Network for Engineering With Nature

Matthew Berg, CEO and Principal Scientist at our partner organization Simfero, contributed to a recent paper outlining opportunities for nature-based solutions, equity, and broad sustainability considerations in managing water resources in Texas. “Addressing Challenges to Ensuring Justice and Sustainability in Policy and Infrastructure for Texas Water Resources in the 21st Century” was published earlier this month in the Texas Water Journal, an outlet geared primarily toward decision makers and policy experts in the Lone Star State. The publication is a collaborative effort of the Texas Water Research Network, a working group of researchers from academia, non-profit organizations and the private sector. The authors point to the relatively uneven landscape of environmental justice efforts in the state of Texas, presenting recommendations for research and practice that aim to address policy and planning gaps with persistent environmental justice issues. “We aim to help water managers and policy makers identify and dismantle sources of inequity, particularly through including community voice.” Check out the full paper here: https://lnkd.in/gv-YeG_T

We're back with more ecosystem engineers, and this time we're heading underwater! Check out more of these skilled species that work hard to shape their habitats, and learn more about them here: https://lnkd.in/eEcchwJY Comment your favorite ecosystem engineer below- there are so many more!

Need some easy listening? Here's your October Partner Podcast Roundup! ☀️ The Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems' Resilient Futures Podcast welcomed professor and researcher Lauren McPhillips to discuss how to implement solar power while protecting ecosystems. 🩺 The Engineering With Nature® (EWN®) Podcast featured physician Chris Lemon for a two-part series on climate change, disease, and human health. 🏞️ The Engineering With Nature Podcast also spoke with Brian Davis, landscape architecture professor, and Cathy Johnson, NPS coastal ecologist to discuss combatting climate change threats in National Parks. Check out all of these wherever you listen to podcasts! https://lnkd.in/eQy6-k8x

We love to see this relationship between our founding partners continue to grow! Congratulations to UGA on a pretty great new hire. 😉

N-EWN partner Anchor QEA’s 2024 scholarship is now accepting applicants! Eligible students can apply through November 20, 2024, and recipients will be announced in January 2025. The scholarship awards funding to individuals who fit the following criteria: ✅ Are full-time graduate students in the United States (or have been accepted to a United States graduate school), ✅ Are pursuing a major related to Anchor QEA’s areas of expertise (engineering, environmental sciences, planning and restoration, or related technical field), and ✅ Have a demonstrated financial need. Since 1999, Anchor has QEA presented more than 170 scholarships to graduate students across the country, and we continue to take steps toward dismantling the financial barriers that contribute to inequities in STEM fields. We commit half of all funds to Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) candidates and strongly consider financial need during the application process. Candidates may access the scoring rubric, the application, and additional information about the scholarship here: https://lnkd.in/gugpVbt

Each month, the N-EWN partners gather together to share updates on their work in and outside the Network. Meetings begin with a speaker or two from one of our partners to discuss their ongoing work, and then we hold a discussion period to ask questions about the presentation and share ideas with each other. This month, we heard from: The UCSC Center for Coastal Climate Resilience aims to lead the field of climate change mitigation on coasts by assessing risks, evaluating the benefits of nature and nature-based solutions (NbS), and identifying incentives to invest in NbS. Mike Beck, CCCR’s Director, pointed to the recent Hurricanes Helene and Milton to make their point: “The risks are real. They’re here now.” The meeting’s second speaker also pointed to the recent hurricanes- Aditya Gupta is a postdoctoral research scientist at UGA's Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems and works on a number of hydrodynamics and morphodynamics projects. In this talk, Gupta reviewed the benefits of barrier islands and coastal marshes for protection against storm surge. Our monthly meetings normally have two speakers, but this time we had a bonus talk by Ellis Kalaidijan from USACE ERDC! Kalaidijan and colleagues at USACE called for input from N-EWN’s community of NbS researchers, practitioners and stakeholders on a new project to evaluate NbS projects and support implementation. The Network for Engineering With Nature holds gatherings, both virtually and in person, to facilitate the social dynamics of innovation among diverse organizations. This month’s speakers engaged the entire team with exciting NbS news, and a reminder why natural solutions are so important. Thank you to all of our speakers!

This past week I had the pleasure of attending the ASLA conference and sitting in on an EWN short course hosted at the RAE conference in Washington, D.C. Many new connections were made, and boy oh boy did I learn a lot! It was great to listen in to all the new happenings within Engineering With Nature® (EWN®).

Join us for this month's N-EWN Knowledge Series, "The Evolution of a Resilient Coastal Community: Over 20 Years of Beaches, Back Bays, Rivers and Stormwater in Norfolk, Virginia." This month's speakers are Brian Joyner from Moffatt & Nichol and Kelli Cunningham from Waggonner & Ball. Register for this webinar series here: https://bit.ly/3gR9ADL Read more: https://lnkd.in/evkbTzDP

A Call for Action at the RAE 2024 Summit! It was energizing to meet friends and colleagues at the Restore America's Estuaries 2024 Summit in Crystal City, Virginia, where we spent almost a week, discussing how to advance nature based solutions (NBS) as a vital tool to restore our estuaries. The REPI (Readness and Environmental Protection Integration) program’s closing plenary was truly a highlight, kicked off by Mr. Ron Tickle, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Environmental Management and Restoration, attended by nearly 350 professionals. The panel, chaired by Dr. Michelle Covi, discussed how to integrate NBS and innovative thinking to further advance REPI (Jacquelene Smith, Dr. Rom Lipcius, Benjamin McFarlane, AICP, CFM). A nice finishing touch was Thursday’s Engineering With Nature® (EWN®) short course, hosted by Amanda Tritinger, PhD, PE, and Dr. Jeff King from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), attended by 75 professionals. We ended with a call to be “big and bold” on NBS, thanks to Dr. Todd Bridges from UGA’s Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems.

Join us for this month's N-EWN Knowledge Series, "The Evolution of a Resilient Coastal Community: Over 20 Years of Beaches, Back Bays, Rivers and Stormwater in Norfolk, Virginia." This month's speakers are Brian Joyner from Moffatt & Nichol and Kelli Cunningham from Waggonner & Ball. Register for this webinar series here: https://bit.ly/3gR9ADL Read more: https://lnkd.in/evkbTzDP