New Jersey Coastal Resiliency Collaborative

Environmental Analysis and Communications Group
Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers University
http://eac.rutgers.edu/

The Environmental Analysis and Communications Group (EAC) furthers the Bloustein School mission of advancing planning approaches and public policies that are healthier, greener, fairer, and prosperous by developing and deploying evidence-based tools to assess risks and support healthy, resilient and vibrant communities. EAC’s work emphasizes initiatives that advance the state of knowledge about effective policies, plans and programs; are multidisciplinary and foster collaboration among subject area experts and practitioners; provide a service to the public and support rigorous public policy dialogue on important issues; develop and deploy evidence-based strategies and decision-support tools; and provide meaningful opportunities to prepare and engage students.

EAC work includes work in:

• Resilience – Preparing for and adapting to a changing climate and addressing the causes of climate change
• Healthy Communities – fostering safe and livable places, recognizing and measuring the impacts that social and physical determinants have on health
• Sustainability – Supporting policies and planning practices that foster economically prosperous, socially cohesive and ecologically balanced communities
• Risk Analysis – Assessing risks to human health, critical infrastructure and ecological assets caused by natural and manmade events

Primary Contact: Jeanne Herb
jherb@ejb.rutgers.edu

Jeanne Herb leads a variety of projects and programs related to environmental policy and sustainability. Her work includes:

• Co-facilitating the NJ Climate Adaptation Alliance (http://climatechange.rutgers.edu/njadapt) which is a public-private partnership in New Jersey that is building capacity in New Jersey to prepare for climate change impacts and to develop public policies that promote resilience;
• Supporting the Transportation and Climate Initiative a 12-state effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector facilitated by the Georgetown Climate Center (www.georgetownclimate.org);
• Developing guidance on land use and other strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector and increase capacity to promote resilience for more than 100 communities in New York State;
• Engaging a five state regional stakeholder process to develop a transparent and public portal to support regional ocean planning, including engagement of citizens in participatory and consensus-based processes geospatial processes;
• Incorporating health in all policies (HIAP) approaches into the North Jersey Sustainable Communities Consortium (http://www.policy.rutgers.edu/njscc/), including organization of a Health in all Policies conference in spring 2013; Development of capacity in New Jersey for Health Impact Assessments and enhancement of capacity to apply integrated environmental public health data.

Prior to joining the Bloustein School, Jeanne was Assistant Commissioner for Policy, Planning and Science at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. While at NJDEP, she oversaw programs related to climate change, environmental justice, sustainable development and “green” design, state planning, environmental health tracking, smart growth, and coastal and ocean policy. Jeanne began her career at NJDEP in the mid 1980’s through the late 1990’s when she was engaged in the state’s landmark Worker and Community Right to Know and Pollution Prevention Acts. In between her two “tours of duty” at NJDEP, Jeanne spent six years as the Manager of the public policy program at Tellus Institute, a Boston-based nonprofit consulting “think-do” tank which focuses on environmental policy, sustainable development, corporate governance and energy planning. She holds a BA degree from Rutgers University and an MA from New York University.