In the Wild: Natalie Kataoka with the UC Davis Office of Sustainability

I am a rising second-year student in the EPM program. Prior to attending UC Davis, I completed my BS in Environmental Science at the University of Oregon with minors in Biology and Public Policy, Planning, and Management. I have experience in a variety of topics, including ecological restoration, sustainable transportation, city planning, and environmental justice. In my future career I hope to work with climate action planning in a consulting capacity and potentially the enforcement of environmental regulations in a legal capacity.

I worked with UC Davis Sustainability for my practicum as a Bonnie Reiss Climate Action Fellow. During my fellowship, I developed a Climate Resiliency Framework, which will be used to inform best practices for the final Climate Resiliency Plan and continue equitable engagement of stakeholders. The framework is composed of three steps: identify climate hazards, engage stakeholders, and create an outline.

As global warming continues to increase the intensity and frequency of climate hazards, UC Davis must be prepared. Resiliency refers to the ability to prepare for and respond to climate hazards. Climate related hazards that I considered included: wildfire, air quality, extreme heat, drought, extreme rainfall, sea level rise and flooding. Students were most concerned with heat due to blackouts and increased risk of heat stroke. Interestingly, staff were more concerned about flooding than students because of infrastructural strain. UC Sustainability wants to ensure campus is resilient, and in order to do so, campus needs a plan. I was tasked with laying the groundwork for the climate resiliency planning process.

Throughout my practicum, I interviewed campus management leadership, researched existing climate resiliency plans, and asked campus community members about their own experience and opinions pertaining to climate hazard preparedness. The framework I developed combined all these components, serving as a guide for how to begin climate resiliency planning. From the responses of community members, I listed three goals that should be central to the development of the Climate Resiliency Plan. I made the effort to ensure this planning process is inclusive, which is one of the most important takeaways from this experience; early engagement is essential to a successful framework. There must be better communication and collaboration between campus members to create an effective resiliency plan. All of my work will be passed onto the next fellow, who will create a Climate Resiliency Outline.