Happy end of August, everyone! We have had a wonderful, busy summer here at TransCoastal Adaptations: Centre for Nature-Based Solutions.

We are happy to announce that TransCoastal Adaptations is now a formal senate-sanctioned centre within Saint Mary’s University. We are expanding: stay tuned for more information about our education and outreach arm!

Read on to learn more about what we’ve been up to recently, as well as for information about some upcoming events and job opportunities.

Coastal Nature-Based Infrastructure Workshop Series 2022

From June 26-30, TransCoastal Adaptations hosted a combined event in collaboration with the National Research Council and Coastal Zone Canada’s Cold Regions Living Shorelines Community of Practice. The Nature-Based Infrastructure for Coastal Resilience and Risk Reduction Symposium and the Climate-Resilient Coastal Nature-Based Infrastructure Workshop connected practitioners, coastal engineers, natural and social scientists, professors, students, planners, politicians, and Indigenous groups. Attendees came from across Canada and the United States to network and share the latest research in coastal and estuarine science through presentations, keynote addresses, workshops, and a Research Expo.

The events also included a field trip to sites across the Bay of Fundy landscape, where TransCoastal Adaptations was joined by the Confederacy of Mainland Mi’kmaq and CB Wetlands and Environmental Specialists Inc. to lead participants in exploring the changing landscapes of the region and to learn about nature-based climate adaptations.

Learn more here about the Workshop Series and the research shared at the events. We look forward to hosting the next Climate-Resilient Coastal Nature-Based Infrastructure Workshop in June 2024. 

Minister Tim Halman Tours Belcher Street Marsh Site

In June, Dr. Danika van Proosdij and the TransCoastal Adaptations team led the Honourable Tim Halman, Nova Scotia Minister of Environment and Climate Change, on a site visit of the Belcher Street Dyke Realignment and Wetland Restoration Project. The tour showcased the design, implementation, and monitoring of the site, which has undergone rapid revegetation and restoration since managed dyke realignment occurred in 2018 as part of the Making Room for Wetlands project.

Read more about the tour here, and learn more about the Belcher Street site restoration by checking out Kailey’s StoryMap below!

StoryMap: Explore the Restoration Trajectory of the Belcher Street Project Site

Student Kailey Nichols recently created an ArcGIS StoryMap about the restoration trajectory at the Belcher Street Dyke Realignment and Wetland Restoration Project site. Involving multiple nature-based adaptations, the Belcher Street site is an Atlantic Canadian case study for the use of nature-based approaches in coastal management. Check out Kailey’s StoryMap to learn more about the background of the site and the restoration observed since the dyke was realigned in 2018.

Student Spotlight: Brittney Roughan’s PhD Project

This summer, PhD student Brittney Roughan started work on two major components of her PhD project.

1. Sources of Carbon in Salt Marshes

Brittney started by collecting 36 soil cores from four salt marshes in the Bay of Fundy that represent different stages of restoration. These soil cores will be used to determine where the carbon accumulating in these sites is coming from.

Carbon in coastal wetlands comes from different sources. Carbon can come from the plants themselves within the ecosystem, or it can come from outside the ecosystem from other terrestrial ecosystems like forests. Previous work in managed realignment and salt marsh restoration shows that although carbon accumulates rapidly in salt marshes, the majority of it may be from external sources. Distinguishing between the two sources of carbon is very important for global, voluntary carbon credit methodologies like the Verified Carbon Standard, as a project’s total carbon credit has deductions applied to it based on how much of the carbon in the ecosystem is externally derived. These deductions are applied because carbon crediting frameworks want to avoid double-counting carbon credits that may be applied elsewhere, like a forest upstream.

2. Net Ecosystem Carbon Balance

Brittney also started a Net Ecosystem Carbon Balance (NECB) at two of the study sites to investigate if a restored salt marsh cycles and exchanges carbon differently than a natural salt marsh. Salt marshes are biogeochemically open ecosystems that exchange materials with adjacent landscapes through the atmosphere and water. Recent studies show that salt marshes export a significant proportion of their primary productivity through lateral transport of dissolved carbon. Additionally, although salt marshes often take up more CO2 than they emit, they can be sources of other greenhouse gases like methane and nitrous oxide. Measuring the uptake and emission of these greenhouse gases is important in order to accurately report the carbon storage potential of salt marshes, particularly since methane and nitrous oxide trap heat in the atmosphere more efficiently than CO2.

To explore these factors, Brittney set up infrastructure this summer to measure dissolved and gaseous exchanges of carbon. In early August, she conducted the first measurement of greenhouse gases (CO2 and methane) from a restored salt marsh in the Maritimes. Moving forward, Brittney aims to measure greenhouse gases and dissolved carbon seasonally and plans to head back to the field in late October.

Upcoming Webinar

We are excited to announce an upcoming webinar series! Follow our social media channels on Facebook and Instagram for more information about the first webinar, which has been scheduled for September 28th, and to stay updated for the rest of the series. Keep an eye on our Events page as well!

TCA is Hiring!

TCA is hiring for two positions! We have openings for a Communications and Engagement Officer and a Coastal Research Lab Manager. Both of the postings can be found on our Opportunities page, along with more information about how to apply.

Make sure to check our website regularly and follow us on Facebook and Instagram for information about future postings, as well.