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Marshes for Maine’s Future used an innovative Collaborative Learning approach to facilitate the application of geospatial tools developed by USGS to marsh projects in Maine. The tools provide a scientific framework for supporting decision-makers who actively research and manage climate-induced changes in marsh resilience and vulnerability. The project team developed a series of virtual and in-person knowledge sharing workshops where the USGS creators of the geospatial products could interact with salt marsh professionals working on marsh resilience projects that could benefit from applying the tools. Applying the geospatial tools during these workshops contributed to work protecting, restoring, and managing Maine’s salt marshes.

The project’s final products include a step-by-step guide called “How to Catalyze Geospatial Science to Build Marsh Resilience,” which is for Training and Engagement professionals and geospatial tool designers who want to design, implement, and evaluate projects that produce effective and efficient outcomes that achieve resilience goals and maintain ecosystem services. In this webinar, project lead Chris Feurt and technical lead Neil Ganju will share the geospatial tools that were transferred as part of this project, as well as the adaptations and collaborative processes used to fit the tools to the needs of the marsh managers in the region.

Speakers:

Christine Feurt, Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve Christine Feurt is the Coastal Resilience Scientist at the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve in Wells, Maine and a Research Associate in the School of Marine and Environmental Science at the University of New England. Dr. Feurt collaborates with communities and organizations working to sustain coastal ecosystems. Chris uses the Collaborative Learning approach to integrate local knowledge and expertise with natural and social science to build resilient coastal communities where the things people value are conserved for future generations.

Neil Ganju, U.S. Geological Survey Neil Ganju is a Research Oceanographer at the US Geological Survey (USGS) Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center. He began his USGS career at the California Water Science Center, studying hydrodynamics and sediment transport in San Francisco Bay. He currently leads the Estuarine Processes, Hazards, and Systems project.  Project research spans the multiple disciplines that converge in estuarine systems, including numerical model development, field observations of hydrodynamics and water quality, wetland and coastal vulnerability assessments, geomorphic change, and eutrophication.