Prospects for Resilience Press Release

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Katharine Sucher, 202-232-7933x43 ksucher@islandpress.org

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Prospects for Resilience Insights from New York City’s Jamaica Bay Edited by Eric W. Sanderson, William D. Solecki, John R. Waldman, and Adam S. Parris Washington, DC (November 17, 2016) — In October of 2012, New York City faced a wakeup call 1,150 miles wide and 11 feet of water tall. Hurricane Sandy directly or indirectly affected every life in the New York Metropolitan region, and its aftermath dramatically increased the urgency with which the city considered resilience.

Drawing on lessons from New York City’s Jamaica Bay, Prospects for Resilience (Publication Date: November 17, 2016) takes a comprehensive look at efforts to create resilient cities that work with— not against—nature. With the Manhattan skyline in its background, JFK International airport in the foreground, and over 2 million urban residents in between, Jamaica Bay is a prime example of a coastal urban watershed facing the challenges of climate change, population growth, and sea-level rise that will affect cities around the world.

Informed by insights of more than fifty scholars and practitioners, Prospects for Resilience establishes a broad framework for understanding resilience practice in cities and sets out a process for grappling with the many meanings of resilience.

The book demonstrates how various components of cities interact, from climatic factors to plant populations to human demographics. It also highlights essential tools for creating resilient watersheds, including monitoring and identifying system indicators; computer modeling; green infrastructure; and decision science methods. Finally, it looks at the role and importance of “boundary organizations,” like the new Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay in

coordinating and facilitating resilience work, and considers significant research questions and prospects for the future of urban watersheds.

Prospects for Resilience sets forth an essential foundation of information and knowledge not only for those working in Jamaica Bay or other urban watersheds, but for all researchers, urban planners, students, and others who need to create more resilient cities.

Eric W. Sanderson is a senior conservation ecologist at the Wildlife Conservation Society. Dr. Sanderson is the best-selling author of Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City (2009).

William D. Solecki is a professor of geography at Hunter College, CUNY and served as the Interim Executive Director of the Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay for its first two years. Dr. Solecki is also a lead author of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Group II, Urban Areas Chapter. John R. Waldman is a professor of biology at Queens College, CUNY. Prior to joining Queens College, Dr. Waldman worked for the Hudson River Foundation for Science and Environmental Research for 20 years. Adam S. Parris is the Executive Director of the Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay, hosted at Brooklyn College. Prior to that, Mr. Parris was a technical lead in developing the Sea Level Rise Tool for Sandy Recovery, for which he and others received a Presidential Green.Gov award as Climate Champion.

Prospects for Resilience Island Press Hardcover Publication Date: November 17, 2016 304 pages | Price: $80.00 (C) / $40.00 (P) / $39.99 (E) ISBN: 978-1-61091-732-2 (C) / 978-1-61091-733-9 (P) / 978-1-61091-734-6 https://islandpress.org/book/prospects-for-resilience Founded in 1984, Island Press works to stimulate, shape, and communicate the information that is essential for solving environmental problems. Today, with more than 1,000 titles in print and some 40 new releases each year, it is the nation’s leading publisher of books on environmental issues. Island Press is driving change by moving ideas from the printed page to public discourse and practice. Island Press’s emphasis is, and will continue to be, on transforming objective information into understanding and action. For more information and further updates be sure to visit www.islandpress.org. ###