ASPN Community Continues to Grow with Two New Shows: "Going Coastal" and "Rising Sea Voices"

Peter Ravella  0:00  
Hello, everybody, and welcome to the American shoreline podcast. This is Peter Ravella. co host of the show.

Tyler Buckingham  0:07  
And this is Tyler Buckingham, the other co host.

Peter Ravella  0:09  
It is springtime Tyler. And that means new beginnings. And this show was all about new things on the American shoreline Podcast Network.

Tyler Buckingham  0:17  
That's right. Bringing to two Yes, new shows on a ASPN. And today is a really special show because we get to learn about the these new shows and learn about the hosts.

Peter Ravella  0:31  
Yeah, we're gonna meet em, we're gonna meet em. You know, it's one of the great things about ASPN. It's a collection of voices in a community of expert perspectives. And, you know, it's a lot of work to bring it together a new show. And Tyler, I know you've been spending months on the development of these two shows. And I'm just thrilled, I think there's going to be fantastic additions to the American Shoreline Podcast Network.

Tyler Buckingham  0:54  
Well, Peter, before we get into the show, let's take a little bit of time in this introduction to talk about what the shows are. So we have two shows. Let's start first start off with going coastal.

Peter Ravella  1:05  
Well going coastal, what a great name for a show. Right. Going coastal show is the new podcast of the students and new professionals chapter of the American shore and beach preservation Association, ASBPA, one of our partner organizations and favorite organizations that we work with. This is the American shore and beach preservation Association. Yeah. And ASBPA the students and new professionals chapter is the organization's subsection of course new pros and the going coastal podcast is the podcast of the new professionals chapter and we've got three people on the line to talk to us about that show who will be rotating hosts of the going coastal podcast on ESPN. First of all, is Marisa Torres. She is a research engineer with herb deck, which is the Engineering Research and Development Center of the US Army Corps of Engineers. And for all the coastal professionals out there we all know what Arctic is about. This is the top level Research Institute of the Army Corps of Engineers. It's where the real badass it's real think tank of the US Army Corps of Engineers. And she's also in the cold regions lab. She's coming to us from New Hampshire also badass looking forward to meeting Marissa, also on the line and a co host of the going coastal podcast is john Miller. He is a research assistant professor at the Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey. And for coastal professionals around the country. You'll know the Stevens Institute This is one of the premier coastal engineering and coastal science institutions on the American shoreline. So what a team Marisa and john and it just gets better the third co host of a

Tyler Buckingham  2:53  
The third leg of the stool.

Peter Ravella  2:55  
Yes, the going coastal podcast is Heather Wade, who is a coastal policy expert and a senior planner with the Oregon coastal management program coming to us from our great The Great Pacific Northwest with one of my favorite places where where I went to law school. So I'm a big fan. So what a team for the going coastal podcast. We're going to hear from all of them.

Tyler Buckingham  3:18  
Really looking forward to the to hearing from them learning about this show learning about them themselves, how they came to be here, joining ASP and looking forward to that but also we have the rising sea Voices Podcast, coming to ESPN hosted by a familiar name and voice has a friend of the pod Felicia Olmeta-Schultz our former intern now I guess ASPN University lead helps us out on all sorts of stuff. Well complete pro and it was only a matter of time before Felicia put the microphone in front of herself and started a show

Peter Ravella  3:57  
Well, I you know, when Felicia came on board, she was part of the CNT ASPN team and and for the development ASPN university to our new channel which is still being developed, but under instruction under construction. She is an Oregon Sea Grant resiliency fellow. So she is involved with Sea Grant up in the Pacific Northwest a true professional one of the great gifts of that have ever come across the table for coastal news today in SPM was her expertise and an outreach in the community and this rising sea Voices Podcast. I'm so excited about it because it's all about bringing a new generation of coastal scientists and engineers and professionals, graduates and undergraduates to the ASP and community especially underrepresented voices historically, such an important component of really understanding the coast is to bring these voices together. The rising sea Voices Podcast by Felicia omega scheldt I'm so happy to see and we're gonna learn about that.

Tyler Buckingham  4:59  
It's gonna be a great Ladies and gentlemen, we will get into it go deep on both of these new exciting shows coming soon on ASPN. But first let's have a quick word from our sponsors.

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Peter Ravella  6:02  
Well, welcome to the show, everybody. And there's four of you on the line on this show. So we're gonna do it kind of round robin. And I think we'll start with Felicia. Felicia, we are so happy that you've agreed to do a podcast on on the American shoreline Podcast Network. And so thank you. First of all, I want to say thank you because I think it's a big step and an important step. And I wondered if you might take a minute to introduce yourself to our listeners, listeners out there and say a little bit about what you hope to accomplish with the rising sea Voices Podcast.

