The county has hired its first chief climate officer, who will step into a role of great interest to coastal communities facing the threat of sea-level rise. In her new post, Nadia Seetaram will head up Marin’s Climate and Sustainability Division, established last year as part of County Executive Derek Johnson’s government reorganization. In her last job, Dr. Seetaram directed buyouts for a $250 million New York State program that acquired and demolished homes in areas at high risk of flooding. “Dr. Seetaram brings exceptional experience to this inaugural role,” Mr. Johnson said in a statement announcing her hire. “She has spent her career working at the intersection of climate risk, housing and migration—translating science into the policy to build more resilient communities.” Dr. Seetaram earned a doctorate in earth systems science at Florida International University, where she examined how sea-level rise will reshape communities across the socioeconomic spectrum. The county’s climate work was previously housed in the Community Development Agency, and the Alliance of Coastal Marin Villages has expressed concern that local issues might be de-prioritized in the new structure. Last fall, the alliance sent a letter to Mr. Johnson arguing that while tangible progress on sea-level rise was being made in eastern Marin, no work had taken place locally after the conclusion of the C-SMART program in West Marin. It requested that one of the climate and sustainability team’s four senior planners for climate adaptation be assigned to West Marin. Concerns about sea-level rise are especially acute in Stinson Beach, considered the most vulnerable coastal community in the region. A study commissioned by the county last year found that, without intervention, as much as $563 million worth of Stinson property could be lost to storm-related tidal flooding by 2060. By 2085, that figure is projected to increase to $1.3 billion. With his community facing such a substantial threat, Jesse Peri, the Stinson fire chief who heads up the community’s long-range planning committee, welcomed the arrival of Dr. Seetaram. “We’re really excited to have her on board,” he said. “It’s great to see the county prioritizing this work, and we’re looking forward to partnering with her on the climate issues we’re facing.”