Tornado Ready Research Pre-Award Forum

The Social Science Extreme Events Research (SSEER) Virtual Forum focused on research opportunities related to the recent deadly tornado outbreak in the central and southern United States. A Call for Proposals for Tornado Ready Quick Response Research Awards was also discussed.

The forum was held on Tuesday, January 11, from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. Mountain Time. Participants in this forum were:

  • a locally-affected researcher in one of the states impacted by the recent tornadoes;
  • an SSEER researcher who has been conducting research on tornadoes in the affected region or other surrounding areas;
  • interested in establishing social science research priorities for perishable data collection, discussing ethical considerations, or learning more about the early effects and social impacts of the tornado outbreak;
  • a researcher considering launching a post-event investigation or joining a team; and/or
  • planning to apply for funding to collect perishable data.

As noted, part of the Virtual Forum was dedicated to discussing a Call for Proposals for Tornado Ready Quick Response Research Awards. The call—the third in the series supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Science Foundation—funds researchers to use a common survey instrument to collect data across tornado events. The data will then be published via the DesignSafe Cyberinfrastructure to encourage future data reuse and help decision-makers better understand tornado strikes.

You can get a high level overview of how this funding opportunity will work by reading this Natural Hazards Center News article. Full details are available on the Tornado Ready award webpage.

The recording of this online meeting and updates, questions, and comments are located on this page. If you are new to hazards or disaster research, we hope you will access the many resources through CONVERGE, including our online Training Modules and Extreme Events Research Check Sheets. If you are a social scientist who has not yet joined the SSEER network, please sign up.

Our thoughts are with the people who have had their lives upended by the recent tornadoes.