Finn Johnson

Email: resiliency@thepeoplescoast.com
Title: Coastal Tourism Resiliency Coordinator
Organization: Oregon Coast Visitors Association

Meet Finn Johnson (he/him):

While not a native Oregonian, Finn is working on his transplant credentials. Coming from a small town in Washington, he grew up exploring the Pacific Northwest before moving to Minnesota to receive his Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Political Science from St. Olaf College.

During his undergraduate, he spent a fall semester outside of Ashland studying sustainability and community. That semester coincided with the Talent and Phoenix fires and, for him, cemented the proximity and reality of climate change, particularly in the West. Coming from a tourist destination in Washington, he also grew up watching the complex but important relationship between tourism and rural communities. His broad focus this year is on coastal resiliency with projects directed toward environmental stewardship, sustainable tourism, business networking and public transit.

Finn is working with OCVA through the University of Oregon’s Resource Assistance for Rural Environments (RARE) program and is excited to spend a year learning from coastal communities and working to create positive change in ways that reflect the unique needs and realities of the coast. After work you can find him surfing, biking, hiking or reading a book along the 363 miles of the beautiful Oregon coast.

Project:

Finn’s role is at the intersection of tourism and sustainability, and he primarily works on projects that help mitigate the local and global impacts of tourism. Creating business networks to share environmental ‘best-practices,’ developing a tool for travelers to use to both calculate and take action to mitigate the greenhouse gas emissions of their trips, analyzing and mapping existing need for electric vehicle infrastructure and exploring options for increasing public transportation to and along the North Coast are his main projects for this year. His role is also one that requires building close relationships with community members along the entire coast. The primary daily part of his role is forming connections with folks who are excited about moving towards more sustainable practices, then sharing with them the resources he finds and has available through OCVA. Essentially, a Coastal Tourism Resiliency Coordinator’s job description is tucked into the name!