Felicia Olmeta-Schultz  6:38  
Yeah, it's great to be to be here today. And it's, you know, me sort of weird to be now on this side of the microphone. And yeah, so my name is Felicia Olmeta-Schultz. I'm come from the small island of Corsica. So that's why people will hear but I have an accent, which is French. And I'm currently working for Oregon Sea Grant trying to help communities to be resilient to coastal hazards. So a lot of outreach, trying to figure out needs of different communities, and what kind of projects can come to life, I can be helpful to the different communities and partners of Oregon see grant. And also, like she explained, I've been part of the team since I think, last September now. So I've seen ESPN University, you know, slowly growing and being part of different interesting discussions during to see how we can develop that. And actually, it's having those discussions with different people that we realize that, yeah, those voices are missing the Graduate Student Voices, and there is not always enough, I'd say capacity also, then you rescued or to, to find time, maybe for professors or students to be willing to do that kind of work. That's why I decided, I guess I have to jump in and give it a shot. And I think it's going to be, it's going to be really exciting. Because I like to hear people's stories, and especially the new generation of scientists and engineers, because they are full of great ideas, they are working on your research. And that's what I'm going to try to do, like hear their stories from where they coming from, what they did for the research, what excites them, what were some, you know, unforeseen challenges, because we all experienced that? And also, what are their vision of their, you know, the future world they want to see or what should be changed or improved and what they see in their future career as well? What are the questions that we would like to see answered and how they can fit in that vision? So it's going to be yeah, hopefully really interesting. And definitely diverse and inclusive, because like you mentioned, as well, those voices need to be diverse and coming from background so we can have better perspective of like the whole, like the world and the coast that we're living in, cannot be on one vision, one approach to things.

Tyler Buckingham  9:06  
Man, is that not the truth? And we are I think, with each passing day, becoming increasingly aware of what a soft spot we have as a coastal community here. And it's something Felicia that Peter and I are just so grateful that when you started working with us, you were adamant that we put even more effort more intention into making sure that we were elevating underserved and under heard voices. And ladies and gentlemen, that is actually harder than it sounds and Felicia has just been diligently working, making connections calling people up all around the American Shoreline Community organizations, minority groups in various coastal sector. And sub communities and introducing herself and opening that door up. And Felicia just want to say right now on this show that we are just grateful for all of that work, you have really added so much to what we do. And it is just so fitting that you are doing this particular show on ASPN. And before we move along, I want to learn, Felicia, you are you are Dr. Felicia, can you tell us a little bit about your your PhD? Because it's not? You're a social scientist?

Felicia Olmeta-Schultz  10:37  
Right? I mean, it's all of everything, right? Yeah, I have a background. So yeah, it's been a nice all over the US. I've been moving from coast to coast, basically. Because when I left Corsica, France, I went to Hawaii to get my undergrad in oceanography, then I went to University of Rhode Island, to have my Master's in marine affairs, and then went to Washington State University at the Vancouver campus. So near Portland, to get my PhD in environmental and natural natural resource sciences. And because, you know, life happen, I couldn't do field work, like I wanted to. So I couldn't go, for example, like scuba dive going marshes, because, yeah, I had to deal with cancer, and then disability. But I always loved talking with people and get to know their story. So I was like, Huh, why not doing field work, but then it will be talking with people and going and meet people. So that's why my PhD took a different turn and was more focused on social sciences. And what I did for my research, I went to Northern California for a couple of months, and talked with commercial fishermen, to know their perceptions of marine protected areas and how they've been affected by them. But also, I looked more closely at the whole collaborative work between different regional stakeholders on how they wanted to have the marine protected areas created within their state waters, how they wanted them to look like and where they want them to be. So I looked at this process really carefully, because so many different groups are involved. And they decided to work together into each local census, from their own accord. So it was really interesting research and really interesting to talk to these people.

Peter Ravella  12:38  
Yeah, such a such a great back background, Felicia, for the rising sea Voices Podcast, because of the depth and range of study in your PhD and education experience. You know, the personal story, it's a yes, of course, and then coming from Corsica and understanding the necessity of inclusive perception. You know, coastal science is an important thing, that coastal space is a very complicated scientific area. It's so dynamic, so many elements to it. But at the end of the day, it is equally complex in human interest and perspective. And what I love about your show is that will blend this deep scientific understanding of this space with a commitment to the human element, and the voices and the perspective across the board. I think, you know, I just want to thank you, Felicia, when we first met starting back in September, and I got to know more and more about who you were and what you do. I just had it in my heart that one of these days Felicia is going to be hosting a show on this network. And I'm just so happy that it's finally coming true. So thank you so much.

Felicia Olmeta-Schultz  13:58  
Pleasure, even if I would say I'm still you know, slightly, everything is okay.

Peter Ravella  14:03  
Everybody gets to go through spring training. That's what I call it. There's a host on the American Shoreline Podcast Network that had ever done a radio show or anything with podcasting. So we all had to go through the including us, including us. So you know, we're still trying to figure out how to do it right. But there's a learning curve. And then we have to go in coastal podcasts and and i gotta say, Tyler, this combination, I love this combination and what you guys came up with this is the show of the students and new professionals chapter as we said of ASBPA but three hosts right rotating allows for co hosting and different perspectives. It really is a great idea loadall the lightens the load broadens dispersed perspective, and what a team with Marissa and john Miller and Heather Wade you know what it what a great setup so I'm going to start with Heather Wade, the policy expert from Oregon see grant So, Heather, what made this Idea interesting to you, and what do you hope to do with the going coastal podcast?

