Newsletters
A Message from ASAP’s 2025-2026 Board President John Phillips
Dear Fellow Climate Adaptation Professionals, This letter is to introduce the ASAP Board of Directors. I am deeply honored to be the President of the Board and wish to express my gratitude to the Board election transition committee, our past board members, and the new board members who have volunteered to lead ASAP through this…
Read MoreA Year of Impact: Reflections on ASAP’s 2024 Projects and Programs
As we draw near the end of 2024, it’s a perfect opportunity to celebrate the remarkable accomplishments and milestones of the past year. At ASAP, we’ve had the privilege of collaborating with diverse partners, fostering growth, and making significant strides in climate adaptation and resilience. None of this would have been possible without the invaluable…
Read MoreASAP to Support the National Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Center
The American Society of Adaptation Professionals will collaborate with the Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC) and Atma Connect to engage with one of three national Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers (EJ TCTACs) developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy. The goal of the TCTAC program is to…
Read MoreA Year-End Message From ASAP’s Executive Director
Warmest greetings to the entire ASAP Network during this holiday season. As the Executive Director of the American Society of Adaptation Professionals, I would like to thank each of you, my staff, and the Board of Directors for a prosperous and successful 2023. From April to December of this year and to 2024 and beyond,…
Read MoreNew Community of Practice for Coastal Inundation
The American Society of Adaptation Professionals has partnered with NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management (“OCM”) and the National Sea Grant Office (“NSGO”) to bring together the people and ideas needed to build resilience to coastal inundation. As climate change impacts worsen, so does coastal inundation (i.e., water on normally dry ground as a result of…
Read MoreClimate Change Adaptation as Means for Economic Development: Strategies for Building Rural Climate Resilience and Workforce Capacity
Join us on Tuesday, September 19, from 12-3:30 PM ET to explore strategies for building climate resilience and economic opportunity in rural communities. Don’t miss this free virtual event. The American Society of Adaptation Professionals (“ASAP”) is planning a national AmeriCorps program to address climate impacts and workforce needs in rural communities. We seek to…
Read MoreThe American Society of Adaptation Professionals Joins the NAF Team
The American Society of Adaptation Professionals and EcoAdapt are joining forces to bring you the National Adaptation Forum! The American Society of Adaptation Professionals and EcoAdapt are joining forces to bring you the 2024 National Adaptation Forum! Since 2013, EcoAdapt has been responsible for the planning and execution of the Forum, along with the help…
Read MoreASAP and USDA Forest Service Partner to Address Gaps in Workforce Climate Literacy
In 2018, ASAP Members began a series of discussions on professional education needs for the climate change adaptation community. It quickly became clear that the group’s most valuable output would be a knowledge and competencies framework for our field. After several months, the resulting working group ultimately created ASAP’s Knowledge and Competencies Framework for Climate…
Read MoreASAP Welcomes the American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact as JEDI Fund Partner
ASAP is thrilled to announce that the American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact (AmFam Institute) is providing the ASAP JEDI Fund with a $10,000 sponsorship to catalyze the Fund’s third year. This generous gift provides financial stability for the Fund, enabling us to grow its impact as we pursue a more just,…
Read MoreWelcome Dr. Debra Butler as ASAP’s New Executive Director
Dear ASAP Network, We are pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Debra M. Butler as ASAP’s next Executive Director! Dr. Butler joined ASAP as a member in 2017 and worked part-time for ASAP in 2019 while completing her Ph.D. dissertation in Environmental Studies from the University of Massachusetts-Boston. As a survivor of Hurricane Katrina…
Read MoreASAP Receives National AmeriCorps Planning Grant
ASAP has received a year-long grant of $150,000 from AmeriCorps, the federal agency for national service and volunteerism, to plan a national service program to catalyze adaptation work in rural communities. Rural communities have some of the lowest capacities in the United States to adapt to worsening climate impacts. ASAP’s AmeriCorps program concept seeks to…
Read MoreA Message from ASAP’s Incoming Board President Julia Kim
Dear ASAP Members and Partners, Happy New Year! I hope your 2023 is off to a great start after a restorative winter break. I am honored to serve as ASAP’s Board President this year and want to first express my deepest gratitude to ASAP’s staff and board for their ongoing leadership and commitment to supporting…
