Lost in Science Communication: Staten Island’s Journey from Hurricane Sandy Devastation to Community Restoration
Paper Title: What are you doing in my swamp? A case study of a community-led buyout and ecosystem restoration program in Staten Island, NY, from 2012 to 2024
Author(s) and Year: Dancy, H.M., Jah, S.K., DeVincenzo, J.L., 2025
Journal: Frontiers in Climate (open access)
TL;DR: After Hurricane Sandy hit in 2012, Staten Island’s Oakwood Beach community decided to participate in a state-led buyout to relocate residents and restore coastal marshland—but was it the right choice?This paper is a case study of Oakwood Beach’s post-disaster, community-led buyout and ecosystem restoration program, highlighting the importance of effective science communication to actively engage residents and stakeholders throughout the program’s implementation to maintain the original vision of their rebuilt community.
Why I chose this paper: The research conducted in this paper offers a real-world example of the importance of science communication as a tool to actively foster community involvement in the implementation of a community’s buyout and ecosystem restoration program, an example of a type of managed retreat in an urban setting. This paper discusses how, in the implementation of managed retreat programs, getting “lost in science communication” can lead to a mismatch between community members’ vision of their future community and the reality of what is actually implemented.
The Background
In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, residents of Oakwood Beach in Staten Island had a collective decision to make: rebuild their community where it was, in a high-risk area; or relocate to a newer, safer location, returning their community’s original land to a natural ecosystem that could mitigate, or lessen, the impact of storms to make the community more resilient. Most of Oakwood Beach chose to move, participating in a state-led buyout program in 2013. This post-Sandy buyout program–which was an example of managed retreat–was one of the few in New York City, with 180 homes accepting buyouts and only 4 homes choosing to remain.
Managed retreat–strategically relocating communities away from vulnerable areas– is a strategy for communities to become more resilient against disasters and emergencies like Hurricane Sandy. Managed retreat not only reduces human exposure to hazards, but also offers opportunities to restore ecosystems, such as reestablishing natural habitats to be buffers to keep communities and housing safe. However, the devil is in the proverbial details. The implementation of managed retreat has significant challenges from a science communication perspective, including a mismatch between community expectations of land use and actual land use, which can lead to a lack of community involvement and acceptance.
For Oakwood Beach, these instances of getting “lost in science communication” were a major issue in the implementation of their community’s managed retreat program. In this paper, the authors provide science communication-based recommendations to remedy this issue and help make managed retreat programs more successful.
The Research Question
The authors sought to understand the effectiveness of science communication, and how science communication influenced public perceptions and decision-making, in a community-led buyout and ecosystem restoration program in the Oakwood Beach community. Specifically, they focused on how different communication strategies impacted community involvement, trust in scientific information, and the overall success of the community’s managed retreat program.
The Methods
The authors conducted a qualitative study of Oakwood Beach’s community-led managed retreat program from 2012 to 2024 to learn more about the role that science communication played in the program’s implementation. They analyzed existing public documents, media reports, and government communications to assess how science was conveyed to stakeholders. From this review, the authors developed recommendations for communication strategies to increase public understanding, trust, and decision-making between residents, policymakers, and scientists.
The Results
The authors’ research found three actionable items that should be addressed in order for a community to determine if managed retreat is an effective way to be more resilient after a disaster. Each actionable item focuses on the importance of science communication in the decision-making process:
- Identify current gaps in the communication between technical and non-technical audiences.
- Establish a better working definition of managed retreat for use by policymakers and practitioners.
- Establish a protocol for long-term monitoring and evaluation of managed retreat programs.
The authors found that transparent, community-centered science communication was crucial in building trust and encouraging resident participation in the buyout and ecosystem restoration program. In addition, the authors suggest that two-way communication between scientists, policymakers, and the community could help address concerns, while also fostering long-term community engagement.
The Impact
The findings from this Oakwood Beach case study include the following recommendations for how science communication can be more effectively used to successfully implement community-led managed retreat programs:
- Community empowerment through effective science communication: Transparent communication and active resident participation are crucial to the program’s success, fostering trust and collective action to ensure that voices are heard, respected, and implemented.
- Actively involve community members: Use science communication to ensure that community members are a part of the program at every step before, during, and after program implementation.
- Share knowledge: Make sure that “experts” and “non-experts” share knowledge in an equitable manner to ensure that “non-experts” in the community have the same expectations for the program.
This case study is a cautionary tale of how not to use science communication as a community involvement tool in managed retreat programs. Even though the initial community-led managed retreat program represented a proactive approach to reducing community vulnerability while also increasing resilience, the Oakwood Beach case study also revealed multiple science communication-based challenges in maintaining the integrity of these programs over time.
The Oakwood Beach case study also offers valuable insights into the complexities of managed retreat, while also highlighting the pivotal role of effective science communication in climate adaptation. What happened in Oakwood Beach shows the importance of community engagement and clear communication in the development of managed retreat strategies, offering valuable insights for future program implementation.
Written by Paula R. Buchanan
Edited by Clark Hickman and Sarah Ferguson
Feature Image credit: Nathalie Burblis at Pixabay