Recapping the SE CASC Global Change Research Fellows’ Fall Webinar: “Decision Support Tools for Stakeholders in Coastal Southeast, USA”

This post was written by 2025-26 Global Change Research Fellow, Alyssa Tomb.

On November 20th, 2025, the 2025-26 Global Change Research Fellows hosted a webinar titled “Decision Support Tools for Stakeholders in Coastal Southeast, USA.” The event aimed to provide information and access to powerful, science-based decision support tools through three presentations from the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering at North Carolina State University, the Lower Mississippi Valley Joint Venture, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The 1-hour webinar was concluded with a panel discussion with questions prompted by the audience.

Presentations

Natalie Nelson, Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, North Carolina State University

Nelson is an associate professor at NCSU and the Principal Investigator of the Coastal and Watershed Analytics Lab. She presented on ShellCast, a forecast and notification tool for shellfish farmers and harvesters. The decision support tool was created to predict temporary shellfish harvest closures due to heavy rainfall, which allows shellfish growers to better prepare for temporary closures. ShellCast uses National Weather Service forecasts and antecedent rainfall data to estimate potential harvest closure risks, and the tool is currently being expanded to include North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida. Currently, the decision support tool is found to be most helpful for shellfish growers who have operations with low rainfall thresholds. Additionally, this tool serves as a scalable model that other states can adopt to support aquaculture and improve resilience to water closers.

Anne Mini, Lower Mississippi Valley Joint Venture

Mini is the senior scientist for the Lower Mississippi Valley Joint Venture and the American Bird Conservancy. The Lower Mississippi Valley Joint Venture functions as a forum for private, federal, and conservation communities to address a shared vision of bird conservation in the Lower Mississippi Valley Region. The Forest Breeding Bird Decision Support Model (FBBDSM) was developed with the goal of increasing the size of bottomland hardwood forest patches to benefit sensitive landbirds. The tool was developed over 20 years ago, and now serves as the baseline for delivering wetland reserve easements in the region. The Wetland Complex Model for Waterfowl (WCM) was built to set conservation priorities for wintering waterfowl habitats by analyzing wetland types and energetic needs to inform conservation actions and decisions.

Logan Benedict, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Benedict is the Adaptation and Landscape Specialist for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. He presented on the applications of the Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) framework in conservation planning. RAD is a facilitation tool that was developed to explore the entire range of possible adaptation options for shaping ecosystem change and transformation. “Resist” refers to restoring or maintaining ecosystems based on historical or current conditions, “Accept” refers to allowing ecosystem processes, function, structure, or composition to change without intervening, and “Direct” refers to actively shaping ecosystem processes, function, structure, or composition towards new preferred conditions. RAD is an effective tool for guiding people to think about inevitable changes and to be creative in conservation planning. Ultimately, RAD gives conservationists the opportunity to explore options in a future that is very different from the past.

Panel Discussion

The audience was given the opportunity to spur discussion between the panelists and to ask questions regarding decision support tools. Discussion topics included identifying gaps in the panelists’ various fields where there could be key changes and improvements for climate adaptation, how artificial intelligence and machine learning can be helpful in improving decision support tools, and how these tools can be advertised to management entities, industry workers, and stakeholders.