, Taunton, UK, after receiving degrees in geology/oceanography from Allegheny College and Lehigh University. Williams' current research focus is on three main topics: carrying out a national synthesis and assessment of the state-of-knowledge about offshore marine sand and gravel aggregates, assessing the risk and vulnerability of U.S. coastal regions to coastal subsidence and future rise in relative sea level, and serving as a scientific advisor to system-scale coastal and wetland ecosystem restoration activities underway and in Louisiana.

Michael P. Weinstein

Michael P. Weinstein
B.A., Biology, Hofstra University, 1966
M.S., Zoology, Rutgers University, 1969
Ph.D., Marine and Environmental Science, Florida State University, 1975

Michael P. Weinstein is President and CEO, New Jersey Marine Sciences Consortium (NJMSC) and Director, New Jersey Sea Grant College Program. With more than twenty-eight years experience in research and teaching, Dr. Weinstein's primary academic interests include the role of estuarine habitat in the production of marine recreational and commercial fishes and shellfish. He has conducted extensive research in the areas of coastal ecology, fisheries science, wetland ecology, and restoration ecology, primarily in salt marshes, sea grass meadows, and mangrove habitats. Dr. Weinstein is deeply committed to technology transfer and outreach based on his research, especially in melding the science and practice of habitat restoration, sustainable development, integrated coastal zone management, and the "bottom up" management of fisheries resources. He has served on several National Research Council Committees, an NCEAS Working Group, the US-Japan CEST Panel, the Governor's Dredged Material Task Force, and currently serves on the Governor's Tourism Advisory Council as New Jersey's Ecotourism Representative. He is a member of the National Working Group for preparing the Nationwide Strategy for Coastal Habitat Restoration. He also serves on many other advisory councils and scientific advisory panels. He has been an invited speaker on numerous occasions and has authored more than 175 journal articles, abstracts, books, chapters and monographs. His most recent text, Concepts and Controversies in Tidal Marsh Ecology is expected to have international impact on the direction of tidal marsh research and restoration science.

Footnotes

Footnote 1: Based on Question 9.2 from the CCSP Strategic Plan: “What are the … potential future impacts of [climate change] on human welfare … and how can resilience be increased and vulnerability reduced?”

Footnote 2: Based on Question 9.2 from the CCSP Strategic Plan.

Footnote 3: Based on Question 9.2 from the CCSP Strategic Plan: “What are the current and potential future impacts of [climate change] on human welfare...?”

Footnote 4: Based on Illustrative Research Questions for both CCSP Strategic Plan Chapters 8 (“What are the effects of … increased rates of sea level rise … on … functioning of coastal ecosystems?”) and 9 (“What factors determine the vulnerability of natural systems to the adaptive measures that people may implement in response to global change?”).

Footnote 5: A continuing mission of the CCSP Strategic Plan is “Decision Support”, which is not possible without a consideration of the decisions that may actually depend on the information produced.

Footnote 6: Based on Question 9.2 from the CCSP Strategic Plan: “…and how can resilience be increased and vulnerability reduced?”

Footnote 7: Based on Milestone #6 under CCSP Strategic Plan Section 9.2.

Footnote 8. The National Map is a data set developed by a consortium of federal, state, and local partners who provide geospatial data to enhance America's ability to access, integrate, and apply geospatial data at global, national, and local scales.