Conversations from the Coast: Seminar Series

[Ivan Haigh]

Dear Colleagues,

I am delighted to launch a new online seminar series: 🌊 Conversations from the Coast.

This monthly series will bring together researchers, practitioners, and students to explore the science, challenges, and solutions shaping our coasts, from coastal hazards and sea-level rise to ecosystems, infrastructure, and communities.

🗓 When: Mostly on the first Thursday of each month

💻 Format: Online and open to the wider coastal community

Each seminar will feature leading experts sharing new research, ideas, and perspectives on coastal resilience and sustainability.

How do environmental hazards affect the economic heartbeat of coastal tourism? Join us for our first insightful seminar on Thursday 9th April 2026 12:00 Eastern Time with Sergio Alvarez exploring how ecosystem services underpin the tourism economy and how natural hazards can disrupt it.

📌 Seminar Title: The Pulse of the Tourism Economy: Valuing Ecosystem Services to Estimate the Economic Impact of Hazard Events

Summary: Coastal ecosystems, such as coral reefs, beaches, and estuaries, support tourism economies worth billions of dollars. Yet quantifying the true economic impact when these ecosystems are damaged by hazards like hurricanes or harmful algal blooms remains a major challenge. In this talk, Sergio will discuss the theory and practice behind ecosystem services valuation, highlighting why global estimates often fall short and how economists have traditionally approached measuring ecosystem value. He will then introduce an innovative empirical method that uses publicly available economic data to capture the “pulse” of Florida’s coastal tourism economy. By analyzing sector-level revenue data across Florida counties, this approach provides a scalable way to detect economic shifts linked to disturbances such as tropical cyclones and harmful algal blooms—offering new insights into the real-world consequences of ecosystem degradation.

About the Speaker: Dr. Alvarez is an economist at the University of Central Florida, affiliated with the Sustainable Coastal Systems Cluster and the Rosen College of Hospitality Management. His research focuses on how natural resources and ecosystems contribute to human well-being through services such as tourism, recreation, and coastal protection. Before joining UCF in 2018, he served as Chief Economist at the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, where he worked on policy and economic analysis related to agriculture, natural resources, and environmental management.

Please register here - https://lnkd.in/eh6hXMXC

Regards,

Ivan

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Prof Ivan Haigh

Professor in Coastal Oceanography
Ocean and Earth Science
National Oceanography Centre
University of Southampton

Address:
National Oceanography Centre
University of Southampton
European Way
Southampton, SO14 3ZH, UK

p: +44(0) 2380 59 6501
f:  +44(0) 2380 59 3059
e:  i.d....@soton.ac.uk
w: http://www.ivanhaigh.com
w: http://www.surgewatch.org
w: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/oes/coastal

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=B7OT9ZAAAAAJ&hl=en