Press Release
August 28, 2025
For more information, contact:
Daniela Ades, Greenbelt Alliance, dades@greenbelt.org
Lyndsey Roach, Exploratorium, lroach@exploratorium.edu
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Second Annual Bay Adapt Summit at the Exploratorium to Celebrate Regional Sea Level Rise Adaptation Efforts
Sold-out conference is presented by the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC), in partnership with the Exploratorium and Greenbelt Alliance.
SAN FRANCISCO – Rising Together: The Bay Adapt Summit returns to San Francisco’s renowned Exploratorium for its second annual convening on September 15, 2025. Sold out within days of tickets being released, this dynamic and immersive gathering brings together climate practitioners, scientists, advocates, and community leaders to celebrate regional progress on sea level rise adaptation and highlight the latest on-the-ground actions taking place to build a more resilient future for the Bay Area.
From unique field trips at iconic shoreline locations to engaging sessions and panels designed to drive action, the Bay Adapt Summit combines cutting-edge knowledge with the latest stories about what’s happening on the ground. This year, journalist and KQED’s Forum podcast co-host, Alexis Madrigal, will be the keynote speaker.
BCDC is thrilled to partner once again with the Exploratorium, a world-class science museum dedicated to educating the public on rising seas through immersive activations and partnering with scientists, artists, and others on innovative solutions to protect our shorelines.
On Monday, participants will gather at the iconic Exploratorium for a day of inspiration, learning, and collaboration, including:
- Three field trips to iconic shoreline locations, led by community experts from Sustainable Solano, Canal Alliance, and the Port of San Francisco;
- Two pre-summit sessions: a Solutions Room, Technical Assistance Project Support and Mycelium Youth’s Gaming for Shoreline Justice Workshop;
- Seven panels and sessions, spanning topics such as: financing, nature-based solutions, infrastructure, innovative community engagement strategies, and education.
- 30+ Expert presenters and leaders from different fields, including public and private agencies, community-based organizations, nonprofits, and more;
- Bay Adapt Award Ceremony and reception, honoring local sea level rise adaptation visionaries.
“The Bay Adapt Summit is the go-to hub for the shoreline adaptation community in the Bay Area. This is the place to showcase the cutting-edge innovations happening right here in our region. Now is the time to be bold and empower our communities to lead the way in creating more resilient shorelines. BCDC is excited to foster this space and see the adaptation community come together once again at the iconic Exploratorium.”
—Jessica Fain, Director of Planning, BCDC
“We’re thrilled to build on the energy and excitement from last year’s inaugural summit and to deepen the conversation about how we adapt together as a region. At the Exploratorium, our place-based approach means we’re not just talking about fighting against sea level rise; we’re taking tangible steps towards a more resilient waterfront that responds to our environmental future. This is about preserving what we love while finding collective, innovative ways to evolve our shoreline for generations to come.”
—Emma Greenbaum, Exploratorium Project Director, Climate and Landscapes
View the full agenda at bayadapt.org/event/2025-rising-together-the-bay-adapt-summit/
Bay Adapt Awards Winners
A central tenet of the Rising Together Summit is the Bay Adapt Awards, which recognize individuals who are leading the way with exemplary contributions and innovations addressing the critical challenges of sea level rise. These awards aim not only to celebrate outstanding contributions but also to inspire broader community action in response to the most pressing challenges of our time.
The 2025 Bay Adapt awardees are:
Luiz Barata is a senior planner and urban designer with the Port of San Francisco’s Waterfront Resilience Program, where he leads community engagement and advocates for racial and social equity in the city’s sea level rise adaptation efforts. Drawing on over a decade of multidisciplinary international experience, Luiz’s work to promote equitable climate adaptation covers local, regional, and national efforts. He has collaborated with the Bay Conservation and Development Commission on shoreline adaptation and public education projects and serves on equity-focused committees for both the Bay Area’s Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan and the National Adaptation Forum.
