Designing Marine and Coastal Infrastructure to Enable Healthy Habitats
–
Morse B105Morse Building
426 Van Buren St
Monterey, CA 93940 View in Campus Map
Free
Open to the Public
How do you both protect coastal ports and cities while creating habitat that supports abundant and diverse marine life? Danielle Weerth has some ideas.
Designing Marine and Coastal Infrastructure to Enable Healthy Habitats
Speaker: Danielle Weerth, Director of Business Development, North America, ECOncrete
Thursday, November 20, 2025
6:00pm to 7:30pm Pacific Time
In-person event (recorded, not livestreamed)
Morse Building, Room B105
About the Topic
This talk will cover how to transform traditional marine and coastal infrastructure into habitats that support rich marine life. By tailoring surface textures, chemical composition, and structural design, one can enable biodiversity while meeting engineering and durability standards. This nature-inclusive approach helps ports, cities, and agencies build resilient shorelines, reduce ecological impact, and even deliver environmental benefits.
About the Speaker
Danielle Weerth serves as Director of Business Development at ECOncrete, where she leads cross-sector collaborations to integrate nature-based solutions into marine infrastructure. Working with public agencies, regulators, and asset owners, she helps advance projects that meet both environmental goals and infrastructure needs—enhancing biodiversity, increasing coastal resilience, and supporting carbon sequestration through marine life growth. With over ten years of experience in strategic development, Danielle specializes in forging partnerships that align sustainable innovation with policy priorities. Her work at ECOncrete bridges the gap between ecological stewardship and economic development, supporting climate-ready infrastructure that meets permitting standards and delivers long-term community benefits.
Recommended Reading
Location: Morse Building, Room B105
The Morse Building is located at 426 Van Buren Street, Monterey, CA, 93940, on the campus of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. The Morse building usually has flags hanging from it, and is located next to the MIIS Our Green Thumb garden. B105 is located toward the back of the building on the first floor. There is a wheelchair lift in the Holland courtyard, and stairs can be avoided by circling the back of the Holland Center and back to Morse. Restrooms are located in the Holland Center. View the campus map.
Parking
Parking is available in any Middlebury Institute campus lot after 5 p.m., no parking permit required, no fee. View the campus map. (be sure to not confuse city lots with campus lots—city lots do charge a fee). Free parking is also available on the street (time limits on surrounding streets end at 6 p.m.).
About the Host
The Center for the Blue Economy is a research center at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, that provides economic and policy analysis to support the development of a robust and equitable blue economy for the 21st century. The Center uses the World Bank’s definition of the Blue Economy: the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods and jobs, and ocean ecosystem health. We must maintain ocean health to maintain human health, economic health, and the health of the planet. Climate change is linked, inextricably, to a healthy ocean. Consider joining our movement for Ocean Climate Action Now. Consider joining our Center for the Blue Economy Newsletter List (3-4x per year by email).
Gratitude to Our Sponsors
We thank the Loker Hicks Foundation and the Nancy Eccles and Homer M. Hayward Family Foundation our sponsors.
Questions
Contact Rachel Christopherson at the Center for the Blue Economy at cbe@miis.edu or (831) 647-4183.