Twelfth International Conference on Climate Change: Impacts & Responses

Abstract

Eckerd College is a national private liberal arts higher education institution located in St. Petersburg, Florida, on the Gulf of Mexico. The 188 acres of the campus is on average 4 feet above sea level and has approximately 1.30 miles of coastline. With over 90% of the nearly 2000 undergraduate students living on the campus, and major academic programs focused on marine sciences and coastal ecology, relocating to higher ground due to sea level rise is not an option. Eckerd’s master plan for the campus is to accommodate sea level rise in a thoughtful, slow, and pragmatic way over the course of time to become a demonstration site for higher education sustainability. As the institution grows and develops, buildings will be renovated with more levels, walkways will be elevated, retention ponds will be expanded, landscaping will be more natural and absorbent, and parking lots will transition to permeable surfaces. Eckerd College is taking steps to incorporate sea level rise into its environmentally cognizant plan to ensure it will be around in perpetuity.