Heather Wade  15:08  
Sure. So when I first heard about this podcast, and you know, the call for people who are interested, I got really excited, because I felt like this was an opportunity to give back to a group that I have been a part of, and following. You know, for some time now, I guess a decade, I've been part of ASBPA, since 2011, and then joined s&p, shortly after that, when I went back to school. And so, you know, it really did a lot for me, and, you know, in terms of networking, and professional development, and just having a community where I didn't feel so siloed as a coastal professional, and also as a student who focused on, you know, the coastal things. And so, so I'm, I just am really excited to be able to give back to those that are both part of SNP who want to continue to, you know, learn and, and get go further and their careers, but then also for maybe people who are just interested and don't know much about the, you know, coastal profession, and, and maybe, you know, get some more people involved and coming down this career path. And yeah, so, you know, hopefully, you know, just really giving back and getting more people thinking about the importance of the coast and maybe increasing our our small field.

Tyler Buckingham  17:03  
Well, I have no doubt that between the three of you, there will be plenty of opportunity here to tell the story of what's going on across the field, and introduce new students and new professionals voices into the ASP and chorus. And we are thrilled to provide that platform. Heather, before we move on, can we learn a little bit more? You have an interesting background as well? Can we can you just walk us through a little bit your your education and professional history on the coast?

Heather Wade  17:41  
Sure. Yeah. So my background, my educational background started in environmental science. And then from there, I went into land use and environmental planning, after a series of cynicism and depression, from learning about climate change and hazards and feeling hopeless about what we would do about the environment, decided that land use planning and Environmental Planning seems like a pretty pragmatic approach to dealing with natural resources and trying to conserve and more appropriately use natural resources. So I went into land, use environmental planning, got my master's there, and then went into practice, became a professional coastal planner. My first job was with Texas Sea Grant. And have basically been doing coastal planning ever since then. And have been kind of going back and forth between Oregon and Texas for my career, both between the coastal management program and the Sea Grant Program, the two, you know, coastal NOAA coastal programs that I love very, very much. And yeah, it's been really great. And just a, you know, shout out to what I do. Now I get to make policy and perform federal consistency reviews and provide technical assistance to local coastal communities. And I just, you know, I'm thrilled to do it and, and happy to, to keep providing that assistance and hopefully, continuing to create good policy into the future as we continue to see crazy changes on the coast.

Tyler Buckingham  19:47  
Well, Heather, you're leaving a little piece out, which is that you're currently working on your PhD. And what's interesting about just as a quick aside, because I want to ask you about your What you're working on now and kind of where you're going because the student a new professional chapter is a is a profession, you know, this is the one ASB pa chapter Peter that is not geographically defined. And students and new professionals, there's kind of a track alignment networking theme I imagine associated with this chapter. And Heather, I think it would be of benefit for our audience to learn a little bit about how members could access you. And so, you know, talk a little bit about how you're getting your PhD, and where where does that take you a little bit in your, in your broad career vision?

Heather Wade  20:39  
Yeah, so and that is an interesting thing, because I am a practicing professional, you know, planning practitioner

Tyler Buckingham  20:49  
nuts and bolts there.

Heather Wade  20:51  
Yeah, that's what we call it and, but but I did decide to go into academia to get my PhD. And what I will do with that is still kind of up in the air, hopefully, I graduate this fall of 2021. I'm super stoked about that. But so that potentially turns into a transition, whether I stay with state government, or go back to university and just do you know, research and teaching, you know, remains to be seen. But that's been a really cool thing for me, and especially something I'm hoping to bring, continue to bring to s&p is this idea that, you know, you can be a professional, or you can be a student, and you can kind of transition between those things. You can be young, you can be old, and you know, really we're all able to learn from each other. And what's really cool is that I since I really started as a practitioner, and then went into school, I'm, I'm actually seeing that being a practitioner has actually really, really helped me in my Ph. D. program. And I often will realize, wow, I am seeing exactly what I'm, you know, what I've learned or what my research is actually about, I'm like actually seeing in the real world and what I experience every day. So it's really pretty fascinating.