Originally from Brazil, Luiz studied architecture and urban planning at the University of São Paulo and earned a Master of Urban Design from UC Berkeley. He has worked on large-scale planning and design projects across the U.S., Latin America, the Middle East, and China, and has held teaching and guest critic roles at Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, TU Delft, UC Berkeley, and California College of the Arts.
Marquita “Keta” Price, also known as The Hood Planner, is a third-generation East Oakland native and a fearless advocate at the intersection of racial justice, environmental resilience, and mobility equity. A natural communicator and passionate community organizer, Keta is known for pushing the boundaries of traditional planning to uplift transformative, community-driven solutions.
From 2017 to 2022, Keta co-led grassroots efforts that shaped landmark plans like the East Oakland Neighborhoods Initiative (EONI) Community Plan, Power the People: MLK Jr. Shoreline Access Study, the East Oakland Mobility Action Plan, and the Oakland Shoreline Leadership Academy—projects that center Black and Brown voices in the fight for safe, healthy, connected neighborhoods and protected shores.
In 2022, she launched Hood Planning Group to inspire and empower Bay Area ‘hoods to reclaim, reimagine, and rebuild their built environment through community-rooted environmental justice and mobility projects, ‘hood activations, and transformative collaborations that shape policy and systems.
Through Hood Planning Group, Keta stands at the forefront of shoreline adaptation and environmental justice, leading and contributing to efforts from the ground up—from neighborhood-scale projects like Green Stormwater Infrastructure by and for Communities (GSI-C) and Sacred Spaces, to regional collaborations like the Oakland-Alameda Adaptation Committee. Her work is more than engagement—it’s transformation, rooted in deep community love and a bold belief in collective power to rise, resist, and reimagine.
Jeremy Lowe has been a senior environmental scientist and geomorphologist at the San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) since 2015. He has more than 38 years of experience in coastal geomorphology, tidal wetland restoration, and sea-level rise adaptation planning on the Pacific West Coast and in Europe. His early work included research and design of gravel beaches; testing the effectiveness of low-crested rock breakwaters and rock slopes to protect Hong Kong Airport; mapping the coastal geomorphology of the Lebanon; moving to Italy to design sea defenses for Venice, Italy; followed by moving to the US and wetland restoration planning at Ballona Wetlands in Venice, California.
He authored tidal wetland design guidelines for the San Francisco Bay, Puget Sound, and the Lower Columbia Estuary and has contributed to several goal projects, including the 2015 San Francisco Baylands Ecosystem Habitat Goals and the 2018 Southern California Regional Strategy. Jeremy’s work on nature-based adaptation in San Francisco Bay has included contributions to the Adaptation Atlas, the Oro Loma Horizontal Levee, Sonoma Creek Baylands Strategy, and, more recently, the Baylands Resilience Framework and Highway 37.
Tickets for the award ceremony and reception are still available here.
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About the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission:
BCDC is a California state commission dedicated to the protection, enhancement, and responsible use of the San Francisco Bay. BCDC, in partnership with a broad range of Bay Area leaders, established the Bay Adapt Joint Platform, a consensus-based strategy that will protect people and the natural and built environment from rising sea levels. Over four years, the Bay Adapt Joint Platform has evolved from a bold vision into a living movement for regional action, equity, and resilience in the face of rising seas.
About the Exploratorium
The Exploratorium is a portal to the astonishing scientific phenomena that animate our world and shape our actions. We create extraordinary learning experiences that ignite curiosity, upend perceptions, and inspire brave leaps forward. Since 1969, the Exploratorium’s museum in San Francisco has been home to a renowned collection of exhibits that draw together science, art, and human perception, and that have changed the way science is taught. Our award-winning programs provide a forum for the public to engage with artists, scientists, policymakers, educators, and tinkerers to explore the world around them. We celebrate diversity of thought, inspired investigation, and collaboration across all boundaries.