Mass ECAN April News
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Happy Spring! Everyone seems to be talking about the upcoming eclipse, which has me reflecting on how eclipses bring people together and build community. Unifying and awe-inspiring events like these draw attention to our planet as just one piece of a vast solar system. This gives me hope that folks may also be thinking about the need to protect our one hospitable home.
Below, we’re excited to share the follow-up from our workshop on funding collaborative capacity at the watershed-scale, capping off a year of focused initiatives on this topic. Also, stay tuned for exciting news soon about our pilot Ambassador Awards Program as another way to share about the amazing work you all do.
See below for our newsletter that's specifically curated for our community of practice:
Feel free to share this newsletter with a colleague and invite them to join us!
Best,
Melissa Ocana
Climate Adaptation Coordinator, UMass Amherst
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Expert Work Group Spotlight
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The Mass ECAN Watershed Scale Climate Collaboration Work Group was originally convened in 2020 as a subgroup of the Slow the Flow Work Group aimed at supporting collaboratives that tackle climate adaptation and resilience at the watershed level. That year, leaders of existing collaboratives in MA began to meet to share the lessons learned from real peer examples and the nuts and bolts of collaborative management. As new watershed-scale collaboratives began to form across the state over the next few years, our subgroup grew, and benefited from knowledge exchange between collaboratives at different stages of development.
We continued this peer-to-peer learning in 2023 with the development of a watershed-scale climate collaboration outreach toolkit, field trips to experience the work of other collaboratives first hand, and a watershed collaboration conference.
Following our very successful 2023, we evolved from subgroup to official work group in 2024! This year, our meetings will focus on peer-to-peer sharing about topics of common interest to leading collaboratives as well as learning from experts on how to address common challenges of watershed scale collaboration.
If you are involved in collaborative work and are interested in joining our quarterly calls, please contact Carolyn Norkiewicz or Erin Bonney Casey.
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New Piece: Funding Watershed-Scale Collaboration
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We're excited to share the follow-up from our December workshop on Funding for Watershed-Scale Collaboration! This piece includes summaries of what we heard along with recommendations and takeaways to build on what was shared at the workshop and provide a foundation for continued conversation. We hope this, along with the rest of the toolkit, is useful in your work to promote watershed-scale collaboration!
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Every month, we highlight someone in our community of practice so you can learn about a variety of adaptation work and "meet" a new colleague!
Emily Dahl
Deputy Director of Climate Resilience and Finance
Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
Bio: Emily (she/her) has worked in  climate, clean energy, and environmental policy and engagement for the past 20 years. She joined EEA’s climate policy team in 2023 after completing a mid-career Master’s degree in sustainable international development and environmental policy at Tufts University. Emily has previously worked with organizations including the MIT Energy Initiative, The World Bank, US DOE, Conservation Law Foundation, Charles River Watershed Association, and Barr Foundation. She has also volunteered on bird banding projects in MA, Costa Rica, and Peru.
Climate Adaptation Project: Emily is working with Asst. Secretary Mia Mansfield and a multidisciplinary team of state agency partners and consultants to develop an equity- and environmental justice-centered resilience metrics framework and corresponding set of metrics to assess the state’s progress on climate resilience goals from the 2023 ResilientMass Plan. The framework is also intended to help EEA prioritize future climate resilience funding needs. The team’s process includes examining resilience metrics from other states and convening focus groups to develop indicators and metrics for resilience to the most urgent human, infrastructure, natural environment, governance, and economic impacts of climate change.
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Marine and Coastal Invasives in a Changing Climate: Virtual Networking
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Funding Opportunity - Watershed Implementation Grants, Southeast New England Program (SNEP). Funding for high-priority projects that restore clean water, healthy ecosystems and sustainable communities throughout the region. Proposals due 4/5.
Funding Opportunity - Culvert Replacement Municipal Assistance Grant Program, Department of Ecological Restoration (DER). Funding to encourage replacement of aging culverts with better designed crossings that meet improved state structural and environmental design standards and flood resiliency criteria. Applications due 4/12.