Peter Ravella  22:31  
It is and I think one of the great things about ASPN on the network is the range of not only expertise, but age difference in career professional differences among the hosts of the shows across the network, this going coastal podcast with with a group of young professionals and you know, look, we're y'all are not kids here, these are, y'all are all it PhD level, serious people. But you all are going to be running the world when it comes to coastal policy in the next 25 years. This is the emerging generation, and the going postal cod podcast as a show, I think, bringing along that community of new professionals, I think is so important. And I just want to say a couple of things, Heather, about the personal story that you laid out. Number one, I think it's easy to overlook, it's sort of the emotional crisis that comes with being a scientist and a professional who takes seriously the challenges on the American shoreline. And when you get when you're open to the seriousness of climate change, and the implications for the natural environment and for the human environment, it is a it is a challenge emotionally, to deal with. And I think that's true across the board, from every from the newest professionals all the way up to the top of the heap. And I think, you know, becoming active becoming organized in and contending with it is not easy. And I just want to acknowledge that I think it's a real thing. And I don't think you're alone in in, in suffering through what we have done to the planet and what we're going to have to dig ourselves out of. The other thing I want to mention is and I think because I come from coastal management planning, and you said that you're part of the consistency review team for the state of Oregon, the most important consistency review issue in the country in the last 10 years is the Jordan Cove federal consistency review process in the state of Oregon, related to the development of a new liquefied natural gas terminal in Coos Bay. And I just got to say, you know, this is the hard work of of the profession. This is where the rubber meets the road and your expertise on the going postal podcast is going to be unbelievably cool to hear. Now, Marissa Torres who's with ERDC, you know and I hear so much about Arctic Every time I anybody talks to me about ERDC, it's always in glowing terms about the significance of this research center that the Army Corps of Engineers runs. So Marissa, please introduce yourself to the audience and tell us a little bit about your professional background.

Marissa Torres  25:16  
Sure, thanks, Peter. No, I don't want to get your hopes up. You know, I'm just at the cold regions lab have been here for four years. I don't have all the glowing things.

Peter Ravella  25:31  
No, no, we're not doing we're not gonna do them. Nobody. You were being graciously modest.

Tyler Buckingham  25:37  
This is the thing. I mean, it's so hard. It's so hard. You know,

Marissa Torres  25:41  
it's a big organization. Just have this a lot of cool things

Tyler Buckingham  25:45  
I just have this visual of that drab, World War Two era army color. It's like brown. Yeah. And if they're like, we're Massa, we need to you need to do some tie dye in ERDC. So we're gonna break this down. ERDC is bad as you guys are a part of some of the Peter the some of the most cutting edge kind of research.

Marissa Torres  26:15  
Can't argue with that.

Tyler Buckingham  26:16  
yeah. So, you know, in your four years, you've seen a lot. Sorry to interrupt, but we just had to set the record straight here.

Peter Ravella  26:23  
Yeah, come on here.

Marissa Torres  26:25  
I'm just saying, you know,

Peter Ravella  26:27  
I know you're part of the team. I

Marissa Torres  26:29  
We gotta set those first.

Peter Ravella  26:30  
Well, here's Okay. Let me just, we'll just Tyler and I know this because we like to watch a lot of sports. But you know, when you get like a new star, and you're on a great team, right, when they do the interview, what does the young guy always say? What's the one player they say? just glad to be part of the team. You know, I'm just here to do my role. That's the feeling. But you're you're on one of the best teams in coastal science and engineering. When you're on the ERDC teams. I just want to iron out. So you're our proud to have Yeah, we're proud. Oh, thanks.

Marissa Torres  26:58  
Thanks. Yeah, so I'm Marissa Torres. I have been with the cold regions lab part of the ERDC for about four years, four years in August. I'm officially a research engineer. But my background is in Ocean Engineering. Also, from the University of Rhode Island, shout out to Felicia. I focused on coastal flooding and storm surge modeling for my master's thesis. And I kind of continued that trend. When I moved up to the cold regions lab. I do work with a lot of the folks down at the coastal and hydraulics lab and headquarters in Vicksburg. And that's where I get to continue working on the coastal processes, do a lot of title modeling, and a lot of wave modeling, as well. You'll always find me behind the computer, either programming or running simulations on the High Performance Computing Center, or high performance computing machines.

Tyler Buckingham  27:55  
Wow.

Marissa Torres  27:56  
I mean, yeah, that's pretty much me in a nutshell.

Tyler Buckingham  27:59  
So do you hold on a second, can I just ask question when you're up there in the cold? The cold regions laboratory,

Peter Ravella  28:08  
I want to know about the cold.

Tyler Buckingham  28:09  
Yeah. So first of all, what is that? Yeah, okay. What? That's a great question.

Marissa Torres  28:13  
It's kind of a jack of all trades, right. So. So the ERDC has seven research labs, five, four of them are located in Vicksburg, and there are three remote locations. So the four in Vicksburg are the coastal hydraulics laboratory that does all things. Water is responsible for all research related to inland and coastal waters. Among other things. There's the information and technology laboratory, the environmental laboratory and the geotechnical instructors laboratory, and that's all in Vicksburg. In our sister laboratories that are remote are the geospatial Research Laboratory in Virginia, there is the Construction Engineering Research Laboratory in Oklahoma, Champaign, Illinois. Yeah, off of near Champaign Urbana campus. And then there's crow cold regions Research and Engineering Laboratory in Hanover, New Hampshire, near Dartmouth College. And so it each lab you can kind of glimpse from their lab name, what they specialize in. Now at crowl. All of the people who work there, I think we're between I think we're up to 200 people now, trying to grow some more. So a relatively small but still pretty strong presence up here. All of the people who work here specialize in all different things. We're kind of take all of the labs from from the Arctic and try to solve all of the problems that they're solving in the cold in extreme weather environments in extreme climates and austere environments. We do a lot of military engineering type work, but we do do some civil works. Type work as well. Kind of we're kind of everywhere.

