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Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Participant Biographies." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Environmental Challenges and Prospects for Community Relocation in Houston and Port Arthur, Texas: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26701.
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Appendix B

Participant Biographies

Tiffany Anderson (Speaker) is a U.S. Army veteran who currently works at Motiva in Port Arthur and is an independent business owner, who is local to the West Side neighborhood of Port Arthur. Anderson grew up in Port Arthur and moved back in 2019.

Kayode O. Atoba (Committee Member) is an associate research scientist at the Institute for a Disaster Resilient Texas at Texas A&M University. His research draws on the broader theory of urban planning and hazard resiliency to propose the best mitigation and adaptation strategies using quantitative and geospatial methodologies to identify the interactions between the built environment and natural hazards. His recent work addresses issues related to property acquisition and buyouts as nonstructural mitigation strategies to reduce flood hazard impacts. He is a mentor and an alumnus of the William Averette Anderson Fund, the first interdisciplinary organization in the United States focused on increasing the number of underrepresented persons in the field of disaster research and planning. He participated in an expert workshop that was one source for Property Buyouts Can Be an Effective Solution for Flood-Prone Communities: Improved Federal Policy on Funding and Planning Would Deliver Better Long-Term Outcomes (Pew Charitable Trusts, 2022). He has a Ph.D. in urban and regional science from Texas A&M University, College Station, and an M.S. in geographic information systems from Sam Houston State University.

Lauren Alexander Augustine (Committee Member) is the executive director of the Gulf Research Program, which oversees all aspects of management

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Participant Biographies." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Environmental Challenges and Prospects for Community Relocation in Houston and Port Arthur, Texas: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26701.
×

and use of the criminal settlement funds from the Deepwater Horizon. This includes fulfilling the vision, defining the strategic direction, and leading the development and implementation of this multi-dimensional, science-based program. She has served on the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Risk and Resilience; was a member of the Advisory Board for the American Geophysical Union’s Thriving Earth Exchange program; and was a juror for two resilience competitions, Rebuild by Design for recovery after Hurricane Sandy and Resilience by Design in San Francisco. Augustine has a B.S. in applied mathematics and systems engineering and an M.S. in environmental planning and policy from the University of Virginia, and her Ph.D. in an interdisciplinary program that combined physical hydrology, geomorphology, and ecology from Harvard University.

Janice Barnes (Committee Co-Chair) is the founding and managing partner of Climate Adaptation Partners, a NYC-based woman-owned business that focuses on planning, advocacy, and partnership-building for climate adaptation. She is a member of the Resilient America Roundtable, a co-chair of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority Climate Impact Assessment Health and Safety Technical Working Group, a co-chair of the Health Working Group of New York City Panel on Climate Change, a lead author for the upcoming UCCRN ARC 3.3 as related to Climate Change, Cities and COVID-19, and on the faculty of University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and Weitzman School of Design. She is an advisor to the Urban Land Institute Resilience team, the American Institute of Architects National Resilience Advisory Group, the US Technical Advisory Group for ISO TC59 on Buildings and Civil Engineering Works, and the Florida Institute for Built Environment Resilience. She holds a Ph.D. in architecture/organizational behavior and an M.S. in architecture from the University of Michigan, as well as an M.Arch. from Tulane University.

Gary S. Belkin (Committee Member) is a visiting scientist at Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the founder and president of the Billion Minds Institute, which brings science and policy to bear on tackling the “social climate” crisis of the climate crisis. He works with municipalities—in the United States and globally—to innovate methods for population community mental health and resilience in ways that advance other social and human capital aims and outcomes and that shift knowledge, skills, and implementation tools to community members. He has served on numerous advisory boards, led large health and human service systems, including as medical director for behavioral health across the NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation, and is the founding editor of the journal Global Mental Health. He was formerly executive deputy commissioner

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Participant Biographies." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Environmental Challenges and Prospects for Community Relocation in Houston and Port Arthur, Texas: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26701.
×

for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. He holds a Ph.D. in the history of medicine from Harvard University, and an M.D. from Brown University Alpert School of Medicine and completed a residency in psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School.

Ray Beltran (Speaker) is a community engagement coordinator for Harris County Precinct One, Commissioner Rodney Ellis. Beltran is a leading expert in creating and managing Voter Engagement and Voter Education programs for Houston area nonprofits and has previously worked as a contractor for campaigns all over the state of Texas. Through his work with Precinct One, Beltran has worked with government and nongovernmental organization agencies to improve equity in the areas of flood mitigation/prevention projects, disaster relief, and flood relocation programs for Precinct One constituents. Beltran has a B.A. in political science from The University of Texas at El Paso and an M.P.S. in political management from George Washington University.

