Environment/Climate
APA Seeks Nominations for Climate Change Task Force
The American Psychological Association (APA), a COSSA governing member, has announced the opening of nominations for individuals to serve on a new APA Task Force on Climate Change. The task force, which was authorized by APAâs Council of Representatives in February 2020 as part of a greater APA policy resolution responding to climate change, will focus on how the academic discipline of psychology can better address climate change and will produce a report to be shared publicly. Nominees should be willing to self-nominate and be able to serve a full year on the task force. Nominations will be accepted through…
House Committee Releases Climate Policy Report, Recommends Strengthening of Research Enterprise
On June 30, the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis majority staff released the report Solving the Climate Crisis: The Congressional Action Plan for a Clean Energy Economy and a Healthy, Resilient, and Just America, a sweeping set of policy recommendations to address and combat climate change. The report recommends several initiatives to be taken by the U.S. government that would expand the federal science and technology sectorâs ability to address climate change, including strengthening the research enterprise. Some of the recommendations that are relevant to the social and behavioral science research enterprise include: Expanding and sustaining funding for…
National Academies Holds Webinar on COVID-19 and Extreme Environmental Events
The National Academies Sciences, Engineering, and Medicineâs Board on Environmental Change and Society and Resilient America Roundtable convened a webinar on May 13 to discuss the social science aspects of potential emergencies that compound the current COVID-19 crisis with environmental hazards, such as fires, hurricanes, flooding, and heatwaves. The event featured experts from federal government agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), as well as universities, and nonprofit and community organizations. Panelists discussed the challenges of responding to emergencies and natural disasters amidst a pandemic and the need for social…
House Science Committee Holds Hearing on Responding to Extreme Weather Events, Highlights Social & Behavioral Science Solutions
On September 26, the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology (SST) held a hearing on understanding, forecasting, and communicating about extreme weather and other events related to climate change. Witnesses included J. Marshall Shepard, Director of the Atmospheric Sciences Program in the Department of Geography at the University of Georgia; James Done, Project Scientist and Willis Research Fellow at the National Center for Atmospheric Research; Adam Sobel, Professor of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Director and Chief Scientist of the Initiative on Extreme Weather and Climate at Columbia University; Berrien Moore, Director of the National Weather Center at the…
NIH Studying Impacts of Recent Hurricanes on Health Risks and Resilience
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has announced eight awards that will support researchers examining the health impacts of hurricanes Maria and Irma on Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in 2017. The grants, which are funded through the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), will focus on the impacts of psychosocial stressors related to the recent hurricanes, âsuch as grief, separation from home and loved ones, loss of income, and limited access to medical care.â More information and a full list of the grantees are available on the NIH website. Back to this issueâs table…
National Academies Calls for Better Integration of Social and Behavioral Science into Weather Enterprise
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) has released a new consensus report, Integrating Social and Behavioral Sciences Within the Weather Enterprise. Sponsored by the National Weather Service and the Office of Weather and Air Quality within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Highway Administration, the report acknowledges a âgrowing recognition that a host of social and behavioral factors determine how we prepare for, observe, predict, respond to, and are impacted by weather hazardsâ and that research and findings from the social and behavioral sciences must be better incorporated into the systems we use…
NSF Releases Video on Social Science Researchâs Importance to Disaster Preparedness
The National Science Foundation (NSF) released a video on September 15 highlighting the contributions of the social sciences in disaster preparedness and response. The video explains that together with improvements in the science of forecasting, social science has helped more effectively communicate the potential risk of natural disasters and more effectively respond after disasters hit. The video is among a suite of new resource posted to the NSF website highlighting the many contributions of basic science to everyday life. Back to this issueâs table of contents.
NSF Releases Dear Colleague Letter on Proposals Related to Hurricane Harvey
The National Science Foundation (NSF) released a Dear Colleague letter on September 1 encouraging submissions of proposals that seek to address challenges related to Hurricane Harvey. This includes proposals that address how to better prepare for storms, the human aspects of natural disasters, improving emergency response, and ways to reduce future damage. Proposals may be submitted as rapid response research grants, early-concept grants, or supplemental funding to existing grants. More information can be found here. Back to this issueâs table of contents.
National Academies Launches Climate Communication Initiative, Seeks Nominations for Advisory Committee
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has announced the establishment of a new Climate Communication Initiative. The Academies is seeking nominations for members of the Initiativeâs Advisory Committee which will guide the strategic direction for the initiative and plan its activities. The Academies are looking for individuals with expertise in âclimate science, climate impacts and economics, potential response options, science communication, social media engagement, science education, and experience with other issues considered to be contentious in public discourse.â Nominations must be submitted by September 15, 2017. More information is available on the Initiativeâs website. Back to this issueâs table…
Academies Board on Environmental Change and Society Seeking New Members
The Board on Environmental Change and Society (BECS) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is accepting nominations for new members. BECS focuses on research on interactions between humans and their environment. While members represent disciplines across the social and natural sciences, the Board is particularly interested in candidates with expertise on human-environment interactions, adaptive management, transformative change, and methods for integration of social and natural sciences. More information and instructions on submitting nominations are available on the National Academies website. Nominations are due by March 21. Back to this issueâs table of contents.