Funding Opportunities - National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF)
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America the Beautiful Challenge. Soliciting proposals for large-scale, locally led conservation and restoration projects spanning public, Tribal and private lands. Proposals due 4/4.
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National Coastal Resilience Fund. Funding implementation of nature-based solutions to enhance protection for coastal communities from the impacts of storms, floods, and other natural coastal hazards, and to improve habitats for fish and wildlife. Proposals due 4/10.
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Long Island Sound Futures Fund 2024 Funding to support Long Island Sound (LIS) watershed communities as they plan, design, and implement projects to protect health and living resources of LIS. Proposals due 5/13.
Funding Opportunity - Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Program Action Grants, EEA. Funding to implement priority climate adaptation actions. Projects that incorporate nature-based solutions, advance equity, and that have robust community engagement plans are preferred. Proposals due by 2pm 4/24.
Funding Opportunity - Catalyst Fund, Network for Landscape Conservation. Funding for strategic investments in strengthening the collaborative capacity of place-based, community-grounded Landscape Partnerships to promote the pace of landscape conservation. Proposals due by 4/26.
Funding Opportunity - Healthy Watersheds Consortium Grants, EPA. Funding to accelerate and expand the strategic protection of healthy watersheds, including freshwater, estuarine, and marine ecosystems, across the United States. Info Webinar over Zoom at 2:30 on 4/9. Applications due by 5/10.
Event - National Adaptation Forum (NAF), Saint Paul, 5/14-5/16. Register for the conference here, early bird registrations close 4/8. We’ll be organizing a Massachusetts lunch gathering so If you are attending, let Melissa know!
Request for Information - Community Heat Resilience Program, Barr Foundation. Seeking a consulting partner who can support up to three pairings of municipalities and community-based organizations to collaboratively develop strategies to address extreme heat in environmental justice communities.
Job - Chief Impact Officer, Boston Harbor Now, Charlestown. Lead the organization’s waterfront development, climate resiliency, park development, public access, and community engagement work to maximize resiliency, accessibility and equity of the Boston Harbor.
Job - Restoration & Engagement Associate, Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA), Boston. Engage watershed residents through advocacy, coalition-building, community event management, and other means to advance river restoration projects and policies across the watershed. Apply by 4/5.
Job - River Restoration Project Manager, CRWA, Boston. Lead and support multiple projects focused on restoring river ecology and mitigating stormwater pollution by performing desktop geographic analyses, preparing reports, and engaging with local community members. Apply by 4/5.
Job - Chief Climate Officer, City of Cambridge. Lead the Office of Sustainability and climate efforts across City departments, executing a comprehensive decarbonization and resilience strategy. Apply by 4/19.
Job - Policy Analyst, Conservation Law Foundation, Boston. Join an interdisciplinary team and advance the organization's work on getting ready for climate impacts, supporting healthy neighborhoods, and promoting environmentally just investments.
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In case you've been wondering what to read next...
- Happy Earth Day/Month: It’s a great opportunity to get out and celebrate the work you do with friends and family. Here are ideas of ways to celebrate in Boston and many organizations are offering volunteer days, including Mass Audubon. This month is also timely for public outreach, including the State’s new climate action campaign.
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Have Something to Add?
Sharing in the Newsletters
Do you have something related to climate adaptation that you would like to see in a future newsletter? If you have project, job posting, event, outreach product, or something else that you’d like to submit for consideration, you can fill out this google form. Please note that this does not guarantee inclusion. We’ll select the climate adaptation items most relevant to our community of practice to continue to provide a curated newsletter. We look forward to hearing from you!
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Why am I getting this email?
Welcome to Mass ECAN!
You are receiving this email because you joined Mass ECAN.
Welcome to a supportive community of climate adaptation practitioners and researchers who are interested in ecosystem resilience and natural resources conservation in Massachusetts.
Mass ECAN is creating a space for us to learn from and with each other. Together, we can build capacity for climate adaptation that promotes ecosystem resilience and weaves natural resources conservation into actions across sectors. Mass ECAN is coordinated by UMass Extension. |
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