Enabling the Next Generation of Hazards Researchers

University Of Utah, Salt Lake City UT

Investigators

Abstract

This project will (1) foster the development of scholars with a career-long commitment to research on hazards, risk, and disasters; (2) contribute to the nation's future research capacity and infrastructure in these areas; and (3) add important original scientific knowledge to the areas of hazards, risk, and disasters by increasing interdisciplinary, convergent scholarship. This project builds on previous successful mentoring projects funded by CMMI with some important innovations. First, this project will expand the substantive interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary content by including coverage of coupled hazards-society modeling, disaster health, and emerging technologies. Second, the project uses research on successful mentoring to design an early career faculty mentoring program that maximizes beneficial impacts for mentees, develops the skills of new mentors, and is transferable to a broad range of research mentoring contexts (e.g., university-based programs, other NSF programs). Third, there will be a greater emphasis on preparing mentees to pursue funding via the NSF's CAREER mechanism. Fourth, this project will establish a formal partnership between the Enabling Program and the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado Boulder to improve program visibility and institutional capacity. The program consists of several key elements: (a) a cohort of 20 Fellows who are in tenure track positions at research universities, (b) 10 senior scholars that will serve as Mentors to the Fellows, (c) a program Advisory Committee, and (c) a project Leadership Management Team consisting of the Principal and Co-Principal Investigators and several supporting members. This project is crucial to the advancement of knowledge in the interdisciplinary hazards/disasters/risk field, which relies on a continuous influx of young scholars committed both to their own disciplines and to the theoretical and applied aspects of this broad field. The significance of the program lies in developing and empowering a cadre of researchers who can understand and address the complex interactions between the social, built, and natural environment associated with hazards and disasters. In terms of broader impacts, the project will create a diverse set of scholars versed in the systematic explanation of social causes and consequences of disasters, which is critical to improving all phases of disaster management. Results will be disseminated, including a description and assessment of the transferable mentoring model, through journal article publications and participation in the annual Natural Hazards Research and Applications Workshop in Colorado. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.