Jessica Heckman

Jessica Heckman is a fourth-year doctoral student in environment and sustainability at UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability interested in coastal resilience and management. Broadly, she is interested in the interaction between stakeholders at the coast and how those interactions guide policy decisions. Jessica’s research looks at the interactions and effects on decision-making that occurred regarding coastal sand dunes and dune building at the New Jersey Shore after Hurricane Sandy and how those decisions can be made more equitably. Jessica graduated from Rutgers University with a Bachelor of Science in Marine Science with a focus in geology and hopes to apply her background in marine science together with her research on the social dimensions of coastal resilience to learn how to effectively plan for changing coastlines and the increased coastal threats that come with a changing climate.