SOLD OUT: RISING SEA LEVEL PREDICTIONS: WHAT THEY MIGHT MEAN FOR GLYNN COUNTY
January 22, 2019
8:30 – 11:00 am
College of Coastal Georgia
*** Registration for this event is closed. ***
Join community stakeholders for an information session on sea level rise predictions in Glynn County and ways our community can prepare and adapt. The event will be held on Tuesday, January 22, 2019 in the Southeast Georgia Conference Center's Terrill Thomas Auditorium at the College of Coastal Georgia.
Experts from the Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Georgia, and the National Park Service, alongside the Brunswick-Glynn County Joint Water and Sewer Commission, Georgia Department of Natural Resources and United Community Bank will deliver information and reports tailored to Glynn County. The emphasis of all presenters will be on the meaningful steps individuals, businesses and governmental entities can take to plan for the risks and the effects of rising seas in the near, middle and long-term future.
The event will be hosted by the Communities of Coastal Georgia Foundation, the Brunswick-Golden Isles Chamber of Commerce and the College of Coastal Georgia, and will feature the following presenters and moderators:
Presenters (see below or click here for bios)
Rebecca Beavers, Ph.D., Coastal Geology and Adaptation Coordinator, National Park Service
Kim Cobb, Ph.D., Professor and Director, Global Change Program, Georgia Institute of Technology
Jill Gambill, Public Service Faculty and Coastal Resilience Specialist, Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant, University of Georgia
Jimmy Junkin, Executive Director, Brunswick-Glynn County Joint Water and Sewer Commission
Jennifer Kline, Coastal Hazards Specialist, Coastal Resources Division, Georgia Department of Natural Resources
Mason Waters, Regional President, United Community Bank
Moderators
Scott McQuade, CEO, Golden Isles Convention and Visitors Bureau
Paul White, President and CEO, Communities of Coastal Georgia Foundation
“We feel it is critically important for the Coastal Georgia Foundation to take a leadership role on the issues that impact our entire community and its ability to thrive,” says Paul White, President and CEO of the Communities of Coastal Georgia Foundation. “Sea level rise and readiness touches anyone that has an invested interest in Glynn County’s being a great place to live and work. We are excited to convene the community and start an important discussion around this critical topic.”
“We are pleased to co-host this informative and in-depth discussion on the issues and predictions related to a rising sea level,” states Brunswick-Golden Isles Chamber of Commerce Chairman Jeff Bennett, “and I encourage the residents of Brunswick and Glynn County to come and hear this important presentation."
Presenter Bios
Rebecca Beavers, Ph.D., Coastal Geology and Adaptation Coordinator, National Park Service
Since 2000, Rebecca Beavers has served as coastal geology and coastal adaptation coordinator for the National Park Service, where she is the point of contact for sea level change, coastal adaptation to climate change, and coastal geomorphology related issues. Rebecca coordinates coastal adaptation efforts underway at the park level and with Department of Interior (DOI) initiatives. Rebecca worked as a geologist and oceanographer in a variety of upland and submerged coastal areas with the U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Rebecca has a Ph.D. in Geology from Duke University and a B.A. in Biology and Geology from Williams College.
Kim Cobb, Ph.D., Professor and Director, Global Change Program, Georgia Institute of Technology
Kim Cobb’s research uses corals and cave stalagmites to probe the mechanisms of past, present, and future climate change. She received her B.A. from Yale University in 1996, and her Ph.D. in Oceanography from the Scripps Institute of Oceanography in 2002. She spent two years at Caltech in the Department of Geological and Planetary Sciences before joining the faculty at Georgia Tech in 2004. Kim has sailed on multiple oceanographic cruises to the deep tropics and led caving expeditions to the rainforests of Borneo in support of her research. Kim has received numerous awards for her research, most notably a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.
Jill Gambill, Public Service Faculty and Coastal Resilience Specialist, Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant, University of Georgia
Jill Gambill is co-author of Georgia’s first and second municipal sea level rise plans, which were unanimously adopted by the City Councils of Tybee Island in 2016 and St. Marys in 2017. She has earned national recognition for her work with communities throughout the Southeast in preparing, responding and adapting to sea level rise and storm surge. She received her B.A. in Philosophy from Cardiff University, Wales, and M.A. in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Sydney, Australia. She is currently completing her Ph.D. in Integrative Conservation and Geography at the University of Georgia.
Jimmy Junkin, Executive Director, Brunswick-Glynn County Joint Water and Sewer Commission
Jimmy Junkin received his Bachelors of Science in Chemical Engineering and Masters in Business Administration from the University of Alabama. He worked in various process, environmental, water-wastewater treatment and management positions including time at Dow Chemical, Chemical Waste Management, and most recently served as the Director of the Tuscaloosa Water and Sewer Department.
Jennifer Kline, Coastal Hazards Specialist, Coastal Resources Division, Georgia Department of Natural Resources
Jennifer Kline is a Specialist for the Georgia Coastal Management Program, which represents 11 coastal counties. She is leading the state and Coastal Georgia in Disaster Recovery and Redevelopment Planning making Georgia the first state to have a completely resilient coast based on FEMA’s National Disaster Recovery Framework by the year 2020. Before joining the Coastal Resources Division, Ms. Kline worked for the Department’s Environmental Protection Division as an Industrial Compliance Specialist. Ms. Kline graduated from Valdosta State University with degrees in Environmental Geography and Geology.
Mason Waters, Regional President, United Community Bank
Mason Waters, a Glynn County native, has nearly 25 years of experience in the financial services industry and since 2014, has served as President of United Community Bank in Brunswick, overseeing all bank activity in the area, which includes retail branches in Savannah, Brunswick, St. Simons, Bluffton and Waycross and a loan production office in Macon, Ga. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia and the Graduate School of Banking at LSU. He is also a graduate of Leadership Georgia and currently serves as Alumni Chair.
About the Communities of Coastal Georgia Foundation
The Communities of Coastal Georgia Foundation (CCGF) was incorporated in 2005, as a tax-exempt public charity created by and for the people of Glynn, McIntosh and Camden counties. The Foundation now has assets over $20 million and has awarded over $14 million in grants to community organizations in the three-county region and beyond. The Foundation serves ordinary citizens who have the extraordinary vision for a better life for their neighbors, friends, families, and fellow coastal Georgians - today and for future generations. The Foundation seeks to be the region’s trusted source for thoughtful philanthropic counsel, sound financial management and strategic community investment.