University of New Orleans planning and urban studies professor Marla Nelson’s research is part of the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Gulf Coast Restoration inaugural webinar series highlighting promising practices and research that provide for the long-term health of the ecosystems and economy of the Gulf Coast.

Nelson’s research, “From Adapting in Place to Adaptive Migration: Designing and Facilitating an Equitable Relocation Strategy,” was one of two presentations included in the first webinar held March 7, with the theme “Leveraging Treasury RESTORE Funds to Support Climate Resilience.”

The Treasury’s Office of Gulf Coast Restoration administers two grant programs, the Direct Component and Centers of Excellence, designed to rebuild the economy and ecosystems of the U.S. Gulf Coast. These programs were created by The Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act (RESTORE Act), which was signed into law on July 6, 2012 and is funded by civil and administrative penalties from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Nelson’s research, which was funded through a Centers of Excellence grant, was conducted in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana. It sought to answer how residents of frontline communities respond to immediate and long-term environmental change and how can local officials facilitate more just and equitable relocation and resettlement.