NRT: Addressing resiliency to climate-related hazards and disasters through data-informed decision making

Auburn University, Auburn AL

Investigators

Abstract

Climate-related natural hazards and disaster losses are escalating in the United States and are often billion-dollar events (e.g. hurricanes, severe storms, inland flooding, crop freezes, droughts and wildfires). This project is aimed at training the next generation of scientists and leaders who can help build resilient communities that are prepared for, can effectively respond to, and can quickly recover from damaging hazard events. To better understand the complexities of resilience planning and improve predictability, methodological advancements that integrate multiple layers of information are critically needed. Specifically, progress requires a better understanding of the factors that impact resilience in natural, social, and built environmental systems; how these systems interact; and the effectiveness of specific resilience-based measures and communication strategies. In the absence of such advancements, disparities in the resilience of communities will persist, and decision-making efforts to reduce climate-related hazard impacts may be misguided. This National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) award to Auburn University will prepare a future workforce that will build climate-related disaster resilience in the southeastern United States by training individuals at the MS and PhD levels. Students will conduct research within an integrated and multidisciplinary framework with the aim to better understand, predict, and communicate the resilience of natural, social and built environmental systems. The project anticipates training thirty-six (36) MS and PhD students, including eighteen (18) funded trainees, across earth systems science, engineering, geosciences, forestry and wildlife sciences, climate science, data science, agriculture, and social science disciplines. The goal of this NRT project is to address interdisciplinary research questions concerning resilience to climate-related natural hazards and disasters, while training the next generation of scientists and engineers to recognize the data-driven decision-making needs of stakeholders and to effectively communicate scientific information to stakeholder and public audiences. The project will employ a transformative workshop-studio-internship training approach. Two-way exchanges and direct interactions between stakeholders and trainees will occur, exposing trainees to real-world problems and possible career pathways. In addition to working on directed thesis research, trainees will take: (1) a course on resilience and social vulnerability, (2) a course on science communication, (3) a studio course that brings trainees and stakeholders together to address real-world problems, (4) a summer internship working directly with stakeholders, and (5) a series of workshops focused on structured decision-making approaches. Trainees will acquire quantitative, qualitative, analytical, and collaborative skillsets; will learn to infer the types and magnitudes of climate effects on natural, human and built environmental systems across spatio-temporal scales; and will understand the actionable science needs of relevant stakeholders. Faculty will work with trainees to incorporate cutting-edge research into their theses. Research will examine how to optimize community preparation, response, and recovery from climate-hazard events that are common in the southeastern United States with results potentially informing approaches in other geographic regions with similar risks. The NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) Program is designed to encourage the development and implementation of bold, new potentially transformative models for STEM graduate education training. The program is dedicated to effective training of STEM graduate students in high priority interdisciplinary or convergent research areas through comprehensive traineeship models that are innovative, evidence-based, and aligned with changing workforce and research needs. 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.