Restore America’s Estuaries Summit to Examine Management Approaches for a Changing Climate

Pew experts will discuss nature-based solutions, blue carbon, coastal resilience

Event October 6-10, 2024

A vast expanse of tall, dry, golden-brown grass bends in the wind, with a narrow path winding through it. In the distance, calm, blue water parallels a line of dense green trees under a clear, light blue sky. — A salt marsh meadow hugs the shore of Apalachicola Bay, within the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve in Florida’s Panhandle. The bay was once a top oyster fishery until environmental degradation led to a steep decline in oyster populations and ultimately a halt to harvesting in 2020. Now staff from the reserve and officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration aim to accelerate the bay’s recovery via an updated reserve management plan.

The Pew Charitable Trusts works to address the twin challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss through the conservation and restoration of coastal ecosystems. That’s why Pew is proudly sponsoring and participating in the Restore America’s Estuaries (RAE) 2024 Coastal and Estuarine Summit: “Capitalizing on Our Coasts.”

RAE sessions featuring Pew

Our subject matter experts will moderate or participate in the following sessions:

Monday, Oct. 7

11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. EDT, Conference Theater, “From Theory to Application: Integrating Blue Carbon Into Coastal Conservation and Restoration,” Jazmin Dagostino, moderator.
11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. EDT, Room 7, “Marshing Forward: Implementing and Sustaining the South Atlantic Salt Marsh Initiative’s Regional Plan,” Lora Clarke, panelist.
2-3:30 p.m. EDT, Conference Theater, “Blue Carbon at the State Level,” Sylvia Troost, moderator

Wednesday, Oct. 9

1:30-3 p.m. EDT, Room, 8, “Making Natural Resource Management Climate-Ready: Key Elements, Challenges, and Opportunities,” Justin Grubich, moderator.

Meet the Pew team in Arlington, Virginia

Visit Booth 18 to connect with an expert:

Lora Clarke

Officer

Lora Clarke supports Pew’s efforts to improve the adaptation and resilience of coastal ecosystems and human communities in the Southeast United States. In leading Pew’s work on the South Atlantic Salt Marsh Initiative, Clarke focuses on conserving 1 million acres of the important habitat stretching from North Carolina to east central Florida. Previously, Clarke worked to advance sustainable fishing policies in the U.S. south Atlantic.

Alex Clayton Moya

Officer

Alex Clayton Moya works to incorporate conservation and restoration of coastal blue carbon and peatland habitats in state and national climate policies for Pew’s U.S. conservation project. She leads efforts to engage primarily with state agencies as they seek to incorporate wetlands into their climate change planning, helping to connect science and research to the policy choices of decision-makers.

Jazmin Dagostino

Senior Associate

Jazmin Dagostino works to advance state and federal natural climate solutions. She focuses primarily on state efforts to incorporate coastal blue carbon and peatland management strategies into climate mitigation and adaptation efforts. Before joining Pew, Dagostino coordinated Our Project in Hawaii’s Intertidal, a citizen science program dedicated to promoting stewardship through the intersection of science, community, and cultural knowledge. Earlier in her career, she worked on marine algal research and studied host-bacterial interactions in Hawaiian bobtail squid. Dagostino earned a bachelor’s degree in marine science from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Dagostino is based in Portland, Oregon.

Justin Grubich

Officer

Justin Grubich leads Pew’s work to develop and implement science-based policy and management goals that promote the resilience of coastal and freshwater habitats, protect biodiversity, and foster sustainable use of natural resources in the Southeast United States. Grubich helps build collaborations with scientists, policymakers, recreational fishing organizations, and local communities to implement evidence-based strategies that ensure healthy habitats for future generations.

Sylvia Troost

Project Director

Sylvia Troost works on natural climate solutions, with an emphasis on coastal blue carbon and other wetland habitats, resiliency planning, and federal coastal policy, for Pew’s U.S. conservation project. Her portfolio includes advancing nature-based approaches to climate mitigation. She previously supported Pew’s coastal habitat and oceans conservation work through strategic planning, operations and budgets, and campaign management.