Cascadia Community Engaged Research Clearinghouse

What support do you need?

CCERC Request Form

The Cascadia CoPes Hub is dedicated to supporting your community’s information needs and informing local problem solving to coastal hazards by providing research, science communication support, and technical assistance*. The Cascadia Community Engaged Research Clearinghouse (CCERC) is a pathway to link your community’s needs with the Hub’s resources and services.

[The report the Cascadia CoPes Hub prepared for us is] clear and useful and very timely and will be most helpful to the City as it seeks to prepare itself for an emergency.”

Alex Cox, Chair, Yachats Emergency Preparedness committtee

Examples of support and expertise available to coastal communities

Research Support

Provide information or data associated with specific needs or processes (site use decisions, design processes, planning processes, project proposals)
Assist communities by connecting them with Hub researchers to develop collaborative scopes of work that align with community needs/outcomes

Draft case studies for the Oregon Coastal Hazards Ready (OCHR) Library & Mapper :

Although mitigation, adaptation, and preparedness projects are conducted along the Oregon Coast, information, strategies, and lessons learned are not always effectively shared between stakeholders. Thus, Oregon Sea Grant developed the Oregon Coastal Hazards Ready (OCHR) Library & Mapper to further inform the public and support community resilience. The OCHR Mapper is an ArcGIS StoryMap that displays 39 coastal hazards preparedness case studies. This tool is designed to assist individuals, communities, and tribal and local governments as they identify approaches to prepare for acute and chronic coastal hazards. The OCHR Mapper aims to promote and share lessons learned and research efforts done to reduce coastal hazards risks and build resilience in Oregon.

Studio Projects :
The Hub has a community co-production studio model to advance coastal hazard research and planning. A studio may be carried out through a few different mechanisms, including faculty-guided graduate studios in planning or faculty-guided graduate student consulting labs in public policy. Studios will be guided by your community interests and can include activities such as survey assessments of community adaptive capacity, user-centered design of hazards communication products, and evaluation of hazards-related communications and messages in the Pacific Northwest. Below are a few examples of results from studies. Depending on the need you express, you may be supported through a studio.

Indigenous Worldviews and Tribal Priorities in Hazard Mitigation Planning. Borges, Juliana, Harari, Leah, Jung, Heeju, McFeely, Micah, McPherson-Siegrist, Nat (2024). Awarded the 2024 Evans School Policy & Governance Research Prize. MPA Capstone, Evans School of Public Policy & Governance, University of Washington, Seattle, June
A “Hole-in-the-Community” Approach: How Federal Disaster Policy Overlooks Indigenous Communities. Jenicek, Ashton, Evan Mix, Alyssa Noltner, and Charles Veith (2023). Awarded the 2024 Evans School Policy & Governance Research Prize. MPA Capstone, Evans School of Public Policy & Governance, University of Washington, Seattle, June. Informational Flyer here

A shorter, updated version has now also been published: Mix EC, Noltner A, Jenicek A, Veith C, Bostrom A, Donatuto J, Moore, A., Errett, NA, (2024) The whole community? Assessing FEMA’s inclusion of Tribal governments in hazard mitigation efforts. PLOS Climate 3(8): e0000479.

Making Waves: Sea Level Rise Engagement in the City of Westport. Braley, MaryJordan, Harvey, Tessa, Lorenz, Alison, and Tracy, Elana (2023). Awarded the 2024 Evans School Policy & Governance Research Prize. Evans School of Public Policy & Governance, University of Washington, Seattle, June 2023
Planning for the Future: Assessing the Legacy of the Growth Management Act and Potential Policy Alternatives in the Puget Sound Region
Localizing Hazard Mitigation: Recommendations for Westport’s Comprehensive Plan Update
Various hazard mitigation planning documents
Embedding Environmental Justice into the Washington State Department of Ecology: Promising Practices for Advancing Equity and Environmental Justice

Presentations on coastal hazards:

We can offer customizable presentations on a variety of coastal hazards to audiences and groups. These state-of-the-science presentations can cover general hazards education, but can also provide in-depth technical discussions specific to a particular location.

