Michelle Covi’s office sits on the third floor of a tall building in Norfolk, Virginia. The light grey walls wear posters depicting ocean waves in pastel blues, pinks, and purples. Shells and a dried starfish are scattered on Covi’s desk. Overall, the room emits a serenity that reflects its occupant’s calm disposition.
But on one wall, a sinister-looking map disrupts the tranquility. “Sea Level Rise Vulnerability of the United States’ East Coast by 2100” shows ominous reds, oranges, and yellows creeping up the Eastern seaboard. This map is what drives Covi’s work.
Since February 2014, Covi has been a faculty member in Old Dominion University’s (ODU) Ocean, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences Department. Her official title is climate adaptation & resilience assistant professor of practice, a position jointly funded by ODU and Virginia Sea Grant. She defines resilience as “the ability to adapt to changing conditions and rapidly recover from disruptions; the capability to survive and thrive in face of shocks and stressors.” The primary stressor she contends with is recurrent flooding.
Over the last century, global sea levels have risen five to eight inches. But in Hampton Roads, the southeastern portion of Virginia that includes Norfolk, sea levels have risen more than 14 inches since 1930. Here, sea level is rising faster than average because global sea levels are rising, and the land is sinking due to groundwater extraction and geologic forces. By 2100, sea levels in Hampton Roads are projected to rise between 2.3 and 5.2 feet, according to the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee.
As the seas rise, flooding has become more prevalent in Hampton Roads. A heavy rain can turn roadways into quasi-waterways. A bad storm can close schools because buses can’t get kids to class via their usual routes. Even daily high tides can flood buildings in close proximity to the water’s edge.
As an agent of resilience, Covi seeks to help coastal communities in Hampton Roads adapt to the water inundating their homes, workplaces, and roads. And she does this by connecting communities with university research.
Traditionally, universities research sea level rise in academic isolation and think about potential solutions to recurrent flooding without engaging the affected communities. But Covi believes this approach leaves important voices out of the resilience conversation.
“I think part of what we need to do in order to really address resilience issues is to engage people at all levels in these issues. How do we get into the neighborhoods? How do we reach some of the folks that are not being listened to? The first step is to tell them the findings, and the next step is to actually engage them in the process of forming those questions,” Covi says.
