Webinars

This webinar originally aired on Thursday, December 1, 2022. Presented by: Carolyn Kousky of the Environmental Defense Fund. Description: The frequency and intensity of natural disasters—such as hurricanes, floods, and storms—are on the rise, threatening our way of life and our livelihoods. Insurance, an often confusing and unpopular tool, is critical to recovery from these crises. Yet, as it becomes ever more essential, insurance markets are under stress, many are uninsured, and insurance often seems divorced from efforts to improve the resilience and sustainability of our communities. How can we improve insurance to provide consistent and sufficient help following all disasters? How do we use insurance not just to help us recover, but also to help us prevent disasters in the first place? And how can insurance help us achieve broader social and environmental goals? Associate Vice President for Economics and Policy at the Environmental Defense Fund and author of Understanding Disaster Insurance, Carolyn Kousky, will present on why traditional insurance markets fall short in meeting the needs of a world coping with climate change and how new insurance and risk transfer markets can help create thriving and resilient coastal communities and ecosystems.

This webinar originally aired on November 16, 2022. Presented by: Steven Mana‘oakamai Johnson of Cornell University. A fundamental challenge in ocean conservation is translating the results of climate models into forms that managers and others can use to plan for the future. Using techniques from information theory, the Ocean Novelty (ONo) Index provides a simple and intuitive way to understand how climate change will alter key ocean biogeochemical variables. This measure can help MPA managers know what they need to prioritize in their planning and design policies and regulations that help their MPA keep pace with expected shifts in the ecosystem state. This webinar will share how the ONo Index is calculated and walk through an application for large MPAs.

This webinar originally aired on November 2, 2022. Presented by: Matt Simon of Wired magazine. Description: Matt Simon, science journalist at Wired magazine, has published the first book to fully explore the threat of microplastics. Publishers Weekly describes the book as a “lucid, distressing look at a growing environmental concern.” In this webinar, Simon will share how the study of microplastics began in the sea but has now moved to land, the atmosphere, and human health. This presentation will give a brief overview of the current science of microplastics and the scientists who travel to the ends of the earth and the bottom of the ocean to understand plastic pollution.

This webinar originally aired on Tuesday, October 4, 2022. Presented by: Chris Clapp of The Ocean Sewage Alliance. Description: Roughly 80% or more of the world’s sewage enters the oceans completely untreated or poorly treated, stressing many ecosystems to the point of collapse. This challenge goes largely unnoticed until a crisis happens – a fishery is lost, beaches get closed, or, worse, people get seriously ill. The Ocean Sewage Alliance was formed to break the silence about ocean sewage pollution and bring a sense of urgency to public discourse on the issue. We do so by simultaneously raising awareness about the problem and highlighting the many opportunities that arise from addressing sewage pollution – opportunities in the form of resource recovery, job creation, and risk avoidance.

This webinar originally aired on Wednesday, July 13, 2022. Presented by: Sari Tolvanen of Ocean Eye. Description: Global studies have shown that stakeholder buy-in is the number one success factor in marine conservation, but too often coastal communities lack incentives to support conservation initiatives. Ocean Eye is a data collection and financial transfer platform that collects wildlife sighting data and transfers ecosystem service payments. The animal sighting reports are directly linked to small payments from tourists that go to coastal communities to incentivize the protection of endangered and vulnerable species. By connecting profit to purpose for the tourism operators and communities, it will shift the focus from the current unsustainable behavior of fisheries and coastal communities towards a sustainable, regenerative, and profitable new focus industry that will provide positive livelihood for the future.

This webinar originally aired on Wednesday, July 6, 2022. Presented by: Vincenzo Corelli of l’Institut national de la recherche scientifique. Description: The highly dynamic shifts in species distributions and transformations of marine ecosystems due to climate change present significant management challenges to marine protected areas (MPAs). While climate change projections can be incorporated into the design process for new MPAs and MPA networks, adaptation is less clear for established MPAs, which were often not designed with climate change impacts in mind. This webinar will explore the results of an analysis that surveyed the integration of climate change measures in existing MPA management plans. The presenter will share what actions are already being taken by MPA managers to anticipate, adapt to, and mitigate the consequences of climate change and ensure the continued effectiveness of MPAs in a changing ocean. They will also discuss how their results create a community-sourced database of actions which other MPAs can draw upon.

This webinar originally aired on Tuesday, May 17, 2022. Presented by: Claudia Quintanilla and Katie Heffner of Rare. Description: Environmental challenges are also behavioral challenges; solving them requires behavioral solutions. Rare and its Center for Behavior & the Environment (BE.Center) applies behavioral science to help tackle some of the world’s most pressing environmental issues. This webinar will explore behavior-centered design, how it can be applied to marine conservation programs, and examples of successful cases from around the world – with challenge areas ranging from marine pollution to small-scale fishery management. Presenters will share actionable resources tools and other practical guides to apply behavioral insights in marine conservation programs.