Shared Solutions for Stronger Coasts & Communities

The 2026 Cape Coastal Conference highlighted innovative efforts to restore salt marshes, wetlands, and seagrass ecosystems, advance the beneficial use of dredged materials, support biodiversity, foster collaboration with Indigenous Tribes, and create practical, equitable solutions for flood adaptation and measuring project success.

Below are the conference video recordings, organized in the same order as they appear in the agenda, which is linked at the top of the page under Conference Materials. For presentations that included slides, PowerPoint files are linked within the presentation titles. Additional resources are also provided for select presentations where available.

AGENDA

Agenda

Speaker Biographies

Student/Early Career Poster Abstracts

AGENDA

A National Synthesis of Tidal Marshes to Detect Impacts of Climate Change across Multiple Scales

A National Synthesis of Tidal Marshes Protocol Recommendations

How to Guide for Synthesizing NERRS Marsh Monitoring Data

Developing New Ways to Analyze Reserve Monitoring Data

Rising to the Challenge: Will Tidal Marshes Survive Rising Seas?

Oysters and Nitrogen Removal Graphic

Opening Remarks & Resources – Kristen Weir, Training & Engagement Coordinator, Waquoit Bay Reserve

A Better Way to Adapt to a World of Floods, Rising Seas, and Social Inequality

A new framework for flood adaptation: introducing the Flood Adaptation Hierarchy

OPENING KEYNOTE
Restoring Balance: Mashpee Wampanoag Vision for Land & Water
Panel Discussion: Chief Earl Mills, Chief Sagamore Vernon “Buddy” Pocknett, Jason Steiding, Talia Landry

From Vision to Impact: Metrics for Tracking Project Success Resilience Metrics Workshop for Decision-Makers
Susanne Moser, Ph.D., Susanne Moser Research & Consulting

Biodiversity Goals for the Commonwealth
Beth Lambert, Division of Ecological Restoration,
MA Department of Fish and Game

Shorebird Habitat Use on Cape Cod
Alan Kneidel, Senior Conservation Biologist,
Manomet Conservation Sciences

Sesarma Crab Herbivory in Cape Cod Salt Marshes
Stephen Smith, Ph.D., Plant Ecologist,
Cape Cod National Seashore, National Park Service

Returning Fire to the Land: Indigenous Stewardship for Biodiversity and Resilience
Diana Ruiz, Ph.D., Executive Director, Native Land Conservancy, Inc.

Hydrologic Management of Salt Marshes: Historic Activity and Modern Day Impacts
Hillary Sullivan, Ph.D., Cape Cod
Restoration Coordinator, Friends of Herring River

Making the Path to Salt Marsh Restoration Less Muddy from Prioritization to Implementation
Sara Grady, Ph.D., Senior Coastal Ecologist, Mass Audubon

Restoring Marsh Tidal Hydrology Impacted By Legacy Agricultural Activities
Wenley Ferguson, Director of Restoration, Save the Bay

Decision-Maker Tools for Coastal Management
Brian Yellen, Ph.D., MA State Geologist, Mass Geo Survey/UMass
Amherst

What’s the Story with Kelp Cultivation? A Discussion of the MA Experience Thus Far
Josh Reitsma, Fisheries & Aquaculture Specialist, WHOI Sea Grant Program

The Why and How of Eelgrass Restoration
Agnes Mittermayr, Ph.D., Benthic Ecologist, Center for Coastal Studies

Testing Seed-Based Methods for Plant Propagation to Overcome Challenges in Seagrass Recovery and Restoration in West Falmouth Harbor
Mirta Teichberg, Ph.D., Associate Scientist, Marine Biological Laboratory

Engineering Around Eutrophication to Restore Eelgrass with the Seagrass Meadow Underwater Restoration Platform
Matthew Long, Ph.D., Associate Scientist, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Barnstable County’s Dredge Program – Improving Navigation, Enhancing Habitat and Water Quality, and Improving the Cape’s Coastal Infrastructure
Kenneth Cirillo, Director, Barnstable County Dredge