Peter Ravella  30:03  
Yeah. Well, I'm hoping now, I don't know, Marissa, in terms of what you and john and Heather will be doing in terms of the programming of your show at this point. But I'm fascinated by the transition that's happening in the Arctic, the opening of the sea lanes there, the national security interests, the United States there, but there's so much involved. And I'm, boy, I'm hoping that somewhere down the line, you guys do a show or two about what's going on in the Arctic region. I don't know if that's in the cards. But if I'm putting something on the wish list, I'll put that on there.

Marissa Torres  30:37  
I'll make note of it. And then

Peter Ravella  30:39  
the other thing I want to say Tyler is about our favorite ERDC professional that we've ever had on the American shoreline podcast, Joan Pope, Dr. Joan Pope, who's a legend, the legendary Dr. Joan Pope has spent 27 years at Arctic and was one of the lead research scientists for the US Army Corps of Engineers and a big player in ASBPA. This legacy of women leadership and technical roles at Arctic i think is so cool. And and this is a continuation in the next generation of professionals that I can't wait to hear about on the going coastal podcasts that you guys are gonna do. Me too. Yeah, so the last host co host of the going coastal podcast, John Miller, again, research assistant professor at the Stevens Institute of Technology. JOHN, tell us about what brought you to what what made you interested in, in CO hosting the going coastal podcast and tell us about your professional background at Stevens and before? Sure,

John Miller  31:39  
you know, one of the things you know, the the name of the show, going coastal is obviously a play on word, and you can interpret it many different ways. And one of the ways that I think about it is, you know, when I was beginning to get into the profession of coastal engineering, I, you know, I questioned myself many times, and I thought it might, it might not say my, in my, in my crazy for even thinking that I can make a career in, in studying beaches and coastal erosion, is there something there for me, and, you know, fortunately, and you know, I had many voices kind of trying to steer me in a different direction, that, you know, I was able to kind of persevere through that, and kind of, you know, focus myself on my own interests and follow the path that my, my heart truly desired. And that led me into coastal engineering. And, you know, as I've progressed, now, I think I'm the, the oldest of the hosts of the going coastal, podcast, and most experienced and, you know, now as a professor, I kind of get to see young students and see them at the beginning of their career. And I recognize, I mean, I love my job, I think, you know, I think what I do is, is amazing, it's, it's just a rewarding career. And I would encourage, you know, anybody who has even the slightest bit of desire to, like, inquire more about it, and to try to get into it, but also realize that it's, you know, there's a lack of, I guess, awareness about something like close to engineering. In my case, the only reason that I knew that coastal engineering existed as a career was that when I was in high school, I was in high school when the the perfect storm, I know, some of you may have heard of it, and some of the younger folks may not happen, but that was a major storm, major research impacted the jersey shoreline and, you know, had impacts very similar to Hurricane Sandy. And I remember sitting at home watching on television, and there was there was a professor from Stevens actually, that was being interviewed about coastal erosion and the impacts of these storms and, and I was just, I was fascinated, I said, this is, this is great, this is exactly what I want to do. Again, that was really the thing that kind of introduced me to this as a career path and but that was sort of a chance occurrence, it was just, you know, it's happened to have the TV on at the right time and catch this and so, you know, I got involved with the student in young professional group previously and now the chapter really as a way to try to you know, just try to find more ways to get you know, young students involved to understand that there's there's really rewarding career paths in this coastal science, coastal engineering and coastal planning field. And I thought, this is the this is kind of the best way to do it. You know, as As for how I actually got involved or my career path that led me to kind of where I am, you know, after seeing that, that news story and seeing the professor from Stevens, I, you know, I actually ended up going to Stevens, got my undergrad degree in actually civil engineering. And again, at that point was directed and pushed in all different directions, not not coastal engineering, but, you know, decided to pursue my heart and, you know, ended up going to the University of Florida to pursue a Master's and PhD in coastal engineering. I, you know, had, you know, an amazing privilege to work with Bob Dean, who is, you know, it's just the most Yeah, you know, most amazing individual. I mean, it's just, you know, looking back on it realize how truly blessed I was to have him.

Peter Ravella  35:07  
another legend. Another legend in the coastal profession, Bob Dean. Yep.

Unknown Speaker  35:12  
You know? Yeah, he definitely was and he, I always tell the joke that, you know, there's two ways to look, I think I was I was his last PhD student. So, you know, I say, depending on your perspective, either either saved his best for last or after me he couldn't take it anymore. And he just had to retire for PhD students. They couldn't do it anymore.

Peter Ravella  35:29  
Well, I don't know. Well, it gives you you know, that's a legacy to continue being his last PhD student, one of the most amazing coastal researchers in the profession. What a great legacy to continue, john. So that's, that's fantastic. What I love about the combination of rising sea voices with Felicia, and this three part hosted show going coastal Tyler, this is the this is the next generation of professionals that we're bringing on to the network. I think it's really cool that these shows are coming well together,

Tyler Buckingham  36:04  
Peter, and I have a little sneak peek preview, I have I have the advantage on you, Peter, and that I produced episode, the recording of Episode One, which Marissa, john and Heather have already completed. And I can tell you, I learned something about john that you're gonna find very interesting. And john has not quite now at the time of this recording. But soon john will have two teenagers. Okay, and I can relate to that. And john, coaches basketball,

Peter Ravella  36:37  
does he really he does, and you're a big basketball fan?