National Academiesâ Global Change Research Advisory Committee Accepting Nominations
The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicineâs Committee to Advise the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) is soliciting nominations for new members. The Committee, whose expertise spans the physical, ecological, and social science of global change, advises the USGCRP and supports climate communication activities across the Academies. Members serve three-year terms, with an option to reappoint after the first term. The Academies are particularly interested in candidates with expertise in extreme event risk and human dimensions of global change, among other fields. Nominations are due on March 15, 2017 and can be submitted by filling out this form….
Alliance for Integrative Approaches to Extreme Environmental Events Accepting Nominations for Steering Committee
The Alliance for Integrative Approaches to Extreme Environmental Events, a new organization of stakeholders seeking to improve our understanding, prediction of, and response to extreme environmental events, is soliciting applications and nominations for individuals to serve as inaugural members of its steering committee. Read on for more details on how the Alliance and how to submit nominations. Applications are due on February 28, 2017.
Community Launches the Alliance for Integrative Approaches to Extreme Environmental Events
The framework for an informal public-private partnership, involving a wide array of partner-stakeholders focused on reducing societal harm from extreme environmental events, was announced today, Jan. 24, 2017, during the Annual Meeting of the American Meteorological Society in Seattle, Washington. Known as The Alliance for Integrative Approaches to Extreme Environmental Events, this community-initiated and community-governed framework will bring together a broad group of collaboratorsâ including researchers, operational practitioners, federal agencies including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, non-profit organizations, philanthropists and entrepreneurs â to improve holistic understanding, prediction of and response to severe and hazardous weather. In addition, the Alliance…
EPA Seeks Research on âBehavioral Driversâ of Significant Carbon Reduction
The Environmental Protection Agencyâs (EPA) Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Program is soliciting applications for research projects on âAnticipating the Environmental Impacts and Behavioral Drivers of Deep Decarbonization.â The term âDeep Decarbonizationâ refers to the changes necessary to significantly reduce carbon emissions and meet climate policy goals. EPA is interested in proposals that address at least one of the following questions: âHow might the deep decarbonization of the U.S. economy by 2050 change the geographic, socioeconomic, and demographic distribution of public health and ecosystem risks associated with energy production and consumption?â âWhat factors drive decisions at the individual, firm, and…
New Social Science-Extreme Weather Research Alliance Being Formed, Input Sought
A new public-private research partnership is taking shape, looking specifically at the interdisciplinary and highly complex challenges associated with extreme weather events. The Alliance for Social-Behavioral Systems and Extreme Environmental Events (The Alliance) is the product of several years of community workshops, reports and other discussions on ways in which to bring the social, behavioral, and economic sciences to bear on helping society better âunderstand, prepare for, mitigate, and respond and adapt to extreme environmental events.â The most recent workshop, held in May 2015, served as an impetus for The Alliance as it is now conceptualized. It will be formally…
New Academies Study on Advancing Social and Behavioral Science within the Weather Enterprise Seeks Committee Members
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine has announced a new study, âAdvancing Social and Behavioral Science Research and Application within the Weather Enterprise,â and is seeking nominees to serve on the study committee. The goal of the study is to âto develop a framework for generating and applying social and behavioral science (SBS) research within the context of meteorology, weather forecasting, and weather preparedness and response.â The Academies is particularly interested in candidates with expertise in the following fields: weather forecasting, meteorological research, behavioral economics, communication research, decision making, risk perception, assessment and communication, human factors and product…
Academies Report Calls for Better Integration of Social Science into the USGCRP
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has released a new report, Enhancing Participation in the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP). The report offers recommendations on broadening participation of federal agencies in the USGCRP by identifying new partnership and enhancing existing ones. As part of its recommendations on better meeting the USGCRPâs goal of advancing science related to global change, the report reiterates a call from the 2012 Academies review of the USGCRPâs strategic plan that the program ââbetter integrate the social and ecological sciencesâ andâŠmove toward âan integrated observational system that connects observations of the physical environment…
Gilbert White Lecture Focuses on Reducing Losses from Natural Hazards
The National Academiesâ Board on Earth Sciences and Resources held its annual Gilbert F. White Lecture in the Geographical Sciences on December 4. Susan Cutter, Distinguished Carolina Professor at the University of South Carolina (and a past president of COSSA), delivered the lecture, which focused on âWhy More Knowledge Is Not Reducing Natural Hazard Losses.â She explained that despite huge increases in our knowledge of the physical processes and social forces that interact during natural disasters, losses from such events have only grown.