Inland Flood Risk Fellow - NOAA

Maine Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future — Inland Flood Risk Fellow

This position is part of the NOAA Coastal Resilience Fellowship Program, supporting the Climate Resilience Regional Challenge (CRRC) projects. The fellow will support the project: Resilient Maine: Local Adaptation and Resilience Actions at a Coastwide Scale.

Host Organization: Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future
Location of Position: Portland or Augusta, Maine
Duration of Position: Two years (June 2025-June 2027)
Annual Salary: $48,363
Benefits: Medical insurance, 11 paid federal holidays per year, 15 paid personal days per year, professional development training, travel funding, relocation allowance

Work Environment: This hybrid position is headquartered in Augusta, Maine, with travel through the state as necessary and appropriate.

 Fellowship Position Description: 

The Resilient Maine Climate Resilience Regional Challenge project has three integrated climate resilience–building actions that advance the recommendations outlined in the state’s climate action plan Maine Won’t Wait, one of which is to “Reduce Climate Impacts through Nature-Based Solutions and Investments in Green Infrastructure.” Within this action, “developing and deploying climate risk and impact assessment tools and models to communities” is a key grant activity ( 2.1). Maine recognizes that a watershed approach is necessary to mitigate inland and coastal flooding and has incorporated grant activities that address both inland and coastal flooding under grant activity 2.1. For example, the Penobscot River watershed, one of the largest riverine systems in Maine, has the headwaters of the west branch of the river near the Maine/Quebec border and the east branch of the river near the headwaters of the Allagash River, and the Penobscot River and watershed is impacted tidally all the way up river to the City of Bangor, demonstrating how one key watershed is impacted by inland and tidal flood risk. Furthermore, many of Maine’s coastal communities experience both inland flooding and tidal flooding, such as flooding events amplified by undersized two-way culverts (culverts that experience freshwater and tidal flow). Grant activity 2.1d is to align and expand existing tools and resources for inland communities to analyze flooding risks and vulnerabilities in their community and provide adaptation strategies for inland flooding resilience. The NOAA Inland Flood Risk Fellow will help to coordinate activity with a focus on supporting stakeholder engagement and developing technical assistance tools to assist communities with understanding and mitigating flood risk. The fellow will work closely with the NOAA Coastal Flood Risk Fellow to align communication strategies. 

Inland flooding endangers people as well as transportation, water, and other community infrastructure. In the next 30 years, approximately 2,300 inland road culverts have a two-in-three chance of overtopping. Flood risk maps are out of date or do not exist for much of the state. Vulnerabilities such as flood-prone, low-lying roads, undersized stream crossings, and structures adjacent to floodplains are difficult for communities to assess comprehensively. Models and technical assistance specific to inland flooding risks are lacking. Communities need resources that draw a clear connection between recognized flood vulnerabilities and adaptation strategies. 

The Governor’s Office for Policy Innovation and the Future, with engagement from Maine’s Department of Transportation, Department of Marine Resources, and Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, will align and expand existing tools and resources for inland communities to analyze flooding risks and vulnerabilities in their community and provide adaptation strategies for inland flooding resilience. The fellow will work as part of the team to develop a guide to strategies, tools, and engagement for riverine flood risk. Additional activity in the NOAA grant related to inland flooding could include developing an inland flood model analogous to the sea level rise (SLR) model and related technical assistance and decision-support materials. 

The fellow will support interagency collaboration, stakeholder engagement, and the development of technical assistance tools and training for inland flood risk. To effectively support this task, the fellow can expect to help align existing flood risk resources to communities needs to assess vulnerability, understand nature-based solutions options, prioritize mitigation actions, prioritize areas in need of adaptation with implementation of Justice40 principles, and expedite community-based project implementation.

Anticipated Travel:

This project requires in-state travel for project activity, including travel to meet with local partners and attend site visits during project implementation. Ten to twenty trips are expected annually (carpooling with other Resilience Office staff when possible). The fellow will also have the opportunity to travel with other Resilience Office staff to NOAA’s peer-to-peer sharing event in 2027.  

Desired Qualifications:

Top candidates may come from a variety of backgrounds and will demonstrate many of the preferred qualifications listed below:

• Strong organizational skills, including project and task management and the ability to multitask and prioritize 
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to make complex ideas accessible 
• Ability to navigate complex organizations, develop trust with senior leaders, and build trusted relationships among diverse groups of colleagues and stakeholders
• Graduate-level training in climate resilience or related fields or at least two years of professional work experience
• Experience using and communicating resources and decision-making tools to communicate scientific information and risk to the public
• Experience engaging with a variety of stakeholders and community leaders, such as municipal leaders, community committees, and especially stakeholders from low-capacity communities 

Fellow Mentoring:

The fellow mentors will be Brian Ambrette, and the to-be-determined resilience planner in the new Resilience Office. 

Brian Ambrette is the senior climate resilience coordinator at the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future. Mr. Ambrette supports the Maine Climate Council and the development and implementation of Maine’s four-year climate action plan. His focus is on enabling state- and community-level actions that address risks to vulnerable infrastructure and populations, as well as accelerating the transition to clean energy and energy efficiency. Mr. Ambrette oversees the Community Resilience Partnership grant program, which has awarded over $6 million to municipal, regional, and tribal projects. He manages two federal grant awards for the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future: a Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) award (FEMA) for a climate vulnerability assessment of state-owned facilities and an Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (DOE) to support energy and resilience in disadvantaged communities.

The TBD resilience planner in the new Resilience Office will support the implementation of the state Climate Resilience Grant, including coordinating the development and implementation of a new state resilience plan. The resilience planner will support agency coordination and collaboration on climate resilience, including policy and other recommendations. 

To apply, please upload the following materials in one PDF file:

• Resume (two-page limit)
• Statement of interest, where the candidate describes what they hope to gain from the fellowship experience and what they can contribute. Candidates should also highlight any connections to or special interests in the region, including Indigenous or local knowledge and relevant life experiences (500-word limit)
• Unofficial academic transcripts to show coursework (or joint services transcript for veterans)
• Two professional or academic references (names and contact information)

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