Dr. Lenore Tedesco, Executive Director of The Wetlands Institute in Stone Harbor, NJ, explores the very real changes that are occurring in wetland and coastal areas right now as a result of climate change, and examines the impacts they are having, what scientists are doing about them, and what we all need to do to break out of the climate change denial bubble.

Dr. Tedesco has worked as a scientist at the interface of natural areas restoration and community engagement for most of her career. After more than 20 years as a professor, and a decade as the director of a university-based environmental research and education center, she became the Executive Director of the Wetlands Institute in 2011. Since her arrival, she has undertaken several coastal and wetland restoration projects and transformed the Wetlands Institute into a place of engaging, hands-on, feet wet education and conservation where natural resources stewardship is at the heart of the Institute’s mission. Tedesco’s work in water resources and wetlands includes projects in France, Germany, Australia and Russia. She has an undergraduate degree in Geology from Boston University and a Ph.D. in Marine Geology and Geophysics from the University of Miami. See http://wetlandsinstitute.org

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx