Sydney Fishman Email & Phone Number

In my role as Coastal Management Specialist at Washington Sea Grant I provide expertise on coastal development and management issues related to shoreline management, shoreline stabilization, and coastal resilience. I work with local governments, state and federal agencies, Tribes, ports, non-profits, and private organizations throughout Western Washington to restore shorelines and advance resilient coastal development. Prior to this role I was an environmental planner at the WA Department of Ecology, where I worked to improve the implementation of shoreline stabilization regulations on Puget Sound. I collaborated with staff at local, state, federal, and Tribal agencies, academic institutions, non-profits, and other organizations to achieve shared regional objectives for managing and restoring Puget Sound shorelines. I was also the 2018 NOAA Coastal Management Fellow at the WA Department of Ecology. Building off the work of previous NOAA fellows, I tracked and characterized shoreline stabilization projects around the Sound. Additionally, I developed new resources to help homeowners, local governments, and other stakeholders transition from environmentally damaging "hard" solutions (e.g., bulkheads) to more natural shoreline management options. I also assisted with sea level rise and floodplain management work, which exposed me to the wide variety of coastal management issues in Washington.I am a graduate of the Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment, where I earned a Master of Environmental Management (Class of 2018) with a concentration in Coastal Environmental Management. As part of my degree program, I earned two certificates to enhance my knowledge and skills: a Certificate in Geospatial Analysis (GIS) from the Nicholas School, and a Natural Hazards Resilience Certificate from the University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill.In my career I plan to tackle the issues of sea level rise and other natural hazards facing our coastlines. I want to understand how coastal communities can become more resilient to current coastal hazards and threats emerging from climate change.

Listed skills include Public Speaking, Environmental Issues, Geographic Information Systems, Environmental Policy, and 27 others.