Building Resilience Through Stories of Nature and Community

At the Duke Marine Lab, Liz DeMattia and her interdisciplinary team are proving that resilience isn’t just about science—it’s about stories, collaboration, and heart.

Children performing a puppet show to raise awareness about environmental issues
In Conservation Biology & Service Learning: Coastal Ecosystems, Restoration and Communities (ENVIRON 287A), students at the Duke Marine Lab work alongside local schools and organizations to co-create hands-on projects that spark awareness and connection around climate resilience. From science-based puppet shows like Ollie the Orca to nature-inspired fables and community events, this course explores how storytelling, restoration, and collaboration can help communities face environmental change together. 

When STEM education meets community wisdom, the results can be life changing. During Duke Service-Learning’s Fall 2024 event series, STEM + Community Engagement: Pedagogy and Practice.", Professor Liz DeMattia from the Duke Marine Lab shared how their program, Ready, Set, Resilience, grew out of unexpected challenges. What started as a response to hurricanes evolved into a model for helping communities build resilience in the face of climate change.

The story begins with Hurricane Florence in 2018, which devastated Beaufort, damaging every building at the marine lab and closing local schools. For DeMattia’s team—already deeply invested in marine science programs at local schools and the Boys & Girls Club—it marked the start of a challenging period. Hurricane Dorian followed in 2019, then COVID-19 in 2020, exposing deeper community needs.

When the team proposed moving their STEM mentoring program online, the feedback was honest and eye-opening: “We don’t care about STEM. All of our kids are suffering socially and emotionally. We need mentors who can actually just meet kids where they are.”

Realizing they needed a new approach, the team partnered with resilience expert Patrick Jeffs to rethink their work. This shift became the foundation for Ready, Set, Resilience, a program that uses storytelling and nature to help communities navigate climate anxiety and build adaptive strategies.

During a virtual mentor training meeting for marine lab students, they asked participants to share examples of resilience in nature. The response was overwhelming.

"Stories poured out—how mangroves bend but don’t break in storms, how oyster reefs rebuild themselves after destruction, how small fish find safety in numbers," DeMattia recalls. “Each example wasn’t just about survival; it was about the power of adaptation and community.”

Inspired by these insights, the team worked closely with teachers and DukeEngage students to co-create "Bend in the Wind: a collection of nature-based fables” centered on resilience. The project became a springboard for creative classroom activities:

A student reads passages from Bend in the Wind for Earth Day
As part of an Earth Day story walk in the local community, a student shares Bend in the Wind—a collection of nature-based fables co-created through the Ready, Set, Resilience program. The stories, centered on adaptation and community, help young people process climate anxiety through storytelling and art.
  • Adaptation Play: One middle school class wrote, directed, and performed a play about resilience for elementary students, complete with handmade costumes.
  • Stop-Motion Animations: Eighth-graders created animations for incoming sixth-graders, teaching them how to adapt to challenges.
  • Bulletin Boards and Games: Students designed interactive visuals and activities focused on climate resilience.

Recently, the team introduced puppetry as a new tool for processing climate anxiety. 

“Puppets allow students to discuss difficult topics—like hurricanes or sea level rise—in a way that feels safe and creative,” DeMattia says. “They can tell the story through the eyes of a seahorse or a marsh grass, creating enough emotional distance to process what’s happening while staying connected.”

In a state where rising seas and intensifying storms are everyday realities, Ready, Set, Resilience has become a lifeline. This past fall, western NC educators asked the Ready, Set, Resilience team to bring the program to their schools after Hurricane Helene. The most amazing part of the western NC workshops were the Carteret County educators who drove across the state to support and share their their experiences. “The [Carteret teachers] had the whole room in tears,” DeMattia shares. “That’s the power of bringing together story, nature, and community. We’re not just teaching about resilience—we’re living it together.”

Dr. Liz DeMattia teaches the service-learning course “Conservation Biology & Service Learning: coastal ecosystems, restoration and communities” (ENVIRON 287A). Ready, Set, Resilience operates out of Duke University's Marine Lab, bringing together educators, researchers, and community members to build climate resilience through storytelling and nature connection. Through fables, activities, and community events, the program helps students and communities find strength in the face of environmental change.