Rising Seas, The Next Generation Speaks

Bert Roughton, award-winning journalist and retired Senior Managing Editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and St. Simons resident, took the issue of rising sea levels to three dynamic young people from within our local Coastal Georgia community to get their thoughts on this growing environmental, economic, and political issue and hear how they are committed to reversing the trends. Mackenzie Buck, Monty Rutherford Hughes, and Catie Fenstermaker were all fortunate to take classes in high school that have ignited their passion for environmental issues, and they are all active with area non-profits to put that energy to work. 

Rising Sea Level Presentation 4

St Simons Island Living Shore Line at Cannon's Point Preserve

For Stephanie Knox, Preserve Manager with the St. Simons Land Trust at Cannon's Point, love for the outdoors is a lifelong passion. An internship in May 2010 on Little St. Simons Island monitoring the breeding habits of the American Oystercatcher evolved into her being hired as the Ecological Management Technician at LSSI and to her falling in love with Coastal Georgia. Fast forward to January 2014 when Stephanie began her current position as the founding Preserve Manager at Cannon’s Point Preserve with the St. Simons Land Trust and hit the ground running. Her work at the Land Trust includes overseeing a wide array of research projects and the ecological management plan at the Preserve. She ensures the careful adherence to environmental standards and best practices, manages the natural and cultural resources at the Preserve, and works alongside numerous private and public partners, volunteers, scientists, and educators who assist with making Cannon's Point Preserve a model for conservation and platform for education. Her thrilling work on the Living Shoreline is making a huge difference in the sustainability of our coastal landscape and combating rising sea levels. 

Enjoy this third presentation from St. Simons Land Trust! 

Maritime Forest Restoration Presentation

Camden County:  Creating Resiliency.

Watch the presentation:

The National Park Service manages 88 shoreline parks, representing 11,000 acres. Those in the Southeast region are especially vulnerable to rising seas.

To be prepared and ultimately protect its asset, the NPS has a four-step action plan: collect data, predict future conditions, conduct vulnerability assessments, and adapt. Rebecca Beavers, Ph.D., and Coastal Geology and Coastal Adaptation Coordinator for NPS looks at Fort Frederica here on St. Simons Island and how NPS is working to understand and adapt to rising seas.

In late 2018, the Coastal Georgia Foundation was approached by one of its fundholders who had a question: Why isn't anyone talking about sea-level rise in Glynn County? In early 2019, the Foundation hosted "Rising Sea Level Predictions: What They Might Mean for Glynn County," a 7-panelist forum co-hosted by the College of Coastal Georgia and the Brunswick-Golden Isles Chamber of Commerce.