The full range of coastal concerns will be up for discussion at the upcoming National Coastal Conference, with more than 180 speakers addressing an array of issues during the three-day event. The conference, presented by the American Shore & Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA), is titled “Beaches, Bays and Beyond” to reflect the breadth of issues to be highlighted during the event. It runs Oct. 25-27, 2017, at the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
The conference opens with a half-day plenary session on Wednesday, Oct. 25, which will include the following presentations:
- “Coastal Research and Science” by Jonathan Pennock, Director, National Sea Grant College Program, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
- “Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact” by Jennifer Jurado, Chief Climate Resilience Officer for Broward County, FL
- “Nuisance Flooding and How Often It Will Be Occurring” by David Kriebel, Professor of Ocean Engineering at the U.S. Naval Academy
- “The Visitor Perspective on Beach Management” by Stacy Ritter, president and CEO of the Greater Fort Lauderdale (FL) Convention and Visitors Bureau
- A welcome reception and poster session with more than two dozen presenters
Thursday and Friday will feature six concurrent 20-minute sessions running all day Thursday and until noon on Friday. These will include dedicated sessions on:
- Letting Stakeholders In: The Case for Using Marine Spatial Plans to Improve Stakeholder Engagement in Decision Making
- Potential Flood Risk Management
- Sediment Tracers: A Diagnostic Tool to Inform Sediment Pathways in the Coastal Zone
- Dune Management Challenges on a Developed Coast
- Coastal Systems & Public Policy
Additional sessions will focus on:
- Beach Management, Planning, and Policy
- Wetland Restoration & Restoration Technique
- Modeling & Managing Risk
- Identifying Sand Sources & Shore Restoration
- Living Shoreline Projects
- Managing Beaches to Increase Resiliency
- Potential Sources of Coastal Funding & Communications
- The Role of Dunes in Increasing Coastal Resiliency
- Coastal Policies, Regulations, & Agency Interaction
- Regional Sediment Management
- Flooding Hazard Assessment & Mapping
- Preparing for Sea Level Rise
- Tidal Inlet Modeling & Management
- Remote Sensing & Data Collection
- Methods for Promoting & Evaluating Coastal Sustainability
- Beach Nourishment, Design, & Performance
- Regional Comprehensive Coastal Studies & Shared Challenges & Innovative Strategies
- Coastal Structures
- Beach Erosion, Morphodynamics, & Ecosystem Modeling
- Nearshore Process Collaborative Research
- Science & Safety of Rip Currents
- Northeast Florida Post-Mathew Impacts & Recovery
- Understanding and Assessing Storm Impacts
- Hurricane Mathew: A Forensic Study
The conference is open to all interested coastal advocates. Register and pay for the conference online at www.asbpa.org. Single-day registrations are available, and a complete conference program and list of sponsors is available at the ASBPA website.