Tyler Buckingham  36:40  
Well, I do. And I believe that there's a coastal vibe in the sport.

Peter Ravella  36:46  
I would like Felicia, if you wouldn't mind. I mean, we talked briefly about the the show the rising sea voices show, which is committed to including diverse voices and perspectives. It's also geared toward professionals and undergraduate and graduate students, which I think is particularly compelling and interesting. I want to hear what the new scientists and engineers who are going to be influencing this profession in the next 10 years are thinking about these days. So I'm fascinated by your show. What What do you hope to hear in this community of voices that you're going to be bringing forward on aspm?

Unknown Speaker  37:28  
I think what I would like to hear it's also how, what inspired them, for example, to, to get in that field of studies, their personal story, because it's never linear. So that just the, you know, the personal side of things, really interests me, so we can learn from that, because we cannot expect that people will come into his research, even you know, any of us, we decided to go to grad school is not a linear path, we've been influenced by other role models are something we've seen on TV, or, you know, life events, or just that would be interesting to see. Because sometimes people think that Oh, grad school isn't for me, or this field is not for me. So it would be cool to, to hear about that. But also, just to hear about the research, because what what would be really interesting is to also put more visibility on what these young minds I mean, young, don't want to sell don't want to discriminate against age, because young graduate students of all ages. But what for their research, where are they at now, what they're studying what they found, and they all basically fieldword work on what others have been doing as well. So they have to be really creative and also address, you know, gaps that needs to be addressed, answer new questions, and I think that is really exciting. And also research in the academic world, let's say is often limited to conferences, or getting keynote journals, peer reviewed journals, you know, on campus, so that would be really cool to hear what is happening there. But also after to from a new professionals, early career professionals point of view, I think would be interesting to see, to understand, like, why they decided to go this path as well. If they stayed in academia, or not, like the reason why there is no shame, you know, to choose a certain path, you know, so I think it's something that needs to be emphasized as well. And also see what really excites them, like what, what they're good at what you know, excite them in the research and what they think are the next you know, challenges to be solved and what is coming next. So that would be really interesting to hear their story from like, you know, the human side, the research side, And so how this work can have application, you know, in our everyday life and what they hope to, to make changes in this world to make it better.

Tyler Buckingham  40:11  
Wow. Well, I'll tell you just this is going to enrich the whole ASPN ecosystem. Peter having the rising sea voices show on bores hosted by Felicia. Felicia, that sounds so great. Heather, I kind of want to ask you the same question. What what are you looking forward to exploring? On the going coastal podcast? Yeah,

Heather Wade  40:35  
so one of the things that I'm excited to explore with this podcast is kind of bringing in maybe more of an emphasis on the planning and policy side. Marissa, and john can probably both tell you that I picked on them a little bit in our prior meetings, because they, they do both focus on engineering, and there's always this kind of fun, you know, I guess, rivalry between engineers and planners. And so that, that was something I was really excited to be able to bring to this group of hosts, which was that that Policy and Planning side of things and so that's, for me, something that I'm really excited about. Now, obviously, we have so much more to, to provide outside of just Policy and Planning. You know, we've talked about, you know, the different themes that we'd like to cover. So, you know, highlighting student research, you know, talking about making the transitions from practicing to academia and vice versa, coastal engineering, professional development, upcoming events, career paths, and then you know, those hot topics in the coastal profession, and, you know, the things that that people want to talk about. So, but I am, you know, the selfish part of me is, is excited to bring in that that Policy and Planning perspective.

Peter Ravella  42:19  
Well, I, you know, we it's all about balance, and I think the hard science of ergodic. And in John's role at Stevens Institute of Technology and Engineering, balance with Felicia your show on rising sea voices, and planning, like we've got to hear these perspectives. The coastal challenges along the coast are not reducible to mathematics. So much of what we have to get good at, is how to work together as human beings and as communities and as diverse interests along the American shoreline. So I'm a huge fan of the notion of Policy and Planning being side by side with research science and engineering. That combination is the secret to success, in my opinion. I do want to ask and, and mirus. I'd like to start with you on this. But I'd really like everybody to take a shot at this question. And it has to do with the fact that as it coming into the profession in the last decade, as the implications of climate change, have become more and more apparent. It really goes to this question that I think Heather mentioned, the challenge of the whole we seem to have dug ourselves into is real, if spent, especially if you're engaged in the profession of addressing it, either from an engineering or policy or technical standpoint, I want to know if you guys are optimistic or pessimistic about our capacity to respond, can we figure out a better way to behave as a human community and maybe come up with some innovative ways to to address coastal issues? Marisa, are you optimistic about the future? How are you feeling about it? What does it look like, from your perspective from our deck?

