Hello!
My
name is Ally Philip and I am a senior at the University
of New Hampshire, studying Environmental Conservation Studies with a
concentration in International Environmental and Natural Resource
Policy. I am one of the three recipients of the 2014 Brian E. Doyle
Fellowship and will be spending the summer working with Chris Keeley,
Julia
Peterson, Kirsten Howard, and Cory Riley exploring the role of
“community
champions” in the adoption of climate adaptation strategies at the local
level.
Throughout this project I will be
conducting a series of interviews with champions of climate adaption along
the coast from Northern Massachusetts to Southern Maine with the goal of
developing recommendations for professional climate adaptation providers within
this region on how to best support these champions collectively (funding,
participation in certain projects, access to local data, etc).
On my first day of work, I had the privilege
of attending the 2nd Annual Gathering of Climate Adaption Networks
from Maine and New Hampshire. I recently returned from a semester abroad in New
Zealand and had been feeling very out of the loop with the climate projects in
the region so it was extremely informative to sit in on this event and exciting
to learn about all the great things going on! I was also able to meet important
(and friendly) climate professionals in the region and eat a free lunch so the
event was a win-win-win.
I spent the rest of my short work week
reviewing literature on what it means to be a “community champion” or a climate
champion in local communities and laying the groundwork for the rest of my
project. Now, I’m sure some of you are asking “Ally- what the heck is
a community champion?” Well I have spent the past few days trying to figure out
just that. After extensive literature review, I defined a community climate
champion as “an individual who promotes the
adoption of climate adaptation strategies at the local level through direct
(elected or appointed official; municipal staff) or indirect (volunteer or
active town member) influences." I am sure this definition will evolve as
my project continues, but this baseline definition gives me a place to start.
Well thank you for reading about my week
and I’m looking forward to keeping you updated on my project as it develops (I promise
there will be more pictures!).
Until next time,
Ally
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