This project transfers risk communication materials and training sessions developed through a collaboration between the Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve and NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management, with the help of a risk communication expert. In the wake of Superstorm Sandy, the Jacques Cousteau Reserve and the Office for Coastal Management recognized that coastal decision-makers needed effective risk communication skills to help community decision-makers and residents understand and implement resiliency planning and risk hazard management. Their collaboration resulted in the development of a new Office for Coastal Management risk communication training for coastal decision-makers.

These risk communication skills have broad value for National Estuarine Research Reserve System staff and their coastal partners around the country. This project aims to apply the training resources and materials developed by the Jacques Cousteau Reserve and the Office for Coastal Management to build risk communication capacity in four coastal communities. The project combines a general risk communication training with a technical assistance workshop designed to meet the needs of the local decision-making community. The two-day event will allow coastal outreach personnel to be equipped with general skills, as well as with expert insights for specific projects involving risk communication.

The University of Michigan Water Center and partners are working with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to implement the NERRS Science Collaborative, by coordinating regular funding opportunities and supporting user-driven collaborative research, assessment and transfer activities that address critical coastal management needs identified by reserves.

See: National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) Science Collaborative