Mary-Carson Stiff, Executive Director

I joined Wetlands Watch to help my hometown region navigate the complex issue of sea level rise. Wetlands and shoreline losses in the wake of increased flooding could dramatically alter the landscape of coastal Virginia, changing the economic and emotional assets that define our way of life. Growing up in Suffolk, I quickly learned the value of undeveloped land and undisturbed wetlands as I witnessed an expanding City’s impacts on these resources. Local governments make important development decisions along the shoreline and as ours begin to disappear, these decisions become more critical. My expertise in floodplain management, land use policy, land conservation, and local government law help me identify ways to discourage development and incentivize conservation to ultimately promote nature based solutions to sea level rise adaptation.

I am a 2013 graduate of William & Mary Law School, where I was in the first graduating class of the Virginia Coastal Policy Center. I graduated from Bates College in 2008 with a B.A. in English Literature and a concentration in Environmental Policy. My past work experience includes the VA Coastal Policy Center, Virginia Outdoors Foundation, Land Trust Alliance, Virginia Sea Grant, and Episcopal High School. I serve on the Boards of the Virginia Land Conservation Foundation, the Virginia Coastal Resilience Technical Advisory Committee, and the Coastal Virginia Conservancy. I live in Norfolk with my husband, two daughters, and our pup Commissioner Gordon.