Disaster Planning & Recovery for Historic Communities: An Overview

Lisa Craig serves as Principal for The Craig Group, LLC. In this role she leads a team of design and planning professionals to support community leaders, local government and nonprofit organizations ingrowing the economic value and protecting the architectural and cultural integrity of historic communities. Her experience in historic preservation, community engagement and resiliency planning has made her a popular speaker and trainer. Previous to starting her own firm, Ms. Craig served for seven years as Chief of Historic Preservation for the City of Annapolis.

She led historic research, design, commission training, legislation and procedures drafting, grant writing, community engagement, and production of educational materials and programs for the City. She spearheaded the Weather It Together initiative, a Cultural Resource Hazard Mitigation Plan identified by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as a national model for resiliency planning. Previous to her work in Annapolis, Ms. Craig worked as project executive with Forest City Military Communities, Washington, DC leading property development activities for the $82 million housing privatization project at the United States Air Force Academy.

As well, she provided technical assistance on design, development, maintenance, Section 106 and historic tax credit activities for more than 350 historic properties within the Company’s historic property portfolio. Ms. Craig’s background also includes contract consulting to Lord Cultural Resources Planning & Management on historic preservation, cultural tourism and corridor planning projects; serving as State Historic Preservation Officer for the District of Columbia; and working for the National Trust for Historic Preservation as the head of the Southern Field Office and Director of Preservation Partnerships. Ms. Craig has published numerous articles and presented dozens of public talks on topics ranging planning for the impacts of climate change on historic properties, to historic military housing to conservation districts. Ms. Craig graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Historic Preservation from the Savannah College of Art & Design and went on for Master’s work at the University of Oregon in Historic Preservation. Nationally, she serves as Chair of the Cultural Heritage and Climate Change Committee on the Board of the US International Committee on Monuments and Sites.

Dr. Angela Schedel is the Director of Community Resilience Planning at Taylor Engineering in Jacksonville, Florida. She leads projects conducting vulnerability assessments, climate adaptation recommendations, and coastal resilience plans. Her experience conducting resilience planning for National Historic Landmark communities is unmatched in the coastal engineering industry. A trusted project manager executing multi-million dollar contracts, Dr. Schedel excels at organization, public speaking, attention to detail, and technical acumen. She is well-known within her field as a respected change agent who is enthusiastic and encourages, motivates, and persuades.
A a recently retired Naval Officer, Dr. Schedel served 20 years as a helicopter pilot and an engineering professor at the U.S. Naval Academy. While teaching there, she worked on the Superintendent’s Sea Level Rise Advisory Council, which assessed the coastal flooding threat to the historic campus and provided adaptation recommendations. Dr. Schedel also served as the Deputy Director of the Naval Academy’s Engineering Division, a leadership post equivalent to the Assistant Dean of Engineering at a civilian university.
Dr. Schedel’s research interests focus on climate change resiliency and adaptation. That research, including a Ph.D. dissertation, “Sea-Level Rise and its Economic Effects on Naval Installations” and practical adaptation projects, have earned her recognition as a subject matter leader and resulted in her being invited to speak to a variety of forums and conferences related to sea-level rise research, policy, and adaptation solutions. She currently serves on the Florida Building Commission’s Hurricane Research Advisory Board and The Nature Conservancy of Florida’s Nature-Based Solutions Planning and Permitting Workgroup.