Examples have included:
• Presentation at the Yachats Prepare Fair to discuss tsunami and earthquake science
• Presentation to the Astoria community on the science of sea level rise, flooding, and climate change
• Seminar at the Hatfield Marine Science Center on the overall Cascadia CoPes Hub project with in-depth examples of hazard projects
• Overview of the Cascadia CoPes Hub at various scientific conferences and meetings

Project manager Ali Burgos presented “How do Cascadia Coastal Communities increase resilience to hazards? Co-producing resilient coastal futures” to the town of Astoria, Oregon. Hosted by the seminar series Nature Matters through the National Park Service, Burgos discussed the science behind sea level rise and gave an overview of the Cascadia CoPes Hub. Her presentation can be viewed here starting at minute 17.

Technical Assistance :

Provide consultation on specific topics, including identifying and helping to compile/access the best science and information
Assist with connections and introductions to Hub researchers
Connect communities with others who are working on similar projects for guidance/advice

Organize tsunami evacuation walks

Last June, the Hatfield Marine Science Center (HMSC) organized an evacuation drill to the Gladys Valley Marine Studies Building (GVMSB) rooftop. This was an opportunity to evaluate how long it took people, at HMSC and living on the South Beach peninsula, to get out of their building, confirm the route to HMSC’s newest evacuation site, and reassess their personal evacuation plans. Participants got to check out the rooftop community disaster cache and win some items to expand or start their own personal to-go bag.

Examples of Technical Assistance for Yachats, Oregon

Susceptibility to Tsunami Inundation and Landslide Hazards of the City of Yachats’ Community Disaster Caches Locations

Susceptibility to Tsunami Inundation and Landslide Hazards at the Proposed Site of YYFAP Childcare Facilities

We have a CCERC management team who reviews all requests and assigns the appropriate person and resources to the task.

Post Doctoral Coastal Community Liaisons:
Post-doctoral scholars with expertise in Hub research activities have dedicated time to provide direct support to communities.

Andrea Mah: Andrea joined the Hub in 2024 as a postdoctoral scholar in the College of Earth, Oceanic, and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University. She is part of the community adaptive capacity team, working with Dr. Tilt. Trained as a social psychologist, she focuses on people’s perceptions of and emotional and behavioral responses to environmental issues, including climate change and natural hazards. Andrea is currently researching ways to increase equitable resilience in coastal communities, focusing on projects that emphasize inclusive planning, community engagement, and consideration of community-identified assets.

Maja Jeranko: Maja joined the Hub in 2023 as a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Science at the University of Washington. As a cultural anthropologist, her work has investigated the impacts of cascading disasters and subsequent reconstruction initiatives on lifeways, perceptions, and gender relations. Her specific focus are the compounding socio-cultural and economic impacts of earthquakes, floods, sea-level rise, and COVID-19 in rural Latin America.

Coastal Community Leads:
The Hub includes three coastal community leads. Our leads are scientists affiliated with Oregon and Washington Sea Grant, which are boundary organizations bridging the gap between academic researchers and Cascadia coastal communities. Our leads can:

Provide information or data associated with specific needs or processes (site use decisions, design processes, planning processes, project proposals)
Give presentations on specific topics or design and provide outreach materials
Provide consultation on specific topics, including identifying and helping to compile/access the best science and information
Assist with connections and introductions to Hub researchers
Connect communities with others who are working on similar projects for guidance/advice
Assist communities and Hub researchers to develop collaborative scopes of work that align with community needs/outcomes, Hub capacity, and next steps

Carrie Garrison-Laney
Washington Sea Grant, Team 1

Ian Miller
Washington Sea Grant, Team 2

Felicia Olmeta Schult
Oregon Sea Grant, Team 3

Other Team Members:
The CCERC is led by Dr. Nicole Errett, Dr. Jamie Donatuto, and project manager Ali Burgos. Other key members are Dr. Ann Bostrom, Dr. Peter Ruggiero, Dr. Jenna Tilt, and Dr. Michael Howard

*The request will be reviewed by the CCERC management team, and we will get back to you as soon as we can. Your request will be supported by various members of the CCERC management team. If they cannot directly help you, we will direct you to another research member of the Hub. In the case that the Hub cannot support your request, we will try to point you in the best direction.