Marissa Torres  44:07  
Personally and professionally? I have different responses. This is a pretty loaded question. I wouldn't like to be optimistic. However, I consider myself more of a realist, which is just a nice way of, of, of, you know, wrapping pessimism and an optimistic blanket to an extent so I would really love to see people come together having a common goal. There are just a lot of competing interests professionally and personally, that that we would have to overcome and the conversations around it need to change And the most delicate way that I can phrase this response. And I just, you know, I'd like to see science be listened to and and communicated properly and accepted and wanted by everybody. I think, you know, this is a whole citizen, this is a whole human species effort, if we're going to see real change anytime soon.

Tyler Buckingham  45:30  
See, here's the thing, we're as I'm the optimist, so I'm going to be like, what a great platform, you have to talk about all that today.

Peter Ravella  45:35  
This is, you know, this is the beginning of that change. I hear I had the same feeling I think, I agree with everything you just said, I think we're going to have to communicate and, and, and connect differently as interest in competing interests along the American shoreline. The centrality of truth, which, sorry, I'm a rationalist, I believe in science and understanding. And I think we have to give it the respect it deserves. And this is why going coastal is such an important show here we have three truth tellers, three expert professionals engaged in engineering and science and policy, who can talk about that, and confront the challenges maresa that you outline, because I think you're 100%, right, and this is going to be hard work. And it's going to take change. JOHN, what about you? I mean, the challenge that Marissa lays out is, is I think, pretty stark, are you optimistic that we can as a community, and I'll just say, as an American community, do a better job of managing What the hell's in front of us on the coasts, and the challenges we've got coming up,

Unknown Speaker  46:47  
I definitely tend to be an optimist. And I think, you know, my point of view is that, you know, crisis tends to spur innovation, and just creative thinking about ways to respond to problems. And, you know, in a, you know, the, the challenge of climate change is, this is something that's been created over hundreds of years, and it's a problem, we're going to be asked to solve in a much shorter period of time. And that being said, it's, it is a big challenge. But I mean, I look at things like even just in a microcosm, you know, where we are today versus where we were 18 months ago, 18 months ago, who knew about working, telecommuting, working remotely zoom meetings, and all that kind of stuff, right, there's this major challenge, you know, created by COVID. And we've all figured out kind of new ways to do things, I know, the way that I teach classes has changed forever, based off of kind of what's happening now I, you know, there were there, you know, the the opportunity that was created was sort of the initiative to kind of kick me in the ass a bit and say, Hey, you know, can you teach better? Is there a better way to do things, and I've, I've created new methodologies and new things that I'm going to be implementing moving forward. And I think, for the long run, you know, as we come out of this, you know, do things better. So I think, you know, there's a big challenge in front of us, and, you know, when, when things really start to hit the fan, you know, I think that's, you know, when we tend to kick into gear, you know, as individuals and as a society. And the last thing is, you know, I do think that, you know, this show, our show is sort of a, you know, a good mixture of this policy and engineering, and I think that sort of again, is is sort of a microcosm of kind of what it takes to, you know, you know, advance and move forward is that we, we need to, you know, talk together and make sure that we've got all the right people working together. And I think, in my career, where it was when I started versus where it is now, you know, everything used to be much more siloed. And now, we're working together, you know, much more regularly and much more effectively. And I think that's really the challenge, though, that's a key to overcoming this challenge is as we move forward, to bring in all those aspects, the social aspects, the engineering aspects, the policy aspects, right, that all has to come to economics, all of that has to come together. And, you know, we're moving in that direction, probably slower than we need to be. But I do think that I'm optimistic that you know, as a society, we will get there.

Tyler Buckingham  49:13  
It certainly seems to be happening. And Peter, I'm loving this question thread, I think, I think we're just going to need to ride this into the sunset. Felicia, I'm going I'm shifting back over to the rising sea voices pod. But speaking of optimistic, you know, this past year, it seems like America went through a bit of a racial awakening. It has been compared to the 60s for example. And I do think that this is overall a very positive thing in the coastal community. And it certainly has percolated its way into our discussions on ESPN and Felicia It's bringing forgotten voices voices in the shadows to the fore is your mission here with your show? But are you feeling optimistic? Are you feeling like these? These? I'm going to say that we've made a little progress maybe in the past year? Or do you feel that way? And and how do you feel generally? Are you optimistic?

