More than four hundred and fifty scientists, students, officials and citizens recently met in Mobile. The agenda was to discuss ways to deal with the environmental threats facing the region. The Bays and Bayous symposium featured scientists and researchers darting between meeting rooms and exhibits on subjects like dune restoration. The focus of the meeting is protecting the Gulf and the coastal environment. One topic took center stage.
“I think the biggest challenge for anyone along the northern Gulf Coast is issues related to climate change and changing climatic conditions,” said Roberta Swann, director of the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program. Her group hosted the meeting.
“Sea level rise, we see a lot of challenges to some of the restoration work that we do because sea levels are rising. It’s documented along the northern Gulf Coast. So, the big thing is learning how to mitigate the impacts of sea-level rise,” she observed. “Make sure we continue to have the marshes and the shorelines that really enhance why we all live here, for fresh fish and for vistas and for just quality of life. “
The Mobile River flows outside the city’s convention center. Just about everything in Alabama that goes down a drain or washes into a stream flows by here and into Mobile Bay and the Gulf. Inside the building, experts met for two days to discuss the environmental challenges facing the state and the coast.
“I would say one of the more exciting aspects of this symposium and what’s grown over the years is the number of local staff and the number of for-profit professionals that come to this event,” said Swann.
While the coast faces many environmental challenges, Swann said these are some of the people who are working to improve things.
“Our hope is for them to be inspired to go back to their day jobs or their day education and I hope that it stokes the fire in their bellies and the passion that they have and the work that they do so we can better understand how our ecosystems work, how they are affected by environmental changes and what we can do to better manage our environmental resources for the next generation,” she said.
The symposium is held every two years alternating locations between Alabama and Mississippi. This is the eighth meeting.
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