From left: Clark Alexander, Matt Bilskie, and Brian Bledsoe are collaborating on a coastline restoration project with Georgia Tech, thanks to a nearly $1 million grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
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. 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 Skidaway Institute of Oceanography and a professor of marine sciences; Matt Bilskie, associate professor of engineering; and Brian Bledsoe, professor of engineering and director of the Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems.
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.
“The movement of sediment in estuaries, especially the muddy material found in Georgia marshes, is hard to predict,” Bilskie said. “Using 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.
“This knowledge will provide local communities and decision-makers clearer information to support long-term resilience in the region,” Bilskie said.
Joel Kostka, Tom and Marie Patton Distinguished Professor and associate chair for research in Georgia Tech’s 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.
“Restoring wetlands in Camden County is not just an environmental priority — it’s a resilience strategy for the entire region,” Kostka said. “Each 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.”
A coastal collaboration
The new project, known as a “pipeline project” by NFWF, builds on multiple resilience plans and years of previous research. “This is a testament to the value of the long-term collaborations and partnerships that enable coastal resilience work,” Kostka said. “We’re 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.”
It’s 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.
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 — work being spearheaded by local volunteers.
“Coastal resilience isn’t something one group can tackle alone,” Kostka said. “That shared, community-driven vision is what makes these projects possible.
Writer: Olivia Randall
