Climate adaptation specialist joins Alaska Sea Grant

Alaska Sea Grant welcomes Sean Kelly as its new climate adaptation specialist. Based at the downtown Anchorage office, Kelly will add capacity to Alaska Sea Grant’s coastal community resilience efforts. Initial projects include identifying training program needs and opportunities for a climate ready workforce to support energy transitions in coastal communities, and collaborating with the Alaska Ocean Observing System to identify, design and curate coastal data extension products and tools for coastal communities in Western Alaska.

“After working with Sean for over a year as an Alaska Sea Grant State Fellow, it’s a pleasure to welcome him as fellow faculty to the coastal community resilience program,” said Alaska Sea Grant coastal community resilience specialist Davin Holen. “Sean has a passion for working collaboratively with coastal communities in Alaska to build resilience and better community well-being for the challenges they face today and to adapt for tomorrow.”

After completing his master’s degree in energy and resources at the University of California Berkeley, Kelly was eager to return to Alaska, accepting a state fellowship with Alaska Sea Grant. Throughout his fellowship, he collaborated with colleagues across National Sea Grant programs, a collection of Arctic researchers, and climate adaptation practitioners across the state. These collaborations allowed Kelly to conduct research on climate adaptation planning in Alaska, co-host workshops and other events, as well as produce extension products for Adapt Alaska, an Alaska-specific climate resilience tool and resource center managed by Alaska Sea Grant.

“I am looking forward to expanding upon the work I undertook as a fellow,” Kelly said. “I am also excited about contributing to the ongoing development of Alaska Sea Grant’s resilience and adaptation program, by adding capacity, extending partnerships and collaborating with Alaska Sea Grant’s talented faculty and staff.”

Originally from Chicago, Kelly moved to Juneau in 2009 to lead a conservation crew, carrying out a variety of projects alongside the U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service and the Alaska Department of Transportation. In 2010, he joined Alaska Crossings in Wrangell as a wilderness program instructor, educator and trainer. Over several years, Kelly logged more than 350 days paddling and camping in the Tongass National Forest, covering an area that extended from Prince of Wales Island to the Stikine River.

Kelly brings experience teaching science and managing outdoor programs for several years in Washington State and California, having previously received teaching credentials in high school biological and environmental science from the High Tech High Graduate School of Education in San Diego, California.

Kelly is a skilled and passionate educator, facilitator, researcher and innovator. His experience spans program design, curriculum development, community-engaged scholarship, spatial analysis, data science and modeling. Kelly’s expertise lies at the intersection of climate, energy and food systems.

Read about Kelly’s previous work as an Alaska Sea Grant State Fellow, as well as stories highlighting events Kelly organized, including the workshop for People on the Move in a Changing Climate and a two-day event for the Alaska Climate Adaptation Community of Practice. Contact information can be found on Sean Kelly’s profile page.