The ocean is creeping inland due to sea level rise — and it’s not just the shoreline that’s changing. As ocean levels rise and more people crowd our coasts, salt is quietly infiltrating the soils and groundwater that communities depend on. Farms are failing, forests are dying, roads, pipes, and foundations face a slow, corrosive threat most people never see coming. But nature has a surprising response. Salt marshes — those seemingly fragile ribbons of grass and mud at the water’s edge — are on the move. Squeezed out on the ocean side, they’re migrating inland, carrying with them a remarkable ability to lock away carbon and shelter wildlife. In a world of bad environmental news, this is a rare story of resilience.

Our speaker will dig into the science of a saltier world with us, explore the communities and ecosystems caught in the middle, and look at some strategies that could help us adapt before the tide turns against us.

Our speaker, Holly Michael, is the Unidel Fraser Russell Chair in the Environment and Professor in the Departments of Earth Sciences and Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at the University of Delaware. She is also Director of the Delaware Environmental Institute. She holds a BS from the University of Notre Dame and a PhD in Hydrology from MIT. Her research includes coastal resilience, saltwater intrusion, water resource management, contaminant hydrology, groundwater-surface water interactions, and geostatistics.

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The Scholars Gild, a part of the Arden Club, meets on the third Tuesday of the month, September through June. We usually use a hybrid Live-Zoom model. There are sometimes technical glitches so your patience is appreciated.

There is no fee to attend Scholars Gild discussions.  We encourage all to donate live or at http://ardenclub.org/donate/.  Your support helps keep the virtual and in-person lights on at the Club, making possible dynamic programming like concerts, theater, dance, and, of course, our Scholars Gild evenings.

To get updates and Zoom links, sign up for email notifications at ScholarsGild@gmail.com. Follow “Arden Scholars’ Gild” on Facebook, and you can see recordings of past events by going to our YouTube Channel at “Arden Scholars Gild”.