Dr. Michael Savarese Professor of Coastal Resilience & Climate Adaptation FGCU’s Water School
The League of Women Voters of Collier County is pleased to announce that Dr. Michael Savarese, Professor of Coastal Resilience & Climate Adaptation, at FGCU’s Water School will be returning for the April general membership meeting to provide a preview of the greatly anticipated ACUNE program. ACUNE, which stands for Adaptation of Coastal Urban and Natural Ecosystems, is a web based interactive tool that was developed specifically for Collier County. Funded by a three-year $995,487 grant from NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, ACUNE focuses on Collier County’s most populated areas closest to the coastline from 2030 through 2100. Specifically, the tool looks at the impact of sea level rise (SLR), tropical storms, and king tides (often referred to as nuisance flooding). Savarese partnered with Dr. Peter Sheng from the University of Florida to develop ACUNE. League members, Judy Hushon and Sally Woliver, have been working closely with Savarese and Sheng providing critical community relations support for the project. With Savarese, they are preparing a series of workshops beginning in late April to help Collier County’s elected officials, business and community leaders learn how to use ACUNE to plan for the impacts of sea-level rise and climate change. The League’s April 12 program will be the first of the community programs delivered in Collier County.