Who We Are

Coastal Climates is run by Dr. Alex Kolker, who has over 15 years of experience addressing coastal problems across the world. His work spans a range of critical issues facing the coastal zone- including, urban flooding, coastal restoration, oil spills and pollution, sea level rise, air pollution, and the energy transition in coastal industrial environments. He has worked in large ecosystems like the Mississippi River Delta, and urban areas like New Orleans and New York City, in the United States, North Africa, and Europe. Dr Kolker has published over thirty peer-reviewed articles and served as a Fulbright Scholar in Morocco. He has been quoted in outlets like the New York Times, the Washington Post, National Public Radio, Le Monde, and Al Ahram. His commentaries have appeared in Newsweek, The Hill, and The Houston Chronicle. 

What We Do: We specialize in addressing coastal problems in their earliest and most challenging stages.  We work with a range of organizations to help them identify and solve their most coastal challenges. Our core work focuses on 3 major areas:

* Research + Analysis. We use data analytics, field studies, and other research tools to identify coastal and climate challenges.

* Mentoring + Advising: We work with non-profits, start-ups, businesses, and governments to help them develop strategies to solve their coastal challenges, particularly those related to climate change, sea level rise, resiliency, and energy transitions.  

* Science Communication: We communicate the science of coastal change to diverse audiences. We work with community groups, governments, educational institutions, and across the broader media landscape.

How We Work

We recognize the importance of understanding people and the places where they live, and so we place a high value on communication and on-the-ground knowledge of coastal landscapes. Our analytical methods use the ever-expanding array of open-access data and cloud computing tools to produce results that are useful to our clients. Our communication methods are broad, using the techniques that are most effective for the tasks at hand. This can include delivering lectures, engaging in community or educational forums, granting interviews to media outlets, publishing editorials, commentaries, and peer-reviewed articles, or using social media. To accomplish specific tasks, we partner with data scientists, graphic designers, and editors- a strategy that reduces expenses while allowing for workplace flexibility. We function as an LLC that is positioned to work for non-profit and community organizations, educational institutions, governments, start-ups, and private entities.