Resilient Futures Podcast

California relies on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta as a hub for water, biodiversity, agriculture, recreation, and more. How can we make sure that management actions are working as intended?

 Returning guest Stephen Elser is a Senior Environmental Scientist with the Delta Stewardship Council, which works to advance California's coequal goals: a more reliable water supply and a resilient Delta ecosystem. Broadly, Stephen's team is tasked with supporting the use of adaptive management to enhance conservation and sustainable use of the Delta.

Adaptive management is a flexible approach to managing natural resources that allows for continuous learning, resulting in management decisions based on what was learned rather than simply implementing without regard for scientific feedback or monitoring. Management actions can be viewed as hypotheses to be tested, with the goal of continuous improvement while reducing uncertainty.

 Stephen explains the process of adaptive management, and why it's so important in complex ecosystems like the Delta.

Stephen's Haiku:

Uncertain futures

But we know a lot, let's act

Learning as we go

-Read more about the Delta Stewardship Council at their website.

-Follow this link to learn more about the Council's adaptive management work, and to find resources on developing adaptive management plans.

-The 2025 Adaptive Management Forum will be held on October 14-15! Follow this link to learn more about this free event and to register to attend either in-person or online.

Have you ever asked your garbage truck where it's going?

Sybil Derrible is a professor of civil engineering at the University of Illinois Chicago, focusing on urban engineering- studying large systems of power and movement inspired by the tiny island he calls his hometown. Living in a tight community (and with parents that owned a hardware store), Sybil grew up knowing where his water and energy came from- and now, he wants you to learn about yours too.

In this episode, Sybil joins us to discuss his new book, aptly titled The Infrastructure Book. He chose to write this book because he felt that his work needed to be communicated to the public. He feels that people need to understand how their infrastructure works: not just roads and bridges, but the energy systems, water distribution, telecommunications, waste disposal and more that happen behind the scenes.

Sybil's Haiku:
It breathes not, but lives
It makes it all possible
Infrastructure rocks!

Links:
Check out The Infrastructure Book here: https://csun.uic.edu/the-infrastructure-book/
Learn more about Sybil's work: https://sybilderrible.com/ 

This month, we’re proud to introduce an in-house effort at the Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems: the Georgia Statewide Resilience Assessment.

Commissioned by The Pew Charitable Trusts and conducted by the Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems at UGA, this report brings together insight from across the sectors, stakeholders and systems of Georgia. The outcome: a review of our hazards and challenges, as well as some opportunities, exemplary projects, and recommendations for creating a more resilient Georgia.

The research process for this report involved holding in-person and virtual discussions across the state to gain a wide array of perspectives. In this episode, we bring you a few of the people who were present at some of those meetings to discuss the project and state resilience planning as a whole.

Featuring:
Kristiane Huber, Officer, US Conservation, The Pew Charitable Trusts
Lynn Abdouni, Associate Research Scientist, Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems
Summer Modelfino, Deputy Chief Resilience Officer, Maryland Office of Resilience
Alan Robertson, AWR Strategic Consulting, Tybee Island, Georgia

And yes, Alan brought a haiku!
Recover, adapt
Always planning for a more
Resilient future

Links:
Read the report here: https://iris.uga.edu/resilience-planning-for-the-state-of-georgia/
Watch the webinar on state resilience planning here: https://iris.uga.edu/resilience-planning-for-the-state-of-georgia/
Learn more about the Maryland Office of Resilience: https://resilientmaryland.com/
Learn more about resilience efforts in Tybee Island: https://resilienttybee.com/ 

Cynthia Kierner, historian, self-declared "non-21st century person," and Mets fan, is deeply interested in the role of disturbances across American history- hurricanes, earthquakes, and disease, oh my. In her book, Inventing Disaster: The Culture of Calamity from the Jamestown Colony to the Johnstown Flood, she reviews the history of natural disasters and how we respond to them across time and space in the United States.

Hosts Alysha and Todd join their guest in asking colossal questions on cataclysms: How do governments simultaneously prepare for risks at local, regional and national levels? What role do community outsiders play in disaster prevention and recovery? Can the government make you wear a seatbelt?

From Philadelphia's yellow fever epidemic of 1793 to the worldwide shutdown of COVID-19, disturbances shape communities in a major way. In this episode, we review the life cycle of natural disasters and how they impact communities today... and tomorrow.

Cynthia's Haiku (An Ode to Jersey City):
Superstorm Sandy
Rollercoaster in the sea
Inspiring disaster


Links:
Inventing Disaster: The Culture of Calamity from the Jamestown Colony to the Johnstown Flood: https://uncpress.org/book/9781469652528/inventing-disaster/

Rethinking American Disasters (NEW): https://lsupress.org/9780807179932/rethinking-american-disasters/

Bio: https://historyarthistory.gmu.edu/people/ckierner

We know that green spaces are good for you. They provide benefits to air quality, biodiversity, and even your mental health... but why?

Returning guest Joeri Morpurgo, a postdoctoral fellow at Universiteit Leiden in the Netherlands, set out with his team to answer this question. They found an important distinction: not all green spaces are created equal.

The team also investigated the various benefits of green space, and found natural variables to attribute them to: lower air temperatures were directly related to tree heights, soil quality promotes water storage, and so on. Every green space has unique characteristics that give it unique, nuanced benefits. In this episode, Joeri joins hosts Alysha and Todd to talk about why distinction between outdoor spaces is so important.

