The Southern Maine Planning and Development Commission has filled a newly created post of sustainability and coastal resiliency coordinator to create a climate change action plan for the region.

Karina Graeter, a Bowdoin College graduate, has been hired for the position, created in November, and will start Feb. 10, according to a news release issued Tuesday.

The position is being funded by six York County towns – Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, Kittery, Ogunquit, Wells and York – to address coastal resiliency and planning issues. Her responsibilities will include developing a collaborative approach to tackling sea level rise and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the release said.

In addition to bachelor’s degrees in physics and earth and oceanographic sciences from Bowdoin, Graeter also has a master’s degree in earth sciences from Dartmouth College, where she focused on climate change issues and conducted field work in Greenland. For the past two years, she has been the sustainability coordinator for the University of Maine.

The Planning and Development Commission provides planning and economic development assistance to 39 towns in southern Maine.