McCann awarded for SAMP work

JENNIFER MCCANN, director of U.S. coastal programs for the Coastal Resources Center at the University of Rhode Island and extension director of Rhode Island Sea Grant, has received an international award for her work in coastal and ocean planning. She has received the 2017 Peter Benchley Ocean Award for her Rhode Island Ocean Special Area Management Plan, or Ocean SAMP, which provides regulations for the management and protection of Rhode Island’s ocean resources and activities.

What impact has your Ocean SAMP had on Rhode Island’s coast?

We now have the first offshore wind farm in the entire country right off of our Rhode Island coast, providing electricity to 17,000 households and creating over 100 jobs. The Ocean SAMP increased protection for the economic, environmental and cultural things we value the most, including important wildlife and their habitats, shipwrecks and diving sites, archeological sites, sailboat racing areas, and significant transportation routes. Rhode Island is the first in the country to receive federal adoption of its ocean spatial plan and the results were supported by fishermen, the Narragansett Tribe, researchers, environmental organizations, community members and regulators. We are proud to share the story of how Rhode Islanders have come together to engage in a process that improved the management of something that is so much a part of our lives – the ocean.

What is most rewarding about your role at the Coastal Resources Center at URI?

- Advertisement -

Every day, I get to collaborate with colleagues and partners to make our coasts and oceans better places to live, work and play. As a coastal practitioner, I am part of a community dedicated to bringing the best available science and best management practices to the table so that sound decisions can be made for Rhode Island and around the world. The issues we work on – like helping the state site offshore renewable energy, ensuring municipalities have the right tools to adapt to changes in climate … [improving] the management of our shellfish resources – all require innovation, agility and building a trusting relationship between us and the people of Rhode Island. •

No posts to display