EPA Region 4 NPS Program Regional Training

As a reminder, please join us this Thursday, for EPA Region 4’s Nonpoint Program’s virtual forum for Region 4 states and tribal NPS Program Managers and staff entitled, “Building Climate Resilience,” (see attached flyer and below for further details).

This virtual forum will take place during our normal regional monthly meeting time, the first Thursday of each month, for 4 consecutive months starting on January 6, 2022, from 10 am to 11 am EST.  During these sessions, you will hear from state and federal staff on the subject of building climate resilience at the state and local levels.  In line with our normal meeting format we want to allow time to ask questions, discuss and share your perspectives, experiences, challenges, and perhaps successes in building climate resilience in your state and local programs.

Description:

The Earth’s climate is changing.  Communities are being affected economically, socially, and environmentally.  This forum hopes to advance the conversation within Region 4 states and tribal NPS Programs for further examination and collaboration around building climate resilience where we live, work, and play.

The overall goals for this forum are to:

• To highlight the importance of building partnerships that address multi-hazard events
• To identify and leverage a variety of federal, state, and local resources to create sustainable and resilient watersheds
• To discuss opportunities and overcome barriers to building state and local climate resilience-related capacity

Presenters:

JANUARY SESSION:
JANUARY SESSION, “Climate Change in the Southeast” – Tanya Spero, Atmospheric Dynamics & Meteorology Branch Chief, EPA Office of Research and Development, Research Triangle Park, NC.  Tanya Spero has a career in modeling that does not involve runways in New York or Paris. Tanya received a B.S. in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences from Rutgers University and a M.S. in Meteorology from Penn State University. Since 1995, she has performed atmospheric modeling and analysis for three Federal agencies. Tanya has been based in Research Triangle Park, NC since 1998. She seeks pragmatic approaches to perform high-quality and Agency-relevant science. She has developed components of operational weather systems, elements of EPA’s Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) modeling system, and regional climate modeling techniques and datasets using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. Tanya was a coauthor of chapters of the USGCRP Climate and Health Assessment and the 4^th National Climate Assessment. Tanya’s current research interests are in connecting projections of extreme precipitation with impacts on infrastructure and communities. She is currently the chief of the Atmospheric Dynamics and Meteorology Branch in the EPA’s Office of Research and Development.

FEBUARY SESSION:
FEMA Resources – William Parker, EPA Region 4, Data Analytics and Management Section.  Also, Mahtaab Bagherzadeh, Licking River Basin Coordinator, Nonpoint Source and Basin Teams Section, Watershed Management Division, Kentucky Division of Water

MARCH SESSION:
NRCS Resources – Bryan Hummel, EPA Region 4, Watershed Restoration and Technical Assistance Section, Nonpoint Source Program

APRIL SESSION:
“Funding: CWSRF” – Frances Josephs and Alison Souders, EPA Headquarters.  Also, Joy Hinkle, Grants Unit Manager, Nonpoint Source Program, Georgia Environmental Protection Division

Click here to download the EPA Region 4 NPS Program Regional Training flyer