“Move It!” Lauren Ode-Giles Presents Bluff Recession GIS Analysis at Columbia’s MR2025 Conference
Herrera’s Lauren Ode-Giles recently presented at Columbia University’s MR2025 Conference. Her talk, Move It! Methods and Findings of the Bluff Recession GIS Analysis for Retreat (BRGAR) Study, highlighted the practical ways GIS can support coastal adaptation strategies in the face of accelerating climate hazards.
The MR2025 conference convened scientists, planners, policymakers, and community advocates focused on how climate impacts are reshaping where and how we live. Lauren’s presentation emphasized a growing trend in the Puget Sound region: parcel-by-parcel planning for coastal resilience. She shared findings from Herrera’s GIS-based analysis, which assesses bluff recession risks, identifies armored versus unarmored parcels, and helps determine where relocation may be feasible.
Key takeaways from the event included the importance of consistent messaging about adaptation options, especially managed retreat, and the need to support the tens of thousands of individual decision-makers who ultimately determine local resilience outcomes. New science is sharpening our understanding, but cross-sector collaboration remains critical to turning data into action.
Herrera is proud to support this work and to contribute to national conversations about adaptation that are informed, practical, and people-centered.
Lauren Ode-Giles presented “Move It! Methods and Findings of the Bluff Recession GIS Analysis for Retreat Study” at MR2025