Debra M. Butler (Committee Member) is the Mellon Foundation curriculum development fellow at the Five College Consortium and has professional experience in financial markets and leadership development. Her primary research interests are climate displacement, migration, and resettlement on the Gulf Coast, and how tribal and communities of color employ cultural resources and indigenous knowledge to mitigate structural vulnerabilities and climate impacts. Her foci are communities in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and Sancti Spiritus, Cuba. She is a National Science Foundation Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship fellow, a National Academies of Sciences Gulf Research Science Policy fellow, and a Harte Research Institute Furgason fellow. She also holds certification from the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals and the National Disaster Preparedness Center. She has an Ed.M. from Harvard, an M.B.A from Brandeis University International Business School, and a Ph.D. in environmental studies from the School for the Environment at the University of Massachusetts.

Craig Colten (Committee Member) is professor emeritus at Louisiana State University. His principal training is in historical geography, with foci on human adaptation to environmental conditions and settlement geography. His recent research has focused on hazards and community resilience on the Gulf Coast, adaptation to environmental change, and environmental migration as an adaptive strategy. He is senior advisor at Water Institute of the Gulf, a fellow of the American Association of Geographers, and a recipient of the association’s 2022 Gilbert White Distinguished Public Service Honor.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Participant Biographies." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Environmental Challenges and Prospects for Community Relocation in Houston and Port Arthur, Texas: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26701.
×

Colten served as the chair of the Isle de Jean Charles Resettlement Project Academic Advisory Committee His most recent book is State of Disaster: A Historical Geography of Louisiana’s Land Loss Crisis. Colten has a Ph.D. in geography from Syracuse University.

Katherine J. Curtis (Committee Member) is professor of Community & Environmental Sociology and associate director of the Center for Demography and Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her work is centered in demography and extends to spatial, environmental, rural, and applied demography, and focuses on two central themes: population-environment interactions, most centrally the relationship between demographic, economic, and environmental forces; and spatial and temporal dimensions of social and economic inequality, most centrally historical and local forces perpetuating racial disparities. In her work, Curtis adopts place-based theoretical frameworks and employs advanced spatial and spatiotemporal statistical approaches to analyze questions about inequality, which has profound and far-reaching impacts on population wellbeing. She earned a Ph.D. in sociology at the University of Washington.

Harriet Festing (Committee Member) is co-founder and executive director of the Anthropocene Alliance (A2), a Florida-based nonprofit that combats climate change and environmental abuse by building grassroots coalitions in the communities most affected by flooding, toxic waste, wildfires, drought, and heat. A2 has more than 100 member communities in 35 U.S. states and territories. Before founding A2, Harriet worked for the Center for Neighborhood Technology in Chicago where she undertook ground-breaking research on urban flooding in the United States. Her work with A2 advances community transformation by building grassroots coalitions in the communities most badly affected by climate change, including current work in Port Arthur, Texas, helping community leaders to survey their residents to see what climate migration might look like for this community. She has an M.Phil. in business economics from the University of London.

Teresa Davis (Speaker) successfully led a crisis counseling team throughout southeast Texas, overseeing nine counties and working closely with both state and federal stakeholders, in response to Hurricane Harvey. She focuses on advocacy, community engagement, resiliency, and restoration. She joined The Coalition for Environment, Equity, and Resilience in 2019 to raise awareness of the connections between pollution, place, and the public’s health, serving as director of Government Affairs & Community Engagement and now serves as the interim coalition director. Davis holds an M.A. in education psychology from Eastern Michigan University.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Participant Biographies." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Environmental Challenges and Prospects for Community Relocation in Houston and Port Arthur, Texas: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26701.
×

Perla Garcia (Speaker) has been a volunteer and community leader for the Houston Department of Transformation, Mi Familia Vota, and Texas Organizing Project. After receiving letters at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic notifying her and her community that there was a buyout program affecting their homes, Garcia has been involved in working to find help and support for her predominantly Hispanic community.

Marcus Glenn (Speaker) has been active in Houston’s food production community for the past decade with an emphasis on community-based agriculture job training to increase residents’ economic opportunities and increase community resiliency. Currently, Glenn serves as the area manager for Houston ISD Nutrition Services Food and Agriculture Literacy Center, which has programs that teach students about where food comes from, how it gets to their plates, and how food can be nutritiously prepared.

