Four maps of the U.S. showing Flood risk capitalization and property overvaluation by county.

MACH Supported Paper Featured in Climate Risk Pricing Article

Moira Scheeler2024

An article titled “Are You Sure Your House Is Worth That Much?” recently featured in The Atlantic, discusses how homeowners insurance is rising due to the risks posed by climate change. However, outside the insurance sector, home prices are overvalued and do not accurately reflect climate risk. The article references a MACH-supported paper titled “Unpriced climate risk and the potential …

A photo collage of some of the projects being recommended for funding under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law/Inflation Reduction Act and NOAA's Climate-Ready Coasts initiative.

MACH Members at Rutgers Leading NOAA-Funded Climate Projects

Moira Scheeler2024

MACH Administrative Director, Lisa Auermuller and Senior Personnel, Lucas Marxen will be overseeing two elements of a newly funded National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)- grant titled “Building a Climate Ready NJ.” Led by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJ DEP), Auermuller and Marxen are two of a handful of Rutgers University staff and faculty receiving about $16 million …

Ning Lin, Tony Broccoli, and Lisa Auermuller standing outside in Toms River, NJ.

MACH Members testify on NJ DEP Resilient Environments and Landscapes (REAL) draft rule

Moira Scheeler2024

The MACH family was well represented at a joint meeting of the Assembly Environment, Natural Resources, and Solid Waste Committee and the Senate Environment and Energy Committee on August 1st in Toms River, NJ. Witness testimony was provided by MACH research team members Tony Broccoli, Ning Lin, and Lisa Auermuller, as well as by MACH Committee members Nick Angarone, Tom …

Panelists seated on stage at the conference

MACH Director, Dr. Robert Kopp, featured as a panelist at the 2nd Annual Climate Crossroads Summit

Moira Scheeler2024

At the second Annual Climate Crossroads Summit, MACH Director Dr. Robert Kopp participated in a panel on “Higher Education Transformative Climate Action.” The session’s recording can be viewed here. Session Description: “Higher Education Transformative Climate Action – Auditorium The higher education sector has played and can continue to play a critical role in advancing climate action. Among many potential modes …

MACH Summer Course participants in front of wetlands

Reflections from the Second Annual MACH Summer Course

Zoë Linder-Baptie2024

MACH Summer Course participants with the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge Manager, Virginia Rettig & Senior Refuge Biologist Joe SmithIn June 2024, MACH hosted its second annual in-person Summer Course in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The MACH Summer Course is an immersive experience where participants spend a week living and learning together. This year, participants explored how climate research …

MACH team at the 2024 annual meeting in person.

2024 MACH Annual Meeting

Zoë Linder-Baptie2024

The MACH project celebrated the end of its third year with an in-person meeting in Camden, NJ. The MACH team is spread across thirteen institutions, primarily operating in a remote workspace. While working remotely has many advantages for this team, providing opportunities to gather in person helps researchers form bonds and transform theory into practice. This year’s annual meeting was …

MACH Director, Dr. Robert Kopp, featured in special report, “Shrinking Shoreline,” by PBS New Jersey Spotlight News

Zoë Linder-Baptie2024

“As the summer season kicks off this Memorial Day, NJ Spotlight News examines New Jersey’s shrinking shoreline and the significance this has on tourism and its impact on the state’s economy — as well as the billions of federal and state dollars being spent to maintain New Jersey’s beaches each year. New Jersey ranks number one in the country for …

MACH Director, Dr. Robert Kopp, named 2024 Guggenheim Fellow

Zoë Linder-Baptie2024

The Director and Principal Investigator of the Megalopolitan Transformation Hub (MACH), Dr. Robert Kopp, has been named a 2024 Guggenheim Fellow for the field of Geography and Environmental Studies. The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation “offers fellowships to exceptional individuals in pursuit of scholarship in any field of knowledge and creation in any art form, under the freest possibleconditions”. Dr. …

Hurricane Katrina Flooding

New Study Aims to Improve Equity in Flood Risk Management

Zoë Linder-Baptie2024

The MACH-supported study “Developing more useful equity measurements for flood-risk management” was published in Nature Sustainability this April. It is the product of four MACH team members: Adam Pollack, Casey Helgeson, Carolyn Kousky, and Klaus Keller. The study results may “help decision-makers around the world achieve more equitable outcomes from environmental public policy”. Adam Pollack, first author on the study …

Victoria Ramenzoni and DeeDee Bennett Gayle represent MACH at the UN Ocean Decade conference in Barcelona, Spain

Zoë Linder-Baptie2024

On April  9, 2024, Dr. Ramenzoni and Dr. Bennett-Gayle joined the UN Ocean Decade Conference in Barcelona, Spain to be honored as Women Ocean Leaders. Late last year four Megalopolitan Coastal Transformation Hub (MACH) members, including Rutgers University staff and faculty members Victoria Ramenzoni, Jeanne Herb, Lisa Auermuller, and  University at Albany, SUNY faculty member DeeDee Bennett Gayle, were selected …