Meet Kyler!
By Kyler Phillips, Tidal Restoration Coordinator
A message from our NEW Tidal Restoration Coordinator!
Hello KELT community! My name is Kyler Phillips, and I’m thrilled to be joining the team as KELT’s Tidal Restoration Coordinator.
But what does a tidal restoration coordinator do? The ten towns KELT serves collectively have over 100 tidal crossings—places where a road or other structure crosses a channel that is currently tidal or likely to become tidal in the coming decades. Because the channels through these crossings are often undersized, these crossings can put communities and the local ecosystems at risk. For example, restricted water flow alters tidal patterns upstream, which can degrade rare marsh habitat that hosts vulnerable species and protects nearby land from storm damage. Undersized crossings are also vulnerable to becoming flooded over during high water events, cutting off access to the communities the road serves. The large number of tidal crossings throughout our region represent an incredible opportunity to increase community and ecological resilience, particularly in the face of rising sea levels, but there are far more crossings in our region than there are resources to address. My role is to analyze each of the crossing sites and identify which ones, if improved, represent the greatest opportunity to support restoration efforts and strengthen community infrastructure.
This role is especially exciting for me because it’s right at the intersection of people and nature—I believe effective conservation centers people and their needs. Before coming to KELT, I worked at the Appalachian Mountain Club, where one of my roles was coordinating the educational efforts occurring across AMC’s backcountry hut system in the White Mountains. This role focused on facilitating meaningful connections between people and the landscape, and it demonstrated to me just how powerful the relationships we have with nature are for bringing people together. I then transitioned to AMC’s research team, where I engaged in more technical aspects of environmental work, performing fieldwork, processing and mapping information, and evaluating a framework for the conservation of alpine snowbank plant communities. Now, as the Tidal Restoration Coordinator, I’m thrilled to combine these interpersonal and ecological skill sets to support both tidal marshes and communities throughout the Kennebec Estuary.
One final note—communication with the people and communities KELT serves is a critical part of my role. Please don’t hesitate to reach out and say hello! I’d love to hear from you about anything from tidal crossings, to your favorite preserve, to the best ice cream in town. I'm looking forward to seeing you somewhere out on this incredible landscape.