The American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Center for Scientific Evidence in Public Issues (EPI Center), the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Water (EPA OW) invite you to join a panel discussion featuring a discussion with state agencies, decision-makers, and their associations working on green infrastructure and nature-based solutions. Panelists will be invited to share their experiences accessing and utilizing federal resources for green infrastructure and nature-based solutions as part of state agencies, programs, and other authorities. Additionally, panelists will share opportunities, challenges, barriers, and lessons-learned from the design and planning to implementation to operations and maintenance of green infrastructure and nature-based solutions. This event is the second part in a series, the first event highlights NGO and community experiences and perspectives. This virtual event is open to federal employees and contractors, state agency staff, municipalities, practitioners, and decision-makers working on research, programs, and policies relevant to green infrastructure and nature-based solutions and interested community members.

The 90-minute event will map the critical, science-based issues and decisions state officials are contending with regarding green infrastructure and nature-based solutions and the extent to which existing federal support for those installations is accessible and useful, and where it is inaccessible and why. The state discussion will focus on the following topics: Leveraging Evidence, Expertise, and Tools for Advancing Resiliency, Accessing and Utilizing Federal Funding Sources, and Centering Equity and the Needs of Frontline Communities.

Panelists

• Lori Beary, Former Community Development Director and State Revolving Fund Coordinator, Iowa Finance Authority
• Felicia Marcus, William C. Landreth Visiting Fellow, Stanford University; Consultant, Water in the West Program; Founding Member, Water Policy Group; Fellow, National Academy of Public Administration
• Tancred Miller, Policy & Planning Section Chief, North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Coastal Management
• Bhaskaran Subramanian, Program Manager, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations (NOAA); former Program Manager and lead for the Shoreline Conservation Services unit at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources
• Mackenzie Todd, Coastal Resilience Specialist, North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Coastal Management