Network Member of the Month: Aldaron Laird

Aldaron Laird, Principal at Trinity Associates, LLC; Arcata, CA

The February 2016 Network Member of the Month is: Aldaron Laird.

Aldaron is the Principal at Trinity Associates, LLC, based in Arcata, CA and has been engaged in nearly all efforts for coastal climate adaptation in Humboldt County. In particular, he worked with Humboldt County and the Cities of Eureka and Arcata, through the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation & Conservation District, to secure grants from the California State Coastal Conservancy to lead the Humboldt Bay Sea Level Rise Adaptation Planning Project. He has also worked with District 1 of Caltrans on their sea level rise adaptation study of Humboldt Bay and the City of Eureka to secure funding from the Ocean Protection Council’s grant program to update its Local Coastal Programs (LCPs) to address sea level rise, and has been involved with on-the-ground adaptation projects, including local tidal wetland restoration and living shoreline projects. Aldaron was a founding member of the California Coastal Resilience Network and brings a career worth of wisdom and insight into local adaptation politics, implementation, and engagement.

An interview with the Member of the Month:

What are your job responsibilities?
Being self-employed, everything! I am the lead environmental planner for the Humboldt Bay sea level rise adaptation planning project. My role is to bring together a collaborative of other resource and planning professionals with an interest in Humboldt Bay to learn and share information about the potential effects of sea level rise on Humboldt Bay.

Why do you belong to the Network?
To learn what others are doing regarding planning for sea level rise, and to share our experiences on Humboldt Bay.

What do you hope to gain by being a member of the Network?
Stay on top of the rising tide of information on sea level rise adaptation planning.
What part of the Network mission/vision/goals, actions, speak the most to you and why?
Collaboration with other planning professionals.

How is being a part of the Network helping you do your job better (or making it easier)?
Adaptation planning for sea level rise is a new field of environmental planning, we are all learning as we go, the network enriches our experience.

How do you hope it will help in the future as it becomes more active in promoting adaptation policy?
To become a forum for sharing our collective experiences and challenges as we move forward in this new field of environmental planning. It would be tremendously helpful if the Network would sponsor a forum on sea level rise in California.

How does participating in the Network help your work on sea level rise adaptation in California?
It is comforting to know that I can access other planning professionals in California who are dealing with this challenging new field of planning, that we are all pioneering.