Felicia Olmeta-Schultz  50:25  
I'll say, I'm feeling I'm feeling more optimistic. Like very sad. I feel like sometimes I'm Monique for really realist person and having always bid say cautious, analyze things and don't get to offers Yes, right away and like, oh, everything will be fine. But definitely, with what is has been happening over the past, I don't know, four years, I feel like I've been going through a rollercoaster of emotions. It's a. And I think there is hope right now in like trying to, you know, the way maybe sounds, I mean, there is a lot of work to do. I feel like right now, there is definitely motivation to do a wheel to do more work that tend to be more inclusive, more like sales communication, related to know what to expect things like definitely, for example, on accademy flow home, there is definitely much more work in will to communicate, you know, science in research, also related to underrepresented groups mightier groups, they've been definitely more work happening there. So what I consider myself as organized, trained to have his support as an ally, I'm not there to I'm there just to make space and allow those voices to be amplified. And so they can be there and they can share their their work, their valuable work. But often, depending on where they coming from, or you know, their group they represent is not considered valuable enough, while this work is variable. So it's really to make room for them to share their work. And differently to say, like anyone, I mean, science is for everyone, like either you having a disability, either, you know, depending on, you know, your race, where you're coming from your age, anything differently, that there is room for you, because we need different perspectives to reach equitable solutions, because not only one point of view one way to approach things, again, it's different perspectives that need to be shared. And also that's why through this podcast is going to be also all disciplines is going to represent differently, all disciplines related to any kind of coastal destroying or ocean work. And, and yeah, and if after people were listening the podcast as suggestions of good guests. Feel free to contact me to contact us. Because right now, I'm looking for Yeah, guest for sure. And

Tyler Buckingham  53:23  
you only have 12 pages of notes there, Felicia, but I'm sure you know, I'm sure it'll, it'll come along. But I want to say that there's nothing when it comes to diversity and diverse voices, and D siloing. diverse opinions. There's no more coastal idea than that. The coast is a blurry zone. Ladies and gentlemen, we all know that. And it's just a real honor to lead into that with all of you. You're all incredibly talented people that bring so much to the network. I want to ask the same question now. I booked

Peter Ravella  54:03  
Tyler before we do it, because Heather, think about what we want to hear from you on this question. But I want to amplify something that Felicia has laid out here and the focus of the show that she's put together. I think it's fair to say that we understand the world around us. Through our experience and our perspective, this colors, our understanding of the world, what we believe to be true. And what I love about the show, what I what I love about rising sea voices, is that those experiences and differences in perspective are the central point of the show. And it it gives us a chance to understand the world differently, and more completely. The other commitment that Felicia has pushed us for and I think I'm very proud to sign on to his As the American trying podcast, university network grows, we want shows hosted by people of different perspectives, racial differences, socio economic background differences on the network. And we're on the process of trying to build that network to bring in a broader perspective. And for folks out there, this isn't about just sort of, let's get everybody at the table, although that's Central. The point is you can't accurately assess and understand the world, if you look at it through a narrow lens of experience and perspective. And all of us are limited. And it is through the experience and perspective of others, that we enrich our understanding. So you know, Felicia, I just think what you're doing and where we're headed on, this is something that we will look back on as a really important pivot point in, in what we're doing together. And, and, you know, just thank you is what I want to say, whether we're talking about being optimistic or pessimistic, given the challenges ahead, you're, you know, you've gone through this, experience it professionally in and dealt with this question, early in your career, when you look ahead from where you are now, what do you say,

Heather Wade  56:23  
oh, gosh, so I feel like everyone had really great answers. And, and it's hard to not relate to all of them. I guess I would just say, it depends on the day for me,

Felicia Olmeta-Schultz  56:35  
I have good days, I

Heather Wade  56:36  
have bad days, I try to remain optimistic, most of the those days. But, you know, ultimately, reality is still reality. You know, we're going to continue to face challenges and pressures, you know, pressures from things like politics, the slow progress of change in, you know, governance and policy limitations on capacity due to funding constraints or other things. And so, you know, there are all these other pieces to take into consideration. But, you know, I think that everyone's responses here, you know, really hits the nail on the head, I think that it has to be a comprehensive approach. I think that, you know, there's no one profession that can actually tackle the issues. I think that we all have to come together, I think all the voices have to be heard. And that's really the only way that we're going to be able to really do anything about it. And so, you know, that that's really big. That's huge. And and I guess, you know, on a bad day, it seems really hard and maybe impossible. But on the other side of it, optimism kind of seems required. So I guess I'd like to just remain optimistic.

Peter Ravella  58:08  
That's extremely well said final words, I think we do need to be hopeful despair is not an option and is not helpful. And I think in spite of the challenges ahead, we've got to do it with joyfully and attempt to find our way to a better future. And I think we can.

Tyler Buckingham  58:31  
And these two shows hosted by these four individuals are going to be wonderful beacons for the coastal community, we hope Yes. And thank you all for doing it. I think it's going to be they're both going to be great shows and just really enrich the ESPN ecosystem of voices. So I just want to say thank you.

Peter Ravella  58:57  
Ladies and gentlemen, it is Felicia omega Schulte, the new host of the rising sea Voices Podcast on the American shoreline Podcast Network, welcome felician I'd ask all our listeners to join us Tyler and I and welcoming Felicia to the network. And then the going coastal podcast, which will be co hosted by Marissa Torres from the universe from the US Army Corps of Engineers ergodic center, john Miller, a research assistant professor from the Stevens Institute of Technology and Heather Wade, a coastal policy expert and senior planner at the Oregon coastal management program. What a great set of new house and new shows on ESPN and we just can't thank you guys enough for for joining the community and bringing your perspectives and your your truth to our listeners. Thank you all so much for being part of ESPN.

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