Shi Institute to partner with community leaders on Lowcountry, PeeDee resilience efforts

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Charleston resident Adelaide Bates has been named the new climate resilience manager at the Shi Institute for Sustainable Communities at Furman University.

In this newly-created position, Bates will work directly with communities in the Lowcountry and the PeeDee to assist them in preparing for and reducing the effects of potential natural disasters and climate change.

The Shi Institute is the South Carolina partner in the Climate Ready America Southeast Navigator Network, a program led by the Geos Institute designed to build climate and natural disaster resilience in a four-state region.

The Network will serve 72 under-resourced communities across Georgia, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina, including 10 areas in and around Bluffton, Charleston, North Charleston and Myrtle Beach.

Each of those communities have a Community Disaster Resilience Zone (CDRZ) designation as identified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). They represent the nation’s most threatened census tracts based on social vulnerability and natural hazard risks, including extreme heat, severe storms, flooding and drought.

Andrew Predmore, PhD, executive director of the Shi Institute, said the institute’s involvement in local communities will be twofold.

“One way we’ll be involved is by understanding and identifying resilience challenges,” he said. “We’ll be doing that through data analysis but also through open conversations with communities, to ensure we are supporting the challenges as they see them and experience them.”

Secondly, Bates will also partner with community leaders and assist them in finding funding sources and securing technical support.

“There are a variety of state and federal programs designed to support climate resilience, and we can offer assistance to increase access to those resources,” Predmore said. “Adelaide is a natural collaborator and empathetic listener, and we’re confident that she’ll be a valuable asset to communities in South Carolina and the larger regional partnership.”

Future collaboration between the Institute and communities could include identifying resources and grants for a myriad of resilience projects including:  improved stormwater management strategies, encouraging building codes that include resilience, building community resilience hubs to counter extreme heat events, identifying funding to protect and restore natural flooding buffers, among others.

Prior to joining the Shi Institute, Bates served as founder and director of the McClellanville Land and Sea Market, now in its seventh season. She also held roles with the South Carolina Environmental Law Project and the College of Charleston. She previously served on the City of Charleston Climate Action Planning Waste Subcommittee and earned her bachelor’s degree in urban studies from the College of Charleston.

“We’re honored to be part of this effort and are thrilled to increase the impact of the Shi Institute across South Carolina,” Bates said. “I’m excited to work together with community partners in support of a more resilient South Carolina.”

Learn more about Adelaide’s new role here. Contact her at (864) 294-3655 or via email at adelaide.bates@furman.edu