Lynn Goldman (Committee Member) is a pediatrician and epidemiologist, and the Michael and Lori Milken Dean and professor of environmental and occupational health at George Washington University. She was previously a professor of environmental health sciences at John Hopkins University. She is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, a member of the National Institutes of Health National Advisory Environmental Health Sciences Council, and a member of the National Academies Environmental Health Matters Initiative. Goldman is chair of the board for the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health and a member of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee to the Director. Goldman holds an M.D. from University of California, San Francisco; an M.PH. from Johns Hopkins University; and a B.S. and M.S. from University of California, Berkeley.

Pamela Graham (Speaker) is a retired united postal service supervisor. She has lived in the Port Arthur West Side neighborhood for 40 years. She lives within a two-mile radius of the Valero refinery and has experienced numerous emission events and hurricanes. During Hurricane Harvey, her home was damaged due to flooding.

Deborah January-Bevers (Speaker) has been involved with public policy around the Greater Houston region and the state of Texas, serving as president and CEO of Houston Wilderness. She has been involved in the creation and implementation of a variety of regional environmental policy initiatives over the years, including the four-part Quality of Life Coalition agenda that included Freeway Forestation and the creation of the Bayou Greenway Initiative. At Houston Wilderness, she currently collaborates on the eight-county Gulf-Houston Regional Conservation Plan with three

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Participant Biographies." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Environmental Challenges and Prospects for Community Relocation in Houston and Port Arthur, Texas: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26701.
×

key goals for environmental resiliency, the 25-mile Houston Ship Channel TREES Program targeting one million new native trees on riparian corridors along the Houston Ship Channel by 2030, and the Riverine Targeted-Use-of-Buyouts Program. January-Bevers is the lead author of Houston Wilderness’ Ecosystem Services Primer. She has a B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin and a J.D. from the University of Houston

Cleo Glenn Johnson-McLaughlin (Speaker) worked in various low-income or disadvantaged communities fighting for human and civil rights. As president of the Black United Fund of Texas, she fought for equal access in the workplace and rebels against dependences and charity slavery. She advocates for elderly citizens with Alzheimer’s and is a strong proponent for veterans and community social change. She is a member of the Nigerians In the Diaspora Organization and is also collaborating with the Haitian community. Johnson-McLaughlin has been a community outreach specialist for the late Congressman Mickey Leland, co-campaign manager for Governor Mark White and Mayor Kathy Whitmire as well as currently serving as Mother of The District for District 139. Johnson-McLaughlin graduated from the Union Institute and University of Cincinnati in public administration and did advanced studies in social work at Texas Southern University.

Hilton Kelley (Speaker) is the executive director and founder of Community In-Power and Development Association Inc. (CIDA), as well as a community organizer, activist, author, and United States Navy veteran. As stated on their website (https://www.cidainc.org/), CIDA is a non-profit that works to empower residents in low-income communities in Port Arthur, Texas. Kelley founded CIDA, as he was inspired to rebuild and revitalize his hometown; he “began to challenge the environmental violations of the plants that loom over the community he calls home.” Since Kelley started this fight, he has arranged for CIDA to join the international Shell Global Accountability Campaign, spoken at multiple Shell Annual Meetings, testified before the U.S. Senate on behalf of impoverished communities, and received multiple awards and honors, including the 2011 Goldman Environmental Prize and Presidential recognition.

Edward LeDay (Speaker) is a retired Drainage District 7 employee. LeDay has lived in the Montrose neighborhood of Port Arthur since 1967. After living in the neighborhood for over 55 years, LeDay has experienced numerous hurricanes and floods while living in Montrose. After Hurricane Harvey, he was forced to build a new home.

Barbara McEntyre (Speaker) is a realtor and property manager and resident of Cleveland, Texas, and the new executive director of the Liberty County

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Participant Biographies." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Environmental Challenges and Prospects for Community Relocation in Houston and Port Arthur, Texas: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26701.
×

Long Term Recovery Committee. She has volunteered with Liberty County Long Term Recovery (as an executive board chair and unmet need chair) alongside other organizations for 17 years. McEntyre helped with Disaster Recovery following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Hurricane Ike, the 2015 and 2016 floods, Hurricane Harvey, Tropical Storm Idema, and Texas Winter Storm Uri. She is very involved in recovery and communications regarding what is happening to residents in flood-prone areas and her work has met with GrantWorks on the best approach to residents in the buyout areas.

