A Clearinghouse on Natural Hazards Applications

Project Overview: The Natural Hazards Center (NHC) at the University of Colorado Boulder is a national and increasingly global clearinghouse that collects and disseminates research findings and other information on the societal dimensions of hazards, disasters, and risk. Through this National Science Foundation supported project (Award #1635593), the NHC will both facilitate and directly contribute to the transfer and development of knowledge on hazards and disasters. It will train a variety of students, including those who are under-represented in disciplines that address hazard mitigation. It will work with hazard risk reduction professionals and agencies to foster opportunities for collaboration and cooperation within and across academia, government and other sectors. Additionally, it will continue to collaborate with and to contribute to the missions of a variety of professional associations, agencies, and other entities to further contribute to the development of the multi- and inter-disciplinary hazards research and practice community and to identify evidence-based strategies for enhancing societal resilience in the face of disasters.

Outcomes: This project will contribute in a variety of ways to discipline-based and interdisciplinary knowledge on multidisciplinary aspects of hazards and disasters. There is an ongoing need for research and information exchange on topics such as disaster vulnerability and resilience, risk perception and judgments concerning acceptable risk, and sustainable strategies for mitigating, preparing for, responding to, and recovering from extreme events of all types. This project will disseminate information on extreme events and their management to diverse groups, including researchers and students in hazard-related disciplines, both in the U. S. and around the world, including hazard risk reduction practitioners; policy makers and agency personnel; private-sector organizations concerned with reducing losses from extreme events; and other audiences. Those activities will include producing two newsletters (the Natural Hazards Observer, published six times a year, and DR, published every two weeks); hosting DisasterGrads, a listserv for graduate students and other users; maintaining the NHC Web site, a key information portal; communicating through social media; co-editing the American Society of Civil Engineers journal, the Natural Hazards Review; organizing and hosting three annual workshops that engage researchers, students, practitioners, and decision makers; providing library and information services; sponsoring quick response research; and communicating with the media and the general public to increase public understanding of the science base for disaster risk reduction.

Principal Investigator: Lori Peek, Natural Hazards Center and Department of Sociology, University of Colorado Boulder Lori.Peek@colorado.edu

Project Sponsors: This award is supplemented with generous support from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administation National Integrated Drought Information Systems (NOAA-NIDIS), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).