Joeri's Haiku:
Lush green fill the streets
Yet life and function diverge
Features shape what they give

Links:
Joeri's Bio: https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/staffmembers/joeri-morpurgo#tab-1
Joeri's Publications: https://scholar.google.nl/citations?user=PHxx0pIAAAAJ&hl=nl 

Pre-print of Joeri's newest pub: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5841194/v1

The Mississippi River Basin covers over a million square miles across the southeast and midwest US. Despite growing up far away in the northeast US, Boyce Upholt thinks about the nation's largest waterway more than most: he's the author of "The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi." The book began nearly eight years earlier with a paddling trip, a sunken steamboat, and love-at-first-sight for the iconic southern river.

Upholt speaks to our hosts Alysha and Todd about his intertwining passions for history and nature, and why this work centers on "the Great River." The book covers how humans have thought about, related to, and altered the region over centuries, and how the river changes to meet us in new ways.

"We know it's out there, this sort of heart beating in the middle of America, but most Americans don't know what it looks like."

Boyce's Haiku (The Edgelands Wander Haiku):
Shopping cart half-sunk
Into the crust-dried batture mud
Nothing lasts too long

Links:
Check out the book: https://www.boyceupholt.com/
Southlands Magazine, a new project by Boyce Upholt, is launching later this year: https://www.boyceupholt.com/southlands

Emmanuel Stone was raised to love good food: his mother, a restaurant owner, inspired him to teach culinary arts, learn about agriculture, and emphasize the importance of whole foods. This led him to Athens Land Trust: an organization that simultaneously encourages conservation and community in Athens, GA where UGA is located.

Stone serves as the Strategic Partnerships Director for ALT. From his office at Williams Farm, a space where ALT houses their offices as well as a community garden, sustainable farming classes for both youth and adults, and counseling for homebuyers, he explained the model ALT uses to simultaneously provide affordable housing, educational resources, and whole foods to the Athens community.

"We see these things all as connected," he said. "The Trust tries to do many things, but the main thread connecting all these areas of work is that we see how community development takes many shapes."

Whether you're interested in sustainable communities, agriculture, buying a house, or just hearing us chat about food- this episode is for you!


Links:

Learn more about Athens Land Trust here: https://athenslandtrust.org/
Emmanuel Stone Bio: https://athenslandtrust.org/staff_member/emmanuel-stone/
ALT Workshops and Classes: https://athenslandtrust.org/classes-events/
Upcountry Oyster Roast: https://athenslandtrust.org/classes-events/oyster-roast/ 

This month's guest is someone close to home for our team- meet Alysha's PhD student, Negin Shamsi! Negin gives an overview of her first first-author publication, titled, "Interdependency classification: a framework for infrastructure resilience."

Shamsi's research focus is infrastructure and urban resilience. Infrastructure managers collaborate across engineering, urban planning, emergency response, policy making and more. The goal of Shamsi's research, including the new paper, is to better prepare all of these fields for disturbances from hurricanes to cyber attacks.

"These systems do not function in isolation, they are interdependent and if one system fails, it will have effects on other systems as well," she said. "When we talk about interdependencies, especially in the past, people think about vulnerabilities, cascading failures- something negative. But recently, there has been a changing perspective: we can look at them as an opportunity for collaboration and innovation."

Check out the new paper here: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2634-4505/adac89/pdf

Negin's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/negin-shamsi-b6736b160/

How big does an urban garden need to be to support pollinators and other important insects? What kinds of plants lead to the most biodiverse space? How should homeowners manage their gardens to support the natural world?

Get the full garden scoop with PhD researcher Joeri Morpurgo, from University Leiden in the Netherlands! Morpurgo and his colleagues visited urban gardens throughout Amsterdam and counted all the different plant and insect species they could find. 

Some key findings? Gardens can be small but mighty--as long as there's dense foliage and a plethora of plant species, they supported a variety of insect species. And one controversial finding: native vs. non-native plant species didn't seem to make a difference to insect diversity. 

Hear Morpurgo's take on his findings, and his urban garden management recommendations on the podcast!

Related links: 
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1618866724003297

https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2024/07/pavement-gardens-are-crucial-to-urban-biodiversity

Big, leafy shade trees, burbling creeks, and access to recreation in beautiful natural areas: most people intuitively know that these kinds of natural amenities create pleasant communities, and houses located close to these kinds of resources tend to sell for more than those without. What folks often aren't thinking about is the fact that these resources have other benefits too--including filtering stormwater, sequestering carbon, and cooling neighborhoods. But how can we use policy to help encourage developers to adopt these policies from the start? And how can policy backfire in helping create equitably distributed natural resources for communities?

Michael Drescher, Associate Professor in the School of Planning and Adam Skoyles, PhD student at the University of Waterloo, joined host Alysha Helmrich to discuss these questions and more.

Drescher is the Director of the Residential Development Impact Scorecard for the Environment (RISE) project, which "Aims to better understand the longer-term impacts of urban residential developments on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and seeks to measure the effectiveness of GHG mitigation efforts of green infrastructure." Learn more about how RISE is working to help institute permanent changes in the development sector through their scorecard on the podcast!