Achieving Ecosystem Resilience in the Face of Climate Change: The Role & Importance of the Private Sector
Brett Berkley
Meg Wickless
GreenVest, LLC
Baltimore, MD
Authors: Brett Berkley & Margaret (Meg) Wickless
The present need for durable ecosystem function as a foundation for community resilience is evident, and stream restoration is an important tool to build resilient ecosystems and communities. There will be more funding in the ecosystem restoration space now and for the next half-decade, arguably since the passing of the Clean Water Act. How do we deploy these funds efficiently and effectively to presently improve ecosystem and community resilience?Public- Private-Partnerships will be an essential tool if we are to effectively deploy the vast amount of federal funding entering the market to achieve resilience-based outcomes in real-time. Private sector firms, who are beholden to performance guarantees, timelines, and cash flow considerations, are uniquely motivated to deploy innovative and efficient restoration techniques that yield durable outcomes and support long-term success. As such, the private sector drives innovation while providing capacity, capability, experience, and expertise to deliver high-quality, long-lasting projects. Case studies will be presented.
About Brett Berkley
Brett Berkley is the Senior Vice President of GreenVest and is responsible for the identification, design, approval, implementation, management, marketing, and sales of nature-based resiliency, ecological asset development, and mitigation projects. Mr. Berkley leads GreenVest’s Chesapeake Region and the firm’s highly specialized, in-house ecosystem services and sustainable land use advisory group. Mr. Berkley possesses 27+ years of experience in program management, ecosystem restoration design, value engineering and implementation, ecosystem services, ecosystem resiliency, compensatory mitigation, mitigation banking, green infrastructure, sustainable land use, stormwater management, and water quality. Mr. Berkley has been with GreenVest for 15 years and works primarily out of the Baltimore, Maryland office.
About Meg Wickless
Meg Wickless is a Project Development Manager with a B.S. in Ecology and Evolution from the University of Maryland, College Park. Meg has over five years of experience in identifying opportunities for and developing nature-based restoration and resilience projects and programs. This experience has included, but is not limited to, coordination and communication with industry partners, developing funding proposals and applications, identifying, and assessing sites for restoration, and landowner outreach and coordination. She has helped develop opportunities and source funding for a variety of projects including coastal resilience, wetland and stream restoration, stormwater management, and habitat improvement efforts.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaret-meg-wickless-26339b156/