ECU Assistant Professor Invited to Congressional Briefing

An East Carolina University assistant professor has been invited to speak at the Coastal Resiliency of Living Shorelines congressional briefing by U.S. Representative Frank Pallone.

East Carolina University assistant professor Rachel Gittman has been invited to speak at a congressional briefing.

The Department of Biology’s Rachel Gittman was asked to join a panel of speakers aiming to build support for H.R. 4525, “Living Shorelines Act of 2017,” co-sponsored by Pallone. The briefing is scheduled for May 30.

The resolution would authorize the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to provide grants to states, local communities and non-government organization to develop living shorelines projects. Living shorelines projects are focused on providing protections to local communities facing coastal challenges, including mitigating the effects of erosion, absorbing the impact of coastal storms, alleviating shorelines flooding, relieving the effects of sea level rise and reducing property damage and displacement.

Gittman would bring an “academic perspective” to the briefing, including best practices for data collection and monitoring. She previously gave a similar briefing two years ago as a postdoctoral research associate at Northeastern University.

Gittman’s research areas include marine community ecology, coastal management and policy, restoration ecology and sustainability science. She received her doctorate in ecology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2014 before joining Northeastern.