The Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant COAST Resilience Institute is in its third year and will offer a summer 2026 training series focused on weather preparedness, flood mitigation and land management strategies while equipping leaders, municipal staff and community decision makers in Mississippi and Alabama with science-based research to improve decision making and strengthen resilience.

COAST, which stands for Community Outreach and Strategic Training, will continue offering trainings in four seasonal sessions: winter, spring, summer and fall. There are no minimum attendance requirements and no cost to participate, allowing attendees to join as few or as many sessions as they choose. Participants may be eligible for continuing education credits for select trainings, including CFM or AICP credits.

The Summer 2026 training series includes four sessions focused on weather preparedness, flood mitigation and land management strategies.

The first session, Storm Tech: The Tools Behind the Forecast, is scheduled for July 22 from 10 to 11 a.m. It will be offered both virtually and in person at the Gulf Coast Research Lab, 703 East Beach Drive, Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Based on a popular webinar series, the course covers tools used in severe weather preparation and response, including Doppler radar, radiosondes and weather satellites. It also highlights SKYWARN storm spotters and introduces Tornado Tales, a citizen science tool used to study behaviors before, during and after severe weather events. Participants will learn how data is collected, processed and used in real-world applications for hazardous events.

Floodproofing Your Home is set for July 23 from 10 a.m. to noon and will be held in person at the Dauphin Island Community Center, 412 Lemoyne Drive, Dauphin Island, Alabama. The session focuses on methods for protecting homes from flooding and explains the differences between structural and non-structural additions, changes or adjustments that reduce or prevent flood damage to a structure and its contents.

Overview of Flood Control Systems will take place July 30 from 10 to 11 a.m. at the Coastal Research and Extension Center, 1815 Popp’s Ferry Road, Biloxi. The training will examine flood control systems such as levees, dams, pumping stations and floodways. Organizers note that some systems are visibly aging and face an uncertain future. Others, including levees, can create uncertainty when flood protection benefits are not fully understood, creating a regulatory gray area for local government officials and flood insurance decisions. The session will also cover federal policies that led to modern flood control systems and explore potential solutions for retrofitting infrastructure and integrating green infrastructure approaches.

The final summer session, RAD Training for Coastal Land Stewards, is scheduled for August 12 from 10 a.m. to noon and will be offered virtually via Zoom. The training introduces the Resist-Accept-Direct framework, a method for managing change on lands affected by sea-level rise. It is designed for those working on managed lands in developed areas, natural spaces or protected reserves and provides foundational guidance on applying RAD concepts across built and natural environments.

Additional training details and a participant agenda will be emailed after registration.

Registration is available at https://tinyurl.com/352u22rx.