Call for Abstracts/Papers
International Research Committee on Disasters
The International Research Committee on Disasters has issued a call for papers and abstracts for a paper session it will sponsor August 3 at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association in Boston, Massachusetts. Preference will be given to papers displaying novel approaches to theory, methodology, or the practical application of disaster research, but all submissions will be considered. Abstracts or completed papers can be submitted via e-mail to Joe Trainor at jtrainor@udel.edu. Submissions should be sent no later than July 1.

Research Assistance
Natural Hazards Planning, GNS Science, New Zealand
The Hazards Planning research team at GNS Science in Wellington, New Zealand is seeking assistance with a research project on effective public notification systems for natural hazard events, including tsunami. The research is being conducted on behalf of the New Zealand Ministry of Civil Defense and Emergency Management. The team is assessing warning systems technologies available in New Zealand, along with several not available, against a variety of criteria. They are interested in hearing from colleagues who have conducted similar research—as well as feedback on any possible omission of warning—and observations on specific technology effectiveness. The team also would appreciate information on the proportion of the population that must be reached by an official warning message before it is assumed to be sufficient to filter to 100 percent of the at-risk population by word of mouth, etc. Research papers or anecdotal accounts relating to these topics would be acceptable. The following is a list of alert systems being evaluated: aircraft hailers/banners, amateur radio, billboards, call-in phone lines, cell broadcast, e-mails, pagers, police/fire mobile public address systems, power line messaging (e.g., ripple control), radio announcements, Data Systems Route alert (door-to-door), SMS text messaging, telephone, auto-dialer, telephone trees, television, tourist radio, websites, GPS receiver messaging, fixed PA loud-speakers, flares, explosives, mobile PA loud-speakers, sirens, and tone-activated alert radio (e.g., NOAA weather radio).

Those who would like to share information can contact:

Kim Wright Hazards Planning Scientist GNS Science - Te Pu Ao 1 Fairway Drive, P.O. Box 30368 Lower Hutt, New Zealand E-mail: k.wright@gns.cri.nz.

For more information, visit GNS Science Natural Hazards Planning.

Call for Papers
The Fifth Magrann Conference, Rutgers University
Conference organizers invite papers addressing climate change issues within any country or region of South Asia for the Fifth Magrann Conference April 16-17, 2009, at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey. The topic of the conference will be Climate Change in South Asia: Governance, Equity, and Social Justice. Preference will be given to those who connect their topic to one or more broad conference themes of governance, equity, and social justice. Potential topic areas for papers include, but are not limited to:

  • Legal, political, and economic frameworks for responding to climate change;
  • Cultural, social and gender implications of climate change;
  • Natural resources management and land use practices under climate change;
  • Vulnerability and adaptation to climate change in cities and urbanizing regions;
  • Implications for agriculture under changing climatic and hydrologic regimes; and
  • Technological responses and innovations.

Papers are solicited from established scholars, as well as recent PhDs and advanced graduate students. Partial support will be available to presenters for travel costs. Abstracts of 250 words or less should be sent to the conference organizers on or before September 15, 2008. Final papers (approximately 4,000-6,000 words) will be due March 1, 2009.

For more information contact magrconf@rutgers.edu or visit the conference website.