Coastal Management in a Changing Climate – Integrating Sea Level Rise, Coastal Sensitivity and the Ecosystem Valuation

Tom James

Geological Survey Canada

Thomas James joined the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) in 1991 and has carried out research on past and present-day sea-level change and crustal motion. Much of this research has focussed on the tectonically active and earthquake-prone Cascadia Subduction Zone of coastal British Columbia. Thomas has also studied the Canadian Arctic and Antarctica, has led projects on coastal geoscience and on natural hazards in the climate change and natural hazards programs of the Earth Science Sector, Natural Resources Canada. Thomas was lead guest editor for a special volume on the 2012 Haida Gwaii earthquake, which was Canada’s second largest historical (instrumentally recorded) earthquake. In recent years Thomas has been working on sea-level projections. Thomas is an editor for a volume on climate change and Canada’s coasts.

Gavin Manson
Geological Survey Canada

Gavin Manson received his B.Sc from the University of Victoria in 1995, his M.Sc from Dalhousie University in 1999, and his Ph.D from the University of Guelph in 2016. Since 2000 he has been employed as a coastal geoscientist with the Geological Survey of Canada at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography, contributing to projects researching coastal climate change impacts and adaptations on all of Canada's marine coasts. A current project known as CanCoast is developing national-scale datasets and indices of coastal sensitivity to changing climate for Canada's marine coasts. Dr. Manson will present on the findings of CanCoast.

Michelle Molnar
Municipal Natural Assets Initiative

Michelle Molnar is the Technical Director of the Municipal Natural Assets Initiative. She also works at the David Suzuki Foundation as an Environmental Economist and Policy Analyst, where she focuses on the conservation of natural capital using various tools of ecological economics, policy analysis, and public outreach. She teaches Introduction to Ecological Economics at the British Columbia Institute of Technology through the Sustainable Business Leadership Program and sits on the board of the Canadian Society for Ecological Economics. Today, she is here to discuss a standardized approach for cities to assign a credible value to their coastal natural capital.