Sea Level Rise, Climate Change & Design

Through a UGA Public Service and Outreach Fellowship in 2013, I was fortunate to collaborate with three public service units at UGA as they assisted coastal communities to prepare for sea-level rise and the increasing hazards associated with extreme weather events. These multi-year, NOAA-funded projects aimed to help governments create plans, assess vulnerabilities in their communities, educate the public, and adapt policies in preparation for anticipated economic and environmental change. As part of the project team, I used effective visual design as an intermediary to clarify complex information, enhancing understanding and building trust between government entities, community members and stakeholders.

Much of my contribution to these projects, through 2017, involved visualizing and communcating complex information—such as predicted sea level rise scenarios—for non-scientific audiences. I was also involved in presentation graphics, project branding and publication designs at various stages.

The final plans have emerged as models for other coastal communities across the country. The Tybee Island project won a National Sea Grant Superior Outreach Programming Award and has received significant press as a first-of its kind sea level rise planning collaboration, including mention in the New York Times, in this article, “Flooding of Coast, Caused by Global Warming, Has Already Begun”.

These efforts demonstrate how strategic visual communication can shape public understanding and inform policy decisions in the face of environmental uncertainty.

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Projects:
Tybee Island: Developing a 50-year Climate Adaptation Plan for a Highly Vulnerable Barrier Island Community and Implementing Comprehensive Community Planning in St. Marys GA and Hyde County, NC. 

Visualizations of NOAA Sea-Level Rise Data

My initial work involved visualizing complex data, such as predicted sea-level rise scenarios, for community audiences in Tybee Island, and later St. Marys, GA, and Hyde County, NC. These stakeholders were ultimately making decisions based on the information provided from the project team about how their communities could prepare for and mitigate increased coastal hazards. Ultimately, St. Marys was able to lower its risk from tidal flooding and decrease their federal flood insurance Community Rating System (CRS) classification which saved community members on insurance premiums.

Publications Design: Final Project Reports