Dr. Evans is an interdisciplinary systems ecologist who holds a public service faculty appointment in environmental policy and sustainability analysis at the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government. Through this position, Dr. Evans conducts a diverse array of applied environmental research and policy assessments in service of local and state governments throughout Georgia. Several of his current projects provide geospatial decision support for local governments in coastal Georgia that are seeking to incorporate sea level rise adaptation, social vulnerability assessments, and other resilience concepts into their planning processes. Partners in this work include NOAA, Georgia Sea Grant, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, the City of Tybee Island, the Chatham-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission, Georgia Coastal Regional Commission, Georgia Emergency Management Agency, and the United States Geological Survey. Dr. Evans holds a B.A. in philosophy from New College of Florida (1998), a M.S. in interdisciplinary ecology from the University of Florida (2001), and a PhD in interdisciplinary ecology, with an area of concentration in environmental engineering sciences, from the University of Florida (2007).

Dr. Risse received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Georgia in Agricultural Engineering. He completed his Ph.D. in 1994 at Purdue University while working at the USDA National Soil Erosion Research Lab and returned to Georgia to work for the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension service developing and implementing an Agricultural Pollution Prevention Program. He currently coordinates the Water Resources and Animal Waste Management Programs for the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at UGA, and is also serving as the Interim Director for UGA’s Marine Extension Service. He has worked on numerous water programs including research on BMP’s, development and implementation of educational programs, and testing of stormwater treatment and water conservation technologies throughout his career.

Dr. Clark Alexander holds the rank of Full Professor at the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography and is the Director of Georgia Southern University’s Applied Coastal Research Laboratory on the Skidaway Institute campus. Alexander received a BSc in Oceanography and a BA in Geology in 1983, from Humboldt State University in California, a MSc in marine geology in 1985 and a PhD in marine sedimentology in 1990, both from North Carolina State University. He joined the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography in 1989. He also holds adjunct and graduate faculty appointments at Georgia Southern University, University of Georgia, Savannah State University and Georgia Institute of Technology. His research interests include sedimentary processes on continental margins, coastal response to sea level rise and climate change, coastal and barrier island geology, and historical records of anthropogenic impacts on the coast. During his career, he has pursued these interests within the South Atlantic Bight, on the east and west US coasts and in lakes of the US, in Mexico, China, Korea, Brazil, the Siberian Arctic and New Zealand. Alexander served 8 years on the Georgia Coastal Marshlands and Shore Protection Committees, where he gained insight into balancing conservation and development pressures in the Southeastern US coastal zone. Currently, he is working with state, regional and Federal entities as the lead investigator of a Governors’ South Atlantic Alliance project to assess the Southeast’s vulnerability to climate change impacts.

Ed is the owner of Geo Rec, a Georgia based consulting firm that provides planning and GIS solutions to local governments. Ed received his Masters in Urban Planning from the University of Buffalo in 2002, and has been in Savannah ever since. As a consultant, Ed has worked on planning and GIS projects all over the state of Georgia. This experience ranges from Comprehensive Planning to stormwater inventories to GIS database development. When not at work, Ed enjoys reading planning theory while pondering life's spatial relevance. This project is of particular interest because it combines the principals of planning with the analytical application of GIS.

Ron Feldner is the Deputy City Manager for Garden City, GA since 2010. He is a 1989 graduate of Georgia Tech and has a degree in Civil Engineering. He has worked with numerous local government projects over the last 20 years on various types of engineering projects. In his role as Deputy City Manager, he often undertakes special projects for the city including the City’s Cycle 14 - Coastal Incentive Grant entitled “Garden City: A Disaster Resilient Community” that we received in 2010. He has also been identified to serve in a supervisory role with the City’s emergency management and preparedness team.