Research Symposium to Discuss Benefits of Coastal Resilience

This year, the annual research symposium of the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission will focus on the social and economic benefits of resilience in urban coastal systems.

The fourth annual Urban Coastal Research Symposium, “Socio-Economic Analyses of Coastal Ecosystem Resilience,” will take place March 12 at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. The event is co-hosted by the university, the commission and the Center for Urban Resilience at LMU.

This year’s diverse lineup of presenters includes a sustainability architect/author, the recently elected mayor of Compton whose background is urban planning, as well as key scientists in the field of coastal restoration. Registration is open until Feb. 28.

The symposium will cover a wide range of topics, from wetland restoration to marine protected areas (MPA) and watershed-level greening efforts. Four noteworthy presenters are:

• Christine Whitcraft, California State University, Long Beach, assistant professor of biological sciences, presenting an economic evaluation of wetland restoration projects in Southern California - what does it mean to our pocketbooks? - and her paper: “Spatial Hedonic Valuation of a Multiuse Urban Wetland in Southern California.”
• Matthew Kahn, UCLA, professor, Institute of the Environment, Department of Public Policy, Department of Economics, presenting his recent book, “Fundamentals of Environmental Economics: Solving Urban Pollution Problems.”
• Ryan Vaughn, senior economist at Bank of America, presenting valuation of restoration projects, stormwater diversions and water quality.
• Amanda Zellmer, Occidental College, adjunct assistant professor of biology, presenting on long-term pre- and post-MPA commercial fishery monitoring and socio-economic benefits of MPA implementation statewide.
• Eric Corey Freed, award-winning “organic architecture” pioneer and author, will present the keynote speech, addressing a range of issues from green building and biomimicry to climate change, and how they relate to the economics of coastal resiliency.

Opening the event will be Jan Perry, general manager of the city of Los Angeles’ Economic and Workforce Development Department, and Compton Mayor Aja Brown. The day will include morning and afternoon sessions, as well as a student abstract poster session and reception/networking hour at closing.

Source: Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission