Community members gathered at Williams Wharf Landing Community Building in Mathews on May 13 for a presentation exploring coastal resilience, sea level rise, and the growing role of citizen science in helping Virginia’s coastal communities adapt to environmental change at the Mathews Land Conservancy’s quarterly lecture series. The program featured Stephanie Letourneau, Outreach Coordinator at Wetlands Watch, and Ella Ward, a Mathews High School senior and member of the Chesapeake Bay Governor’s School, whose presentations demonstrated how both professional organizations and local residents can contribute to understanding and addressing changing environmental conditions such as tidal flooding. Letourneau provided an overview of sea level rise trends affecting Southeastern Virginia and the Middle Peninsula, emphasizing the importance of wetlands in protecting communities from flooding, supporting wildlife, and maintaining water quality. She noted that regional research suggests up to 80...