CONFERENCE AGENDA: 

Tuesday, April 13, 2021 @ 08:45-12:30 U.S. Pacific Time Via Zoom

08:45 Call To Order

Propeller Club of Northern California, Stas Margaronis

09:00 Welcome

• Brigadier General Joseph Schroedel, executive director, Society of American Military Engineers

09:15 Keynote Speaker

• Melissa Roberts, executive director, American Flood Coalition, “The Flooding Threat’s Economic Impact to the United States”

09:30 Investing in Flood Resiliency

• Victoria Sclafani, senior policy associate, American Flood Coalition, “The Local Economic Impact of Flood – Resilient Infrastructure Projects”

• Sharai Lewis-Gruss and Mike Kaminski, Lead and Senior Adaptation Specialists, First Street Foundation, “Flood Factor and Our National Adaptation Database”

• Kathleen Schaefer, PhD candidate and former FEMA engineer, “Natural Disaster Risk: Liability or Asset?”

10:00 State Responses

• Colonel Stephen Murphy, District Commander New Orleans, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,

“Flood Challenges Facing the Mississippi River” *

• Elaine Forbes, executive director, Port of San Francisco, “Rebuilding the San Francisco Seawall” *

• Meri Davlasheridze, assistant professor, Department of Marine Sciences, Texas A&M University at Galveston, “The Price of Not Investing in the Texas Coastal Spine System”

• Rachel Haney, communications director Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, “Mid Barataria Sediment Diversion”1*

*Invited

10:45 Break

11:00 Lessons from the Netherlands

• Jeroen Aerts, director, Department of Water and Climate Risk, VU University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands’ Contribution to Flood & Sea Level Defense Initiatives”

• Dirk-Jan Walstra, director of the Hydraulic Engineering Department, “Flood Risk Modeling for U.S. Department of Homeland Security & Delta Flume: Implications for Advanced Flood Research”

• Matthijs Bos is lead climate adaptation & flood resilience for Royal Haskoning, DHV “Software Aids to Calculating Port of Rotterdam Cost/Benefit Defenses”

11:45 Saltwater Threats to U.S. Atlantic, Gulf & Pacific Coasts Watersupply

• Gracie Todd and Bill Lambrecht, co-authors, “Saltwater Threats to U.S. Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific Coasts Water Supply” 2

• Gracie Todd and Bill Lambrecht, co-authors, “Saltwater Threats to U.S. Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific Coasts Water Supply” 2

12:20 Conclusion & Sending the Message to Congress

12:30 End