Kevin McKinney (Speaker) is the chairman of the Richwood Advisory Council, founder of Flood Victims Richwood, and a resident of Richwood, Texas. He works with residents in the Southeast Gulf Coast Region of Texas concerning flooding and climate change and is attempting to work with municipalities to find solutions to these issues. McKinney continues to stand up for impacted communities by working with lawyers, experts, residents, and professional groups against corrupt government decisions concerning flooding, floodplain development, wetland destruction, and the diversion of floodwaters into communities.

Darnell Ozenne (Speaker) is a native of Houston, Texas. Ozenne is very involved with his community through a local church—an activist-based organization called the Knights of Peter Claver—and has participated in Pleasantville Community Projects such as Pleasantville Civic League and Community Service. He also attended Texas Southern University.

Landry Patin (Speaker) is a sales representative for Pepsi and has lived in Port Arthur all of his life. He has had to evacuate many times due to hurricanes. With the constant looming risk of natural disasters and constant health impacts from nearby industry, he is considering leaving the place he has called home for over 30 years.

E. Barrett Ristroph (Committee Member) is the owner of Ristroph Law, Planning, and Research, which provides services to tribes, communities, and agencies related to natural resources, hazard mitigation, government, and climate change adaptation as well as relocation. She is a lawyer, planner, mediator, evaluator, and researcher based in south Louisiana and Alaska. Her work has included assisting Newtok Village, Alaska, with relocating to Mertarvik, Alaska; establishing a climate change program for an Alaskan inter-tribal organization; assisting tribes with hazard mitigation and adaption planning; working with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on environmental review for Louisiana coastal restoration projects; and working on reports for international agreements

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Participant Biographies." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Environmental Challenges and Prospects for Community Relocation in Houston and Port Arthur, Texas: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26701.
×

related to environmental and human rights issues. She has a Ph.D. in adaptation planning and a J.D.

Susan Rogers (Speaker) is an associate professor of architecture at the University of Houston and the director of the Community Design Resource Center (CDRC). Her work is based on the disciplinary foundations of architecture and city planning with an expanded lens to directly engage questions of justice and equity. Under her direction, the CDRC has completed dozens of collaborative projects, initiated and supported through community partnerships. The projects focus on grounded and systemic change. Rogers holds an M.Arch. from the University of California, Berkeley, and a B.Arch. from the University of Houston.

Shirley Ronquillo (Speaker) has been a resident of East Aldine, Texas, in Harris County since 1980. She is a community organizer while she is the administrator and co-founder of the Houston Department of Transformation, a resident-led organization with the mission to use civic engagement and tactical urbanism to create safe beautiful communities. Ronquillo assists families to navigate municipal decisions related to clean water and drainage issues, redistricting, home buyout programs, and language barriers, each of which can be critical to a family’s quality of life. She has a B.A. in international studies and romance languages as well as a B.A. in French at the University of St. Thomas and an M.PA at the University of Texas–San Antonio.

Catherine L. Ross (Committee Member) is the Regents’ Professor and Harry West Professor of City and Regional Planning and Civil and Environmental Engineering and director of the Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Her extensive regional resilience and sustainability research focuses on water resources, energy, transportation, economic development, and mobility-as-a-service. Her work includes a multi-disciplinary focus on resilience, analytics, transportation impact assessment, and performance management. She currently serves as chair of the board of directors of the Auto Club Group with the American Automobile Association. She recently joined the board of the Health Effects Institute, which focuses on the health effects of air pollution, including those caused by unconventional oil and gas development. She holds a Ph.D. in city and regional planning from Cornell University.

Andrew Rumbach (Speaker) is an associate professor of landscape architecture and urban planning as well as a coordinator of the Master of Urban Planning Program at Texas A&M University. Rumbach is also a faculty fellow at the Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center. His research investigates the root causes of disaster and climate change risk in cities and towns,

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Participant Biographies." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Environmental Challenges and Prospects for Community Relocation in Houston and Port Arthur, Texas: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26701.
×

with a focus on how and why urban development processes—mediated by local government plans and policies—produce uneven geographies of risk and resilience. He manages the Planning for Hazards: Land Use Solutions for Colorado project, a comprehensive resource for helping communities to build resilience through land-use planning. He also leads a team of practitioners who deliver community-based training from the National Disaster Preparedness Training Center on hazard mitigation, disaster recovery, and planning for community resilience.