Increasing Marsh Elevation as a Strategy to Restore Marsh Health and Increase Resilience to Sea Level Rise: Lessons Learned from Rhode Island
Wenley Ferguson, Director of Restoration, Save the Bay

Increasing Marsh Elevation as a Strategy to Restore Marsh Health and Increase Resilience to Sea Level Rise: Lessons Learned from Rhode Island (Sachuest Point NWR & John H. Chafee NWR) – Ben Gaspar, Restoration Ecologist, Save the Bay

Case Studies: Habitat Restoration with Dredged Sediment

Ecosystem Effects of Sediment Placement on Microtidal Rhode Island Salt Marsh

Panel Discussion: Enhancing Habitat & Resilience through Dredged Material Reuse
Kenneth Cirillo, Barnstable County Dredge, Wenley Ferguson, Save the Bay, Ben Gaspar, Save the Bay, David Wong, Ph.D., Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection

River and Wetland Restoration: Strategies for Addressing Challenges
Beth Lambert, Director, Division of Ecological Restoration, MA Department of Fish and Game

Bogs to Brook Trout: Rebuilding Coldwater Habitat on the Childs River
Michael Palmer, Restoration Ecologist, Association to Preserve Cape Cod

Childs River Project page

Coonamessett River Restoration and Greenway Heritage Trail: Honoring Ecological Integrity and Human Connections
Elizabeth “Betsy” Gladfelter, Ph.D., Coastal Scientist, Coonamessett River Restoration Project Coordinator

Harwich Eco-Restorations: Lessons Learned in Planning, Construction & Maintenance
Michael Lach, Executive Director, Harwich Conservation Trust

From Knowledge to Action – Applying Today’s Restoration Science
Panel Discusion: Martha Craig, Cape Cod Conservation District, April Wobst, Association to Preserve Cape Cod, Chris Miller, Town of Brewster, Thomas Andrade, P.E., Town of Dennis

CLOSING KEYNOTE
Is Hope Enough? Transformative Resilience Building in an Increasingly Challenging World
Susanne Moser, Ph.D., Susanne Moser Research & Consulting

Municipal Resilience in Action: From Challenges to Solutions through Projects and Partnerships Surf Drive: Perspectives in Coastal Resilience Planning
Joshua Wrigley, Coastal Resilience Specialist, Town of Falmouth

Panel Discussion: Municipal Resilience in Action
Panel Discussion: Joshua Wrigley, Town of Falmouth, Timothy Famulare, Town of Provincetown, Nina Coleman, Sandy Neck Park Manager, Catherine Ricks, Town of Chatham

Provincetown Coastal Resilience Plan

Proactive Coastal Relocation: Understanding the Benefits and Barriers
Emma Gildesgame, Climate Adaptation Director, The Nature Conservancy in Massachusetts and Kristin Uiterwyk, Director, Urban Harbors Institute, UMass Boston

Relocation Activity Worksheet

A Comprehensive, Island-Wide Strategic Retreat and Relocation Program in Nantucket, MA
Leah Hill, Coastal Resilience Coordinator, Town of Nantucket, Natural Resources Department

Reimagining Insurance Markets that Work for Everyone in the Face of Climate Change
Charlie Sidoti, Executive Director, InnSure

Protecting Coastal Communities from the Effects of Sea-Level Rise: A Complex Investment Decision
Michael Weir, Ph.D., Research Specialist, Marine Policy Center, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Regulatory Tools for Coastal Floodplain Resiliency
Heather McElroy, Natural Resources Manager, Cape Cod Commission Shannon Hulst, Floodplain Specialist/Deputy Director, Cape Cod Cooperative Extension /Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Sea Grant

Regulatory Tools for Coastal Floodplain Resiliency