Center for Land Use Education and Research

CLEAR Online Training Portal

The Center for Land Use Education and Research (CLEAR) is the new home to a suite of online certificate trainings. The CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) offers online certificate courses for new and existing land use officials charged with protecting our environment. DEEP asked CLEAR to host them to expand reach and […]

SLAMM (Sea Level Rise Model) Map Viewer & Webinar

Sea Level Affecting Marsh Migration (SLAMM) is a mathematical model developed by NOAA that uses digital elevation data and other information to simulate potential impacts of long-term sea level rise on wetlands and shorelines. CT DEEP recently completed a project to run the SLAMM model for the Connecticut coastline, to better understand how Connecticut’s 21 […]

Extension’s Climate Adaptation Academy Explores Legal Issues

The Climate Corps is in part a response to the ongoing work of Juliana Barrett and Bruce Hyde, two Extension educators who form the CLEAR/Sea Grant climate team. The Climate Adaptation Academy (CAA) created by the two has been engaging community officials, citizens and others for over four years, in a series of iterative workshops […]

Climate Corps, Harnessing the Power of Students

Article by Chet Arnold Extension faculty is leading a collaborative new program focused on the impact of climate change on Connecticut communities. The UConn Climate Corps will bring together undergraduates enrolled in the environmental majors with town officials, to the benefit of both groups. The program is supported for three years by a competitive grant […]

Major New CLEAR Programs Underway in 2017

By Chet Arnold Originally posted on http://blog.clear.uconn.edu As 2017 gets underway, CLEAR folks are working hard on the early stages of major new projects that cover all three of CLEAR’s traditional program areas, and actually add a fourth! Each one of these projects will no doubt be the fodder for many blogs to come, but for […]

Exploring the Results of Low Impact Development (LID)

In addition to reviewing the land use regulations of towns, the NEMO team created an interactive online “Story Map” allowing users to explore the data further (http://s.uconn.edu/stateoflid). The story map combines interactive maps, text, graphics, photos and other media to tell a more compelling story than could otherwise be done by a publication or website. […]

CLEAR Story Maps

Extension faculty at CLEAR are creating Story Maps for their projects, inspired by the successful maps of Emily Wilson. Dave Dickson has created one, called the State of Low Impact Development in Connecticut, which describes the results of research done over the summer of 2015 by CLEAR’s NEMO Project on the use of “low impact […]

NEMO Program to Help Communities Navigate the New Stormwater Permit

By Dave Dickson CLEAR’s venerable, award-winning NEMO (Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials) Program is embarking on a five-year program to assist Connecticut communities in complying with the state’s revised “General Permit for the Discharge of Stormwater from Small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems,” or the MS4 permit. Stormwater runoff is a major source of flooding, […]

Low Impact Development in Connecticut

Connecticut towns are increasingly recognizing the impact of stormwater runoff on water quality. Low impact development (LID), also called green stormwater infrastructure, is a major strategy to address these issues. The Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials (NEMO) program at the Center for Land Use Education and Research (CLEAR) has been working with towns on these […]

Telling Stories With Maps

Most people like to look at maps. How many times have you looked at a map just to figure out where you’re going, and then become distracted by towns, rivers and mountains off to the side? And in this day and age, maps—including satellite imagery—are all around us, on our phones and in our cars. […]