SAME Resilience COI Webinar: Coast-to-Coast: Generational Projects for Coastal Resilience

About This Webinar

Join us for a compelling webinar to learn more about how two the world’s iconic coastal cities are adapting their waterfronts to the challenges of sea level rise through visionary, generational projects.

First up is a presentation on the Battery Coastal Resilience Project, part of New York’s larger Lower Manhattan Coastal Resilience portfolio aimed at reducing flood risk from coastal storms and sea level rise. The project will rebuild the existing, deteriorating wharf structure at a higher elevation to protect against sea level rise while integrating with this iconic waterfront park at the southern tip of Manhattan. The project will contribute to long-term community goals by addressing the impending sea level rise, restoring the wharf conditions for continued safe usability, and preserving the Battery’s iconic and historic character. Construction is being divided into two phases of potential wharf closures to minimize disruptions to park and ferry activity to and from Liberty and Ellis Islands, with a project completion targeted for 2026.

Next, the Port of San Francisco will provide an update on the San Francisco Waterfront Flood Study. In early 2024, the Port of San Francisco and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a Draft Plan, which proposes flood defenses to address sea level rise along the Port’s 7.5-mile jurisdiction from Aquatic Park to Heron’s Head Park. After collecting public input on the Draft Plan this winter and spring, Port and Army Corps of Engineers staff will further refine the plan and develop a Recommended Plan that will be sent to Congress for authorization. Incorporating more than six years of technical work and public input, the Draft Plan signals the federal government’s interest and approach to building a resilient shoreline, which has an initial approximate cost of $13 billion (cost estimate is preliminary and subject to change).

Learning objectives:
1) Participants will learn how major urban coastal cities are adapting to sea level rise.
2) Participants will identify how community goals are being integrated into major waterfront plans and projects.
3) Participants will determine how sustainability is being considered in developing waterfront adaptation plans.

Who can view: Everyone

Webinar Price: Free

Featured Presenters

Amy Seek

Design Director, Landscape Architecture - Resilience / Uncertainty, Stantec

Amy serves as Design Director of Stantec’s NYC landscape architecture studio. She brings over 15 years’ experience with a focus on design of large-scale public parks, event spaces, urban landscapes, and their intersection with other city systems, from mobility to resilience. She is a careful problem solver and an enthusiastic proponent of multidisciplinary collaboration, particularly as the challenges of urban development demand it. With a background in architecture, she brings a sensitivity to the design fundamentals of space and light, and her work across the US and internationally has attuned her to the need for diverse community voices in the design of the public realm. A WEDG certified professional, her recent work is focused on addressing uncertainty to create adaptable, resilient landscapes in challenging urban environments.

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Adam Varat

Deputy Program Manager - Planning, Waterfront Resilience Program, Port of San Francisco

Adam Varat is Deputy Program Manager for Planning for the Waterfront Resilience Program at the Port of San Francisco, where he leads a multi-disciplinary team in developing shoreline adaptation plans for the San Francisco waterfront through an inclusive, multi-stakeholder process. Prior to coming to the Port, Adam was Deputy Director of the San Francisco Planning Department’s Citywide Planning Division, where he oversaw the Department’s Resilience and Sustainability and Urban Design functions. Among many other projects, Adam has managed the award-winning Better Streets Plan and the San Francisco Sea Level Rise Vulnerability and Consequences Assessment. Adam has over 20 years of public sector urban planning experience.

Adam holds a Masters Degree in City Planning and Certificate in Urban Design from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of California at Berkeley. Adam originally hails from Los Angeles and in his free time can often be found biking, hiking, or urban exploring with his family.

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Summer Bundy

Regional Sector Leader for Coastal Resiliency & Climate Change Adaptation

Summer Bundy is a Regional Sector Leader for Climate Change Adaptation at Stantec. She is an environmental engineer, climate scientist, and program manager with 25 years of experience in public water infrastructure. Summer has spent most of her career where technical challenges meet policy-driven solutions. These include projects such as the Port of San Francisco’s Waterfront Resilience Program, where she served as the consultant team’s planning lead to develop alternatives for adapting 7.5’ of waterfront to increase earthquake and coastal flood resilience. She is a passionate about stakeholder-driven climate action, with a primary focus on critical infrastructure adaptation to achieve equitable community resilience. Summer has a B.S. in environmental resources engineering from Cal Poly Humboldt and is currently earning her M.S. in Energy Policy and Climate at Johns Hopkins University. She holds the Water Edge Design Guidelines associate certification from the Water Alliance.

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Ethan Smith

Project Manager, Hunter Roberts Construction Group

In his role at Hunter Roberts, Ethan manages the Battery Coastal Resilience Project, which is one of several projects together known as the Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency (LMCR) Project, an integrated coastal protection initiative to reduce flood risk from storms and sea-level rise in Lower Manhattan. Ethan oversees the project’s budget and schedule, implements cost controls, ensures conformance to design documents, and communicates progress to various stakeholders. Ethan is the Envision lead for the construction team and is responsible to ensure sustainable processes are implemented throughout construction and all related efforts are adequately documented to conform with project requirements. Ethan holds a bachelor’s degree in geosciences from SUNY New Paltz and is completing his master’s degree in environmental geology at Rutgers. He began his career in engineering at firms including LiRo and Langan before pivoting to resilience-focused construction management.

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Steven Nelson

Project Director, New York City Economic Development Corporation

Steven Nelson is a Project Director in the New York City Economic Development Corporations Capital Program, helping to manage projects in design and construction for the City’s various agencies. His portfolio is diverse with two projects in the Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency, The Brooklyn Bridge Montgomery Coastal Resiliency and The Battery. Steven lead the team of design consultants from Stantec and Construction Management team from Hunter Roberts Construction Group to commence a two year construction project at Battery Park to address effects from Sea Level Rise while achieving an award of Envision Platinum from the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure. He also works in the EDC Capital Program’s sustainability initiatives group to look to the future of sustainable practices in construction for the City of New York. Steven holds a B.A. in history from Gettysburg College and a Masters in Landscape Architecture from the City College of New York, CUNY.

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Grace Tang

Program Director, NYC Parks

Grace Tang, Program Director at NYC Parks, manages climate resiliency initiatives across all 5 boroughs, including the Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency (LMCR) Battery project, which is one part of a series of projects to build resilience in Lower Manhattan. Grace was also a contributor to the publication Designing and Planning for Flood Resiliency: Guidelines for NYC Parks. Trained as a landscape architect and engineer, Grace has dedicated her career to the planning, design, and construction of complex urban parks and open spaces. She holds a Masters of Landscape Architecture from the University of Toronto and Bachelor of Science from Queen’s University.

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Matt Wickens, P.E.

Project Manager, Port of San Francisco

Matt Wickens is a Project Manager and Engineering with the Port of San Francisco, who currently serves as the Technical Lead on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers San Francisco Waterfront Coastal Flood Study. Since joining the Port in 2018 his responsibilities have included technical review and management of geotechnical exploration, seismic and coastal analyses, economic impact evaluation, multi-hazard risk assessment and coordination with critical systems and/or emergency response asset owners.
Over the course of his career, Matt has contributed to a wide range of new, retrofit and repair projects involving the design and construction of bridges, tunnels, seawalls, piers, ports, and ferry terminals. His experience includes project management, structural analysis, design, constructability evaluation and design services during construction for a variety of transportation and waterfront structure projects. When away from the office, Matt enjoys spending time with his three young kids, barbequing, gardening and woodworking.

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