{"id":75368,"date":"2026-02-09T08:47:36","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T13:47:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research.uga.edu\/news\/?p=75368"},"modified":"2026-02-11T10:43:36","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T15:43:36","slug":"uga-teams-up-with-georgia-tech-to-restore-states-coastlines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/research.uga.edu\/news\/uga-teams-up-with-georgia-tech-to-restore-states-coastlines\/","title":{"rendered":"UGA teams up with Georgia Tech to restore state\u2019s coastlines"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”” el_class=”text-container first-paragraph”]Three University of Georgia research faculty are working with a team from Georgia Tech on a coastline restoration project that is supported by nearly $1 million from the National Coastal Resilience Fund, operated by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF).<\/p>\n

This marks the second NFWF grant awarded to the research team. In 2024, NFWF also provided nearly $1 million for a pioneering project focused on understanding marsh and shoreline resilience in the area. The three UGA professors involved are Clark Alexander, director of the\u00a0Skidaway Institute of Oceanography<\/a>\u00a0and a professor of marine sciences; Matt Bilskie, associate professor of engineering; and Brian Bledsoe, professor of engineering and director of the\u00a0Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The award will support the design of nature-based solutions, including living shorelines and marsh restoration, in flood-prone areas of Camden County, Georgia, near the Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Cumberland Island National Seashore, and the city of St. Marys.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe movement of sediment in estuaries, especially the muddy material found in Georgia marshes, is hard to predict,\u201d Bilskie said. \u201cUsing high-performance computer models, this project will help us better understand how that sediment moves within the estuary and along the coast, including where erosion occurs and where dredged areas will naturally fill back.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis knowledge will provide local communities and decision-makers clearer information to support long-term resilience in the region,\u201d Bilskie said.<\/p>\n

Joel Kostka, Tom and Marie Patton Distinguished Professor and associate chair for research in Georgia Tech\u2019s School of Biological Sciences, is principal investigator on the project. In addition to the UGA researchers, Kostka is joined by Ashby Worley, coastal climate adaptation director for The Nature Conservancy; and Georgia Tech alumnus Nolan Williams of Robinson Design Engineers, a firm owned and operated by Georgia Tech alumnus Joshua Robinson and dedicated to building natural infrastructure in the Southeast.<\/p>\n

\u201cRestoring wetlands in Camden County is not just an environmental priority \u2014 it\u2019s a resilience strategy for the entire region,\u201d Kostka said. \u201cEach acre of restored marshland protects coastal communities from natural hazards like storms and flooding, provides essential marine habitat, and has the potential to aid the Navy and the Army Corps of Engineers in developing management alternatives for dredged materials. When our wetlands flourish, our whole coastline does.\u201d<\/p>\n

A coastal collaboration<\/strong><\/p>\n

The new project, known as a \u201cpipeline project\u201d by NFWF, builds on multiple resilience plans and years of previous research. \u201cThis is a testament to the value of the long-term collaborations and partnerships that enable coastal resilience work,\u201d Kostka said. \u201cWe\u2019re working closely with local communities and a range of city, state, and federal stakeholders to ensure these solutions align with local priorities and protect what matters most.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not the first time the team has brought collaboration to the coast. Since 2019, Kostka has worked alongside the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, the South Carolina Aquarium, and Robinson Design Engineers in a $2.6 million effort to restore degraded salt marshes in historic Charleston, also funded by NFWF.<\/p>\n

Now in its implementation phase, much of the marsh restoration project in Charleston involves planting salt-tolerant grasses, restoring oyster reefs, and excavating new tidal creeks \u2014 work being spearheaded by local volunteers.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoastal resilience isn\u2019t something one group can tackle alone,\u201d Kostka said. \u201cThat shared, community-driven vision is what makes these projects possible.\u201d[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”” el_class=”text-container first-paragraph”]Three University of Georgia research faculty are working with a team from Georgia Tech on a coastline restoration project that is supported by nearly $1 million from the National Coastal Resilience Fund, operated by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF). This marks the second NFWF grant awarded to the research team. … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “UGA teams up with Georgia Tech to restore state\u2019s coastlines”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":75356,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[298],"tags":[],"post_medium":[691,314],"publications":[],"authors":[801],"photographers":[],"video_credit":[],"takeaways":[],"class_list":["post-75368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marine-science","post_medium-feature","post_medium-read","authors-olivia-randall","entry"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.uga.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.uga.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.uga.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.uga.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/114"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.uga.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75368"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/research.uga.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75368\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.uga.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.uga.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.uga.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.uga.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75368"},{"taxonomy":"post_medium","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.uga.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_medium?post=75368"},{"taxonomy":"publications","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.uga.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publications?post=75368"},{"taxonomy":"authors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.uga.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/authors?post=75368"},{"taxonomy":"photographers","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.uga.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/photographers?post=75368"},{"taxonomy":"video_credit","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.uga.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/video_credit?post=75368"},{"taxonomy":"takeaways","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.uga.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/takeaways?post=75368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}