Marta Vicarelli, assistant professor of economics and public policy, has been named to serve on the advisory board for the Greater Boston Climate and Coastal Resilience Workforce Alliance, a $9.8 million effort funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to develop the workforce needed to enhance climate and coastal resilience across Boston neighborhoods.
“This Alliance will create a pipeline of highly skilled workers ready to fill the good paying jobs it’ll take to protect our communities from higher tides and stronger storms,” said Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, as the group officially began its work earlier this month.
Vicarelli was invited to serve on the advisory board due to her work on coastal resilience, supported by the School of Earth and Sustainability (SES) and the Northeastern Center for Coastal Resilience (NCCR). Led by SES, NCCR is an ambitious effort comprising scholars from all UMass campuses. The center serves as a regional knowledge hub to provide actionable coastal science.
“One of the biggest challenges in designing and implementing resilience strategies is a lack of technical expertise. Labor market indicators show that the growth in demand for green skills is outpacing the increase in supply. This is an unprecedented historical moment to build capacity toward a green, sustainable and thriving economy,” Vicarelli says. “Accelerating this transformation requires cooperation between academia, and stakeholders in the public and private sectors. SES is leading a UMass system effort to create a knowledge hub for formal and informal training. The City of Boston’s Office of Workforce Development will be a partner in our work as a learning exchange.”
She notes that Boston is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. By the 2070s, losses from coastal and river flooding could amount to $1.4 billion a year, according to a report commissioned by the city in 2016.
Vicarelli is working with Office of Workforce Development to organize a lecture in spring 2025 as part of the UMass Sustainable Solutions Lectures series. The talk will feature a panel of city officials and UMass scholars discussing Boston’s pioneering work to combat the effects of climate change and connect workers with the green jobs of tomorrow.
Original article can be found at UMass News.