Community Voices and Rising Tides: Imagining the Future with Gulf of Maine Research Institute’s Steph Sun
Steph (in teal) takes notes on a sea level rise projection map in the field; photo courtesy of GMRI.by Charlotte Van Voorhis
At Envision Resilience, we support the exploration of science-based, design-led adaptation and we seek to amplify the anecdotal accounts of climate change in our communities. In this series, Stories from Ashore, we share stories of people in our Challenge sites who are rethinking and re-envisioning their connection to place as a result of a changing climate. Through these stories, we introduce you to people who are imagining a future with increased water, reshaping local food systems, harnessing alternative forms of energy and engaging in positive and hopeful conversations about the future. What will be your response to climate change?
“ In an ideal world of transformation, I’d like to see something so novel and cool that I can’t even comprehend it right now but that has roots in the values of this community”
After falling in love with Maine during college, Stephanie “Steph” Sun decided to make the state home when she took a job at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) as a Climate Engagement Specialist for GMRI’s Climate Center in 2023. Steph’s graduate thesis focused on the cumulative pressures facing the working waterfront in Harpswell, Maine. This research greatly influenced her role at GMRI in navigating the multitude of climate priorities throughout the various Maine communities and industries. We recently sat down with her to talk about GMRI and her thoughts on Maine’s resilience efforts ahead of the 2024 Envision Resilience Portland and South Portland Challenge.
Envision Resilience: What does resilience mean to you?
Steph Sun: Conceptually and hopefully also in practice, I resonate with resilience being a bounce forward. Resilience can be transformative in communities, grounded in equity and build connections between people. A more engineering perspective says that resilience is the ability to bounce back after a shock to the system, a bounce forward can move us towards a transformational goal without just repeatedly going back to what we’ve always known. So while well-designed infrastructure connects people, community connectedness can help its members do more than just cope after an event, but thrive in novel conditions, be they climatic, economic or social.
ER: How would you describe GMRI’s mission in the community?
SS: GMRI’s mission is to develop and deliver collaborative solutions to global ocean challenges, like healthy ecosystems, sustainable seafood, climate change and the blue economy. So as an organization, we bring together science and stakeholders to understand the challenges we’re facing in the Gulf of Maine. On the climate team, we work in a framework of conducting science and research, engaging communities and developing solutions. A lot of the work I do sits in the community engagement space, looking at technical assistance, capacity building and working with folks on the ground. I also work closely with our scientists to characterize some of the challenges that communities are facing, and with our solutions team to help in solutions development.
The GMRI facility on Union Wharf in downtown Portland is an example of GMRI’s mission in the community. This property is a "living lab" where we can do deep dives to understand the different climate hazards we’re facing, like the large repeat storms that we’ve experienced recently. We can go out in storms and get first-hand observations of their impacts on the wharf itself and consult our facilities manager to understand from a property management perspective what are the priorities and to characterize risk. We then create decision support tools for other waterfront property owners asking “How should I be preparing for the next storm?” or “How should I be elevating equipment and in what timeline?”
In December 2022, after a large storm, Connor Brooks, our coastal hazard technician, worked closely with our facilities manager, Tim Reich, to assess how much we needed to raise our boiler after it came within two inches of being covered with storm surge water. Consequently, when the storms hit this January , the water reached a level that would have covered the pilot light in the boiler’s old location but did not reach this time around, thanks to Connor and Tim's elevation/relocation plan. Minor details like that can have really significant implications and this can serve as a case study for others.
ER: I’ve heard that one-third of Maine school children go through GMRI at some point in their educational career—could you talk a little bit about the educational efforts of GMRI?
“I’m excited to see what that no-barrier vision is at the end of the semester. I think it’s really great to start from this shared history of place and then from there, stretch your imagination of possibility and root it in that which makes people want to be in Portland and South Portland. What gives Portland its sense of place? What in this place lends itself to how people build their identities? What are those elements that you’d want to bring into your envisioned future?”
SS: Yes! We have a great education team and being able to engage students in Maine with authentic real-world experiences is one of the things that really excites me about being at GMRI. I’m a huge fan of the emerging partnerships between the Climate Center and the education team. We’re always thinking about ways to bring youth into the work the Climate Center does—whether it be getting kids out to observe flooding or incorporating youth voices in decision-making processes, our education team has developed a curriculum for educators to use in their classrooms. Being able to tap into Maine’s educators network, and just getting kids aware of the issues even if not directly involved is a phenomenal part of the education program.
One example of including youth in decision-making processes is through the NSF Civic Stage II project, led by Hannah Baranes, which includes coastal flood observations and a scenario planning exercise that we normally do with municipal leaders and engaged residents. We’ll be piloting a program that has schools in Maine modeling real-world procedures in communities across Maine. This provides students with an authentic experience, which is a huge part of GMRI’s work.
ER: Could you talk a little more about the role of community engagement in resilience planning? In your eyes, why does it matter?
Community engagement imagery courtesy of GMRI.SS: I think the most important thing is civic engagement, being able to bring people into the conversation to not only make it more democratic but to really understand and see what’s happening within a community. In the citizen-science community flooding observation program that Gayle Bowness is leading, the forms include space for those observations but also space to offer opinions on what you believe should be done about the flooding.
Community engagement also offers a way of building community knowledge and tapping into generational knowledge from folks who have seen change happen over their entire lifetimes. In programs like Hannah’s, residents can participate in a variety of ways, that are not limited to traditional forms of civic engagement. Bringing all of these parties together is really powerful.
ER: How do you envision the City of Portland in 10, 50, 100 years?
SS: In an ideal world of transformation, I’d like to see something so novel and cool that I can’t even comprehend it right now but that has roots in the values of this community. Hopefully, it’s also a very interdisciplinary future, solving the issues we see coming today with an un-siloing of the challenges we’re facing. For instance, using integrated solutions for questions like how is climate tied to housing, to the economy and so on.
Community engagement imagery courtesy of GMRI.ER: What advice would you give the Envision Resilience university students, many of whom may be new to Maine, to consider as they enter this fall’s semester focused on Portland and South Portland?
SS: Get to know Maine as a place, learn about its history and why it is the way it is today. Investigate what decisions were made in the past that have led us to what we see today. But also don’t get too bogged down because the Envision Resilience Challenge is an opportunity to imagine something completely different.
I’m excited to see what that no-barrier vision is at the end of the semester. I think it’s really great to start from this shared history of place and then from there, stretch your imagination of possibility and root it in that which makes people want to be in Portland and South Portland. What gives Portland its sense of place? What in this place lends itself to how people build their identities? What are those elements that you’d want to bring into your envisioned future?
ER: Lastly, for fun: do you have any restaurant/coffee shop recs for the students and faculty on their site visits this fall?
SS: For cafes, I would say that Smalls Bakery happy hour is a very well-kept secret and that I like Coveside Coffee to pick up a coffee and go for a walk around Back Cove. For restaurants, I would be remiss if I did not say support local seafood! So any opportunities you find in the area to eat Gulf of Maine-based sustainably harvested local seafood, of which there are many, go for it.
Above: On a beautiful day in June, Steph and her colleague Connor Brooks toured GMRI’s Union Wharf with the faculty leads during their three-day on-site workshop getting to know the landscape, challenges and opportunities in Portland and South Portland, Maine ahead of their fall semester design studio.
To learn more about the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, visit their website at gmri.org.