Marcial Sanchez (Speaker) has been a resident of the Allen Field community for 43 years. He is a retired homeowner and has been involved with a mandatory buyout program in his neighborhood, from which he received a letter in July 2020. He supports the Texas Organizing Project, which has been a voice for many residents involved in the mandatory buyout program.

Octavia (Beatrice) Sanders (Speaker) has lived in the Montrose neighborhood of Port Arthur since she was two years old. Despite repeated flooding and several severe hurricanes, she has stayed in her community. After watching Hurricane Harvey’s floodwaters destroy her home she struggled for some time before she was able to get a new home built.

Tracie T. Sempier (Committee Co-Chair) is the coastal resilience engagement specialist for the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium. She works with local communities, state and federal agencies, nonprofit organizations, businesses, coastal managers, residents, and K-12 audiences to decrease the negative effects of disasters (natural, technological, and biological) on families, communities, and the environment. She is also the VORTEX-SE engagement coordinator, for which she is creating a model for regional extension programming focused on severe weather, synthesizing research findings to inform application at the local level, and working to create safe sheltering options for vulnerable populations. She is the lead for the Gulf of Mexico Climate and Resilience Community of Practice. She earned a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from Mississippi State University, an M.S. in science and mathematics education at Oregon State University, and a B.S. in marine science and biology from the University of Alabama.

Ryan Slattery (Speaker) is an advisor in the Houston Mayor’s Office of Recovery where he works to expedite federally funded disaster recovery projects to advance Resilient Houston and Houston’s Climate Action Plan. A core responsibility of the Recovery Office is to ensure that Houston’s recovery process is equitable, resilient, and sustainable. He works to solve the shocks and stresses that are commonplace for a coastal community. Before joining the Mayor’s Office, Slattery was a program management

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Participant Biographies." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Environmental Challenges and Prospects for Community Relocation in Houston and Port Arthur, Texas: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26701.
×

and government relations consultant, working with federal, state, and local agencies across the United States helping to navigate the disaster recovery process with a focus on future resilience. He holds a degree in architecture and design from both the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Houston.

Gavin P. Smith (Committee Member) is a professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning at North Carolina State University. His research focuses on hazard mitigation, disaster recovery, and climate change adaptation and the integration of research and practice through deep community engagement. His current research includes assessing the state of disaster resilient design education at U.S. universities, the analysis of a national survey assessing the role of states in building the capacity of local governments to implement hazard mitigation grants, and a comparative assessment of hazard-prone housing acquisition programs in the United States, New Zealand, and Australia. He has developed a graduate certificate program in disaster resilient policy, engineering, and design and is helping to coordinate a university-wide effort focused on disaster resilience spanning research, teaching, and engagement-related activities. He holds a Ph.D. in urban and regional planning from Texas A&M University.

Michelle Smith (Speaker) has lived in the West Side neighborhood of Port Arthur for 10 years. She has experienced many hurricanes and has worked with the Community In-Power and Development Association Inc. and with the Anthropocene Alliance. The Anthropocene Alliance is a 35-state-wide nonprofit that provides 125 different communities the organization support, scientific and technical guidance, as well as access to foundation and government funding to fight climate change. Each hurricane season, she fears losing her home.

Natalie Snider (Committee Member) is the associate vice president for climate-resilient coasts and watersheds for the Environmental Defense Fund. She works to ensure sound science and just decision making is utilized to plan, implement, and adaptively manage projects and policies, with a focus on system dynamics to meet the challenges of climate change to coastal and riverine ecosystems and communities. She previously worked at Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, leading efforts on the Louisiana Coastal Master Plan and as the science director at the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana. She is a Ph.D. candidate in marine and estuarine environmental sciences at the University of Maryland and holds an M.S. in oceanography and coastal sciences and a B.S. in wildlife and fisheries management, both from Louisiana State University.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Participant Biographies." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Environmental Challenges and Prospects for Community Relocation in Houston and Port Arthur, Texas: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26701.
×

Courtney S. Thomas Tobin (Committee Member) is an assistant professor in community health sciences at the Fielding School of Public Health and a faculty associate of the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). As a medical sociologist, she integrates traditional sociological theories with perspectives from public health, social psychology, medicine, and the biological sciences to examine the social, psychological, and biological (i.e., bio-psychosocial) pathways that contribute to the health and longevity of Black Americans. Her research program makes conceptual and empirical contributions to three interrelated areas of inquiry: (1) psychosocial pathways to embodiment, including the interconnections between mental and physical health; (2) health risks and resources across the life course; and (3) racialized stress and coping processes among Black Americans. She was a UC President’s postdoctoral fellow in public health and psychology before joining the faculty at UCLA. She holds a Ph.D. in sociology from Vanderbilt University and a B.S. in psychology from Xavier University of Louisiana.

