OXFORD, Miss. – Specific needs to help ensure resiliency for the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico in the event of natural disasters were addressed at the University of Mississippi Tuesday and Wednesday (March 25-26) during the National Sea Grant Law Center Symposium.
Held at the Ole Miss-Oxford Depot and hosted by the Sea Grant Law Center, the symposium featured a slate of national and local speakers, including environmental lawyers and policymakers, who addressed significant societal, economic and ecological implications of natural disasters in an attempt to answer the question: “How do we prepare for new challenges within this specific area?”
Discussion centered on such subjects as the need for government and academic institutions to contribute to the body of knowledge related to building resilient communities; the need to devise legal and policy tools for adapting coastal zone management to climate change; and the need for lawyers, scientists and policymakers to convene and discuss natural disaster preparation.
“The focus was to look at some of the legal issues that costal communities may face with respect to coastal hazards, such as hurricanes, floods, torrential rainfall or any type of natural disaster,” said Stephanie Showalter, director of NSGLC. “The conference explored possible solutions and policies that may help coastal communities respond efficiently in the event of a natural disaster.”
Sandra Nichols, staff attorney with the Environmental Law Institute, discussed legal tools and policies for adapting coastal zone management to climate change, especially when looking at insurance policy, land-use planning, zoning and the periodic assessment of new data.
Sharon Hodge, associate extension professor at Mississippi State University and an environmental policy analyst, discussed the rebuilding efforts along the Mississippi Gulf Coast since Hurricane Katrina. She offered firsthand experiences and knowledge about rebuilding infrastructure, as well as residential areas.
“There’s a big push for government and academic institutions to contribute to the body of knowledge related to building resilient communities, in particular coastal communities, in order to address the hazards that come with coastal storms and other circumstances that impact our economy and our quality of life on the Mississippi Gulf Coast,” Hodge said.
Although Hurricane Katrina’s destruction and the ongoing litigation that resulted were used as prime examples throughout the symposium, the preparatory actions of states like Maryland and Connecticut were also brought into discussion.
Third-year law student Chris Caron said it is important for lawyers, scientists, and policymakers to convene and discuss natural disaster preparation because in reality there is no such thing as a “natural disaster.”
“This is a critical point stressed by the Gulf of Mexico Alliance,” Caron said. “While hurricanes, such as Katrina, are clearly natural phenomena, the disaster results from illogical and unwise land-use planning for vulnerable coastal areas. The Sea Grant symposium on coastal resiliency is an important
and necessary step in recognizing and learning from these failures so that they might be avoided in the future.”
Plans call for presentations and papers discussed at the symposium to be published in the Sea Grant Law Center’s inaugural issue of its Sea Gant Law and Policy Journal, which is slated to become an annual publication.
For additional information, contact Showalter at 662-915-7775 or sshowalt@olemiss.edu. To obtain more information on the National Sea Grant Law Center, go to