Read MoreJEDI and MLK Day 2022
At ASAP, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a time for us to put more than just words behind our racial justice goals: it is a day to ACT. MLK’s Dream remains a powerful vision of the just and equitable world we want to live in. Take action with us to build that world. We…
Read MoreInvesting in Adaptation and Resilience Jobs
ASAP is committed to creating equitable access to adaptation and resilience jobs, ensuring quality job performance, and promoting consistent adaptation and resilience outcomes from the work that adaptation professionals perform. And while adaptation jobs are rapidly expanding, we hope that demand for the work will grow even faster. That’s why, more than ever, we need…
Read MoreCelebrating Black Excellence in Adaptation
This Black History Month, ASAP is celebrating the excellence that our Black members bring to the field. Among them are Shameika Hanson, Community Protection Specialist at The Nature Conservancy, and Emma Tipton, Policy Associate at the American Meteorological Society. We’re honored to share their reflections with our community. Read on to learn how they are…
Read MoreAdaptation Is On The Ballot
Very few events in the world are as influential as the U.S. federal election, and this election is like none other. Throughout our history we have seen policies implemented –or removed– to have hindered progress to slow climate change, but these past four years have been brutal not only in our approach to science but…
Read MoreCelebrating North Carolina and Emerging State Adaptation Leadership
Marlena Byrne, Katie Spidalieri, Annie Bennett, Ned Gardiner, Jim Fox, and Aashka Patel contributed to this story. As Gulf Coast communities rise from Hurricane Laura, ASAP members share how strong storms can give way to strong leadership. When Hurricane Florence pummelled North Carolina in 2018, on the heels of 2016’s Hurricane Matthew, attitudes about climate…
Read MoreAdaptation Voices July 2020
Want Precise Flood Risk Projections? Account for Adaptation. First Street Foundation recently made headlines with findings from their new flood model and the bottom line is stark: many more properties are at risk of flooding than previously thought. The innovative model takes into account future climate conditions including increased rainfall, sea level rise, and increased sea…
Read MoreActionable Science Case Study: Modeling Forest Thinning Effects on Water Yield for the Four Forest Restoration Initiative
Severe drought and wildfires in the Southwest are causing tree die-offs. The Nature Conservancy, through the USFS Four Forest Restoration Initiative, is testing and evaluating new approaches to forest management in the ponderosa pine forests and watersheds around Phoenix. This project, which has demonstrated short term benefits for river flow to the Salt-Verde watershed is just one…
Read MoreHow Economics Can Reframe Adaptation Work
A Conversation with Headwaters Economics In the recent report, Using Economics to Support Climate Adaptation, Headwaters Economics discusses how to make a case for climate adaptation planning through economic methods. As an independent, nonprofit research group Headwaters Economics provides research to help people and organizations develop solutions to some of the most urgent and important…
Read MoreThe Sanctuary of Nature
Contributed by Lily Swanbrow Becker, ASAP Network Manager Last September, brought face-to-face with the ephemeral beauty of a ghost orchid while waist-deep in the cold, inky waters of a swamp inside Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge, I experienced deep connection to nature. But even as a natural resource-focused adaptation professional and proud Floridian, the…
Read MoreThe 2019 CLC Dispatch
Reflections on Climate Leadership in 2019 By Beth Gibbons Next month, the North American adaptation community will meet in the Midwest US. Comprised of vanguards and newcomers, we will converge in Madison to share strategies, lessons learned, successes, failures, friendships, beer and cheese – it is Wisconsin, after all! This past week, a different climate…
Read MoreVolunteer for our Daily Digest Volunteer Reporting Team!
Volunteer for our Daily Digest Volunteer Reporting Team! We are looking to recruit volunteers who can help document the sessions they participate in and coordinate with us by sending your notes and photographs in time to make it into the Daily Digest. A special thank you to all who can volunteer as reporters and contribute…
Read MoreAchilles’ Heel
Achilles’ Heel By Dawn Nelson, ASAP Communications Coordinator An emergency declaration for a border wall as a measure for national security is not an incongruity lost on many Americans. It becomes troubling to learn that some of the money being diverted to fund a border wall will come from construction funding to strengthen the…
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