Carolyn White (Speaker) is an urban planner with Harris County Public Health (HCPH) and representative to the County Infrastructure Resilience Team, a multi-departmental, collaborative group developing a Flood Resilience Plan for 2050. Her work to date focuses on uplifting vulnerable communities and nature-based infrastructure needs. Before joining HCPH she was the conservation director at Memorial Park Conservancy and an environmental services program manager with the Harris County Flood Control District. Her environmental planning career started at Cardno-ENTRIX Environmental Consultants. White completed all four levels of Wildland Hydrology Natural Channel Design courses and is a Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioner and a Certified Professional in Erosion and Sediment Control. She has a B.A. degree in geology from Carleton College and an M.Arch. in landscape architecture from University of California, Berkeley.

Elizabeth Van Horn (Speaker) is an urban planner and public health analyst with Harris County Public Health. Her work focuses on addressing health and socioeconomic inequities through community engagement, planning, and partnership building. She is particularly interested in the intersection of health, housing, and climate impacts, and she focused on identifying policy tools that allow for neighborhood investment without displacement in Arizona. She holds a B.S. in biology from Trinity University and two master’s degrees (sustainable solutions and urban and environmental planning) from Arizona State University.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Participant Biographies." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Environmental Challenges and Prospects for Community Relocation in Houston and Port Arthur, Texas: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26701.
×

Shannon Van Zandt (Speaker) is the executive associate dean of the School of Architecture at Texas A&M and a professor of landscape architecture and urban planning. Her research focuses on the intersection of affordable housing and disasters, emphasizing how development patterns and structural racism have placed our most vulnerable populations at greater risk of damage and subjected them to long or incomplete recoveries. She serves as a board member of Texas Housers, one of the nation’s preeminent housing advocacy organizations, and is engaged with the American Planning Association’s Hazard Mitigation and Disaster Recovery Planning Division, the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, and the National Institutes for Standards and Technology Center of Excellence for Community Resilience Planning.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Participant Biographies." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Environmental Challenges and Prospects for Community Relocation in Houston and Port Arthur, Texas: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26701.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Participant Biographies." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Environmental Challenges and Prospects for Community Relocation in Houston and Port Arthur, Texas: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26701.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Participant Biographies." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Environmental Challenges and Prospects for Community Relocation in Houston and Port Arthur, Texas: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26701.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Participant Biographies." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Environmental Challenges and Prospects for Community Relocation in Houston and Port Arthur, Texas: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26701.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Participant Biographies." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Environmental Challenges and Prospects for Community Relocation in Houston and Port Arthur, Texas: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26701.
×
Page 49
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Participant Biographies." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Environmental Challenges and Prospects for Community Relocation in Houston and Port Arthur, Texas: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26701.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Participant Biographies." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Environmental Challenges and Prospects for Community Relocation in Houston and Port Arthur, Texas: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26701.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Participant Biographies." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Environmental Challenges and Prospects for Community Relocation in Houston and Port Arthur, Texas: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26701.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Participant Biographies." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Environmental Challenges and Prospects for Community Relocation in Houston and Port Arthur, Texas: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26701.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Participant Biographies." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Environmental Challenges and Prospects for Community Relocation in Houston and Port Arthur, Texas: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26701.
×
Page 54
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Participant Biographies." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Environmental Challenges and Prospects for Community Relocation in Houston and Port Arthur, Texas: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26701.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Participant Biographies." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Environmental Challenges and Prospects for Community Relocation in Houston and Port Arthur, Texas: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26701.
×
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Strategically moving communities and infrastructure—including homes and businesses—away from environmentally high-risk areas, such as vulnerable coastal regions, has been referred to as "managed retreat." Of all the ways humans respond to climate-related disasters, managed retreat has been one of the most controversial due to the difficulty inherent in identifying when, to where, by whom, and the processes by which such movement should take place. In 2021, the Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine sponsored a two-year consensus study, Managed Retreat in the U.S. Gulf Coast Region, to learn about and respond to the unique challenges associated with managed retreat. As part of this study, the committee convened a series of three public workshops in 2022 in the Gulf Coast region to gather information for the consensus report. Each workshop focused on policy and practice considerations, research and data needs, and community engagement strategies. This proceedings recounts the first workshop in Houston and Port Arthur, Texas.

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