New Resilient Futures Podcast Episode: Resilience in the Army and Beyond


A new episode of the Resilient Futures Podcast is here, hosted by Dr.s Alysha Helmrich and Todd Bridges.

This month’s episode features a special guest. The Honorable Rachel Jacobson, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment, visited UGA for the Southeast Defense Communities Resilience Workshop this week. During her busy visit to Athens, she stopped by to chat with Alysha and Todd about climate resilience in the U.S. Army: on military bases, in outreach projects and construction, and overseeing climate policies.

Ms. Jacobson is an experienced environmental lawyer who previously served in the Department of Justice and at private law firms in Washington, D.C. In this episode, she describes the importance of resilience in the military and its projects, and how (and why!) the Army is building a better standard of resilience.

Our guest described it best: “It is a national security imperative to maintain resilient installations.”

The recording of this episode was also a special event. While the podcast is normally recorded via Zoom, this time our hosts and guest got to meet in person to chat, before attending the rest of the Workshop!

The Honorable Rachel Jacobson, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment.
Alysha Helmrich, Todd Bridges and Rachel Jacobson (left to right) recording the Resilient Futures Podcast.
Alysha Helmrich, Rachel Jacobson and Todd Bridges (left to right) smile for a photo outside the Georgia Center for Continuing Education, where the podcast was recorded and the Southeastern Defense Communities Resilience Workshop was held in Athens, GA.

Learn more about the podcast here.

Additional links:

Rachel Jacobson, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment: https://api.army.mil/e2/c/downloads/2022/04/21/3c9c5f77/hon-rachel-jacobson-s-bio.pdf

Helpful links from the ASA (IE&E), including projects and directories: https://www.army.mil/asaiee#org-ie-e-info-links

U.S. Army’s Climate Strategy: https://www.army.mil/e2/downloads/rv7/about/2022_army_climate_strategy.pdf

U.S. Army’s Climate Strategy Implementation Plan: https://www.army.mil/e2/downloads/rv7/about/2022_Army_Climate_Strategy_Implementation_Plan_FY23-FY27.pdf