In the News

We use game engine technology to visualize the dynamic results from coupled Climate, Wave, Flooding and Socio-economic models.

This video depicts future climate-driven flooding if mangroves are lost (main) or conserved (inset) during 50-year storm events in Cartagena, Colombia. Even with climate driven increases in storms and sea levels much of Cartagena can be protected if we conserve mangrove habitat.

Hydrodynamic modeling by Pelayo Menéndez and Ali Mohammad Rezaie with Borja Gonzalez Reguero, David Gutiérrez-Barceló, Rae Taylor-Burns and Chris Lowrie, 3D visualization by Ian Costello and Jessica Kendall-Bar. Project supported by the Center for Coastal Climate Resilience and the AXA Research Fund

The Center for Coastal Climate Resilience at UC Santa Cruz is working to visualize the flood protection benefits of natural infrastructure like coral reefs and mangroves. Its researchers combine rigorous hydrodynamic and socio-economic modeling with visualization to analyze and communicate wave-driven coastal flood models to scientists, decision makers, and the public.

Video production by Jessica Kendall-Bar.
3D visualization by Ian Costello.
Hydrodynamic modeling by Borja Reguero, Camila Gaido-Lasserre, Benjamin Norris, and David Gutiérrez-Barceló.

This work was supported by the State of California. With additional support from AXA, USGS, NSF, USACE, and DARPA.

UCSC Center for Coastal Climate Resilience and the National Science Foundation's Strong Coasts project aims to quantify the benefits from coral reef restoration and other nature-based solutions, and their ability to reduce coastal risks across multiple geographies. In Belize, significant progress has already been made in coral reef restoration, spearheaded by Strong Coasts project partner, Fragments of Hope, at Laughing Bird Caye National Park. The Center will be completing a comprehensive analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of reef ecosystems, like these restored reefs at Laughing Bird Caye National Park, in mitigating the impact of waves and contributing to enhanced resilience along the entire Belize coastline.

BIMS Dives into Coastal Stewardship and Marine Conservation in Belize with the Garifuna Nation

Funded by Strong Coasts, NSF

Salt marsh restoration can mitigate flood risk and bolster community resilience to climate change in our local waterways, according to a recent study published in Nature by a postdoctoral fellow with UC Santa Cruz’s Center for Coastal Climate Resilience (CCCR).

Coastal communities face escalating risks from climate change, natural disasters, and the loss of coastal habitats, such as salt marshes, mangroves, and coral reefs, and the outlook is particularly dire for many of our most vulnerable communities. In response to these pressing issues, the UC Santa Cruz Center for Coastal Climate Resilience (CCCR) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Engineering With Nature program recently signed a 4-year, $2.75 million cooperative agreement. They aim to address these challenges with equitable, nature-based solutions.

The Network for Engineering with Nature and the National Academy of Sciences' Gulf Research Program hosted a Policy Forum on Nature-based Solutions on February 7-8, 2024. The event was free and open to the public, bringing together policymakers, regulators, practitioners, academics, and others involved in the funding, policymaking, design, and/or construction of nature-based solutions.

"We are very much in a changed environment," said Mike Beck, director of the Center for Coastal Climate Resilience at the University of California, Santa Cruz. "And we're not going to be able to rebuild back in the same places and in the same ways that we did before. We're going to have to think more clearly about how we design and where we put these."

The U.S. Coral Reef Task Force (USCRTF) approved a resolution on Oct. 26 that designates coral reefs along U.S. states and territories as national infrastructure. This resolution makes it easier to direct federal funding, particularly infrastructure, hazard mitigation, and disaster recovery monies, to reef conservation and restoration to protect people, property, and livelihoods.

Coasts play a central role in our societies and yet, because of climate change, coasts are now at greater risk or erosion and flooding. In this masterclass, Prof. Mike Beck explores the superpower of nature, especially reefs and wetlands, to help coastal communities adapt to climate change.

The Coastal Climate Resilience Symposium held at the Seymour Center focused on integrating nature-based solutions into risk management and insurance.

A two-day symposium at the Seymour Marine Discovery Center in Santa Cruz brought together insurance executives, coastal scientists, and politicians.

California insurance commissioner Ricardo Lara says it's time to start talking about "climate insurance", a proposal that would provide everyone coverage in underserved areas like Pajaro.

Experts in the field of climate change, public policy and the insurance industry gathered at the Seymour Marine Discovery Center on Thursday to discuss ways to reduce the risks associated with climate caused natural disasters using insurance and nature-based solutions such as preserving and bolstering wetlands to prevent flooding.

UCSC’s emerging Center for Coastal Climate Resilience is applying scientific research to develop policy around climate change and coastal sustainability, while incorporating the campus’s ideals of social justice and collaboration.

Mitigation must continue, but adaptation has become urgent as well. California should step up once again.

The center is part of the university’s renewed research focus on climate change, resilience, and coastal sustainability. “I am honored and excited about the opportunity to lead the Center for the University,” said Beck. “The Center will focus our campus efforts on addressing the challenges we face from climate change and in identifying solutions that can benefit people and nature in coastal communities.”

Climate-related coastal disasters increasingly strain state and national budgets. Further, most current hazard mitigation relies on artificial infrastructure that further degrades nature. Beck’s team shows that coastal habitats can be cost effective for building climate resilience, which helps create opportunities to benefit both people and nature. Learn about how climate-related coastal disasters increasingly strain state and national budgets. Most of the current hazard mitigation relies on artificial infrastructure that further degrades nature, and Beck’s team shows that coastal habitats can be cost effective for building climate resilience, helping create opportunities that benefit both people and nature.

Climate-related coastal disasters increasingly strain state and national budgets and most of these funds support artificial infrastructure that further degrades nature. Professor Mike Beck shows that coastal habitats can be cost effective for building climate resilience. He outlines how with a little disaster jiu-jitsu we can turn a grave threat to nature into an opportunity to save it.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded UCSC and an interdisciplinary team of researchers a $20 million grant to assess climate risks and identify where coral reefs and mangroves can best protect underserved coastal communities. The project is part of the NSF’s Coastlines and People program. Professor Beck will serve as co-director of the new Climate Risks and Equitable Nature-based Solutions Hub with Professor Maya Trotz, the lead PI from the University of South Florida.