As an attorney with decades of experience in property law and almost as long considering adaptation to rising seas, Thomas Ruppert began thinking about adaptation through the lens of infrastructure and local government finance. While done with a specific purpose, time revealed both the strengths and weaknesses of such an approach. This presentation will discuss Mr. Ruppert’s path to a broader understanding of what “resilience” could mean before grounding that high-level discussion with some basic and feasible policy actions we can take to minimize current and future risks.

Thomas Ruppert, Esq., directs the Virginia Coastal Resilience Collaborative and serves as Assistant Provost for Coastal Resilience at William & Mary. This role includes developing collaborations among educational institutions, researchers, communities, tribes, and local governments to determine scientific needs, conduct research, and translate research results into meaningful policy analysis for decision makers at the local and state levels.

Mr. Ruppert has over two decades of experience as attorney, policy analyst, educator, researcher, and writer. Past project-based practice includes coastal planning, adaptation to sea-level rise, local government financing of adaptation, the National Flood Insurance Program, property buyouts, the Endangered Species Act, regulation of coastal construction, comprehensive planning, sea turtle habitat protection, statutory property protections, and U.S. constitutional property protections.

CCPO Innovation Research Park Building I 4111 Monarch Way, 3rd Floor Old Dominion University Norfolk, VA 23508 757-683-4940