Coastal Resilience – Special Projects

Overview

Midway through the reporting year, Texas Sea Grant my receive additional funding through an omnibus amendment to support a special project. This type of amendment is a formal mechanism used by the National Sea Grant Office to allocate funds outside of the regular grant cycle, typically in response to emerging priorities, opportunities, or unforeseen events.

In this case, the omnibus amendment provides targeted funding to address a specific need aligned with national and regional priorities. This special project funding enables Texas Sea Grant to expand its work without disrupting existing commitments, allowing the team to respond quickly and effectively to evolving coastal challenges. Below are some of the projects that were identified and executed from a special project amendment for Coastal Resilience. Internships were also created based on this additional funding and allowed students to gain experience in resilience planning and other topics.

Aggies Invent Jr.

Beginning in 2023, TXSG partnered with the Texas A&M Engineering Spark! Program to bring Aggies Invent Junior to the Texas coast to address coastal challenges. Aggies Invent Junior is an immersive, hands-on innovation experience designed to introduce high school students to the world of engineering, design, and problem-solving. This 1.5 day event brings together young minds to tackle real-world, local environmental challenges through collaboration, creativity, and rapid prototyping. Over the course of a fast-paced weekend, student teams work under the guidance of local industry mentors, TXSG staff, and Texas A&M’s Spark Team. Participants brainstorm, design, and build innovative solutions, gaining valuable skills in teamwork, critical thinking, and technical design. Aggies Invent Junior serves as an early pipeline into STEM education, inspiring the next generation of coastal engineers and inventors while fostering a spirit of innovation and discovery. The first coastal Aggie’s Invent Junior program took place in Calhoun County in 2023 tackling topics such as marine debris, nature-based solutions, green infrastructure and early hazard warning systems.  TXSG continues the partnership to bring this event to a different county each year.

TEEX Training Collaborations

Texas Sea Grant extension team collaborates with the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station and the Texas Department of Emergency Management on coastal resilience training such as review of the Homeowner’s Handbook, Flood Plain modelling and planning, Flood Insurance and Natural Disaster Plans, and Disaster Recovery plans.