Providing coastal climate resilience internships, fellowships, and early career opportunities has been a key programmatic feature of both the Program for Local Adaptation to Changing Environments (PLACE) and the Community Resilience Center and has led many to further careers in resilience related jobs. As the climate resilience field continues to expand, it is necessary to develop a workforce that is knowledgeable, robust, and reflective of the affected communities. Project PIs reimagined the standard pipeline to the coastal climate resilience workforce and developed a fellowship program to increase inclusion of underrepresented groups in resilience fields.

Six young adults, from groups traditionally underrepresented in coastal resilience efforts, participated in a year-long fellowship where they were placed with a host organization in coastal Mississippi. Host sites work in a broad range of topical areas from traditional environmental resilience to resilience work from a socioeconomic standpoint. Fellows participated in a series of lunch-n-learns to gain a deeper understanding of threats the Northern Gulf Coast environments are facing. Through this learning series, they were introduced to a variety of resilience topics and how to effectively use climate data and tools in their work. Taking the knowledge gained through working with their host organization and the content from lunch-n-learns, the fellows collaborated to develop a communication campaign. We’ll share some of the evaluation data and discuss project outcomes, successes, and lessons learned, which could be applicable to a variety of education or fellowship programs.