Hawaii's Coastal Challenges: From Sea Level Rise to Resilient Infrastructure

June 18, 2023

Hard choices: Hawaii's struggle with shoreline hardening.

In this episode of the American Shoreline Podcast, co-hosts Peter Ravella and Tyler Buckingham delve into the state of coastal management in Hawaii. Joining them is the esteemed Dr. Charles "Chip" Fletcher, Interim Dean of the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. With his extensive research and expertise in Climate Change, Coastal Community Resiliency, and Natural Coastal Systems, Chip sheds light on the pressing issues facing Hawaii's coastal zones. From sea level rise impacts to shoreline hardening, this episode uncovers the complexities and challenges of managing the Hawaiian coastline. Don't miss this enlightening conversation that combines scientific insight with the beauty of Hawaii's shores.

Show Transcription
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Peter Ravella & Tyler Buckingham

Peter and Tyler joined forces in 2015 and from the first meeting began discussing a project that would become Coastal News Today and the American Shoreline Podcast Network. At the time, Peter and Tyler were coastal consultants for Pete’s firm, PAR Consulting, LLC. In that role, they worked with coastal communities in Texas, Florida, and North Carolina, engaged in grant writing, coastal project development, shoreline erosion and land use planning, permitting, and financial planning for communities undertaking big beach restoration projects. Between and among their consulting tasks, they kept talking and kept building the idea of CNT & ASPN. In almost every arena they worked, public engagement played a central role. They spent thousands of hours talking with coastal stakeholders, like business owners, hotel operators, condo managers, watermen, property owners, enviros, surfers, and fishermen. They dived deep into the value, meaning, and responsibility for the American shoreline, segment-by-segment. Common threads emerged, themes were revealed, differences uncovered. There was a big conversation going on along the American shoreline! But, no place to have it. That's where CNT and ASPN were born.