GRANDE: Geoscience Research Programs' Adaptations to Natural Disruptive Events

American Geological Institute, Alexandria VA

Investigators

Abstract

When natural processes and society intersect, daily life can be upended with impacts ranging from minor delays and interruptions to severe impacts to people and property caused by major disruptive events. Geoscience programs at colleges and universities lead the way in new research and educational experiences related to natural processes as well as in developing the future professionals that can predict, mitigate, and prevent these societal impacts. Even beyond normal earth system processes such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and regular storms, that lead to disruptions, climate change is enhancing the frequency and intensity of many events, such as storms and floods, and expanding the range impacted by other processes such as wildfires. Although disruptive events have been documented as negatively impacting higher education and research, and especially so for vulnerable populations, they may be potentially transformative for geoscience programs as they represent direct experiences with the processes being studied by students and researchers in those programs. However, such events impact geoscience programs as well. This study will examine how geoscience programs have managed the impacts of natural disruptive events, the thresholds at which they have experienced critical negative outcomes, if and how they have been able to leverage the experience for improved teaching and research, and how they contributed to resilience strategies for their institutions. This project will identify how U.S.-based geoscience departments that have been impacted by major natural disruptive events have changed their programs during the recovery and will highlight new challenges and opportunities which might have arisen as a result of these disruptions. The project will also identify specific actions and postures by geoscience departments that present opportunities to create value in the geoscience community and mitigate future impacts from disruptive events. The PIs plan to utilize a spectrum of methods to examine the scope, nature, and intensity of impacts and resulting operational and policy changes across four distinct work packages: 1) Quantitatively assess how declared disasters impacted geoscience education and research; 2) Identify specific operational and pedagogical outcomes that evolved from disruptive event-impacted departments; 3) Determine how the geoscience community has leveraged natural disruptions broadly beyond those departments directly impacted by the events; and 4) Capture the attitudes and forward perspectives of students and early-career geoscientists on impacts to the geosciences by climate change and associated disruptive experiences. 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.