Each year, the Gulf of Mexico Climate and Resilience Community of Practice (CoP) gives out an award recognizing an individual who has done an exemplary job of communicating climate challenges in the Gulf. This year, the Climate and Resilience CoP is pleased to announce that this year’s individual award winner is Mike Shelton, the coastal training/watershed program coordinator at Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.
Shelton is exceptionally deserving of the Spirit of Community Award. Through his position at the Weeks Bay NERR, he has developed a dynamic program that meets coastal decision-makers’ needs with relevant and practical approaches. Further, Mike contributes his personal time to participate in and support his local community in their resilience activities. He has led and participated in many groups, committees and teams to develop and implement watershed management plans that have significantly increased the resilience of Baldwin County communities and environmental systems. Additionally, he is dedicated to continuing education among coastal professionals, participating in civic and planning processes and connecting best available resilience and climate science to on-the-ground applications through trainings, webinars and workshops.
The projects and efforts that Shelton pursues are directly responsive to the collective aims of the CoP to incorporate adaptation strategies into Gulf communities’ planning. He has enhanced outreach and communication products around climate change and resilience, and developed and conducted trainings for coastal professionals that include, among other things, understanding and implementing green infrastructure, flood control measures, sea-level rise tools and adaptation planning. His ongoing support and assistance have also been critical in helping secure resources and other support for design and construction of many restoration projects that protect communities and ecological systems.
True to the spirit of the CoP, Shelton does this work in collaboration with a broad and diverse network of partners. His collaborators include other Coastal Training Program coordinators, floodplain managers, city and county planners, local consultants, and state and federal agencies. He also serves selflessly on many advisory committees, panels and teams lending expertise and honest feedback to ongoing activities in the region to ensure that products and materials being developed are successful. Partnership and collaboration are at the core of his activities and efforts.
Shelton’s hard work and dedication signify the drive and spirit that moves the Climate and Resilience CoP in its ongoing mission for a more environmentally resilient Gulf of Mexico.