Charles Lester, former executive director of the California Coastal Commission, is revitalizing UC Santa Barbara’s Ocean and Coastal Policy Center (OCPC) to carry forward work on pressing coastal management issues, from the protection of public shoreline access to the challenge of community adaptation to sea level rise. Lester has spent the past two-and-a-half years reframing the center, which has been inactive since 2010.

The Ocean and Coastal Policy Center’s current research focus spans three areas: coastal resilience, environmental justice and public beach access, and international knowledge transfer.

California’s iconic shoreline — from its communities and beaches to coastal wetlands and intertidal habitats — is increasingly threatened by coastal hazards such as extreme flooding and erosion associated with climate change, sea level rise, storms and El Niño events. Indeed, Santa Barbara County is all too familiar with the issues posed by erosion, inundation and extreme events.

Practical and effective solutions are needed to help communities address the accelerating social, economic and environmental challenges driven by climate change. Lester plans to develop the center into a resource that can help guide our response to these challenges.

California’s iconic shoreline — from its communities and beaches to coastal wetlands and intertidal habitats — is increasingly threatened by coastal hazards such as extreme flooding and erosion associated with climate change, sea level rise, storms and El Niño events. Indeed, Santa Barbara County is all too familiar with the issues posed by erosion, inundation and extreme events.

Practical and effective solutions are needed to help communities address the accelerating social, economic and environmental challenges driven by climate change. Lester plans to develop the center into a resource that can help guide our response to these challenges.