Jan 20
The Postdoc (2 years) position will form part of an overall research programme named "Changing Disasters". Changing Disasters is an
interdisciplinary research programme set out to explore the relationship between disasters and societies. The aim of "Changing Disasters" is to investigate how the perpetual presence of real or virtual disasters gives shape to contemporary societies.
"In light of the recent disturbing disclosures concerning Governor Chris Christie's flagrant misuse of federal Sandy aid money, the collective of storm survivors and their allies who organize under the Occupy Sandy New Jersey banner are calling on residents of New Jersey to join us in Trenton to Occupy outside the Capitol starting this Saturday, January 18th, at noon. We intend to maintain our camp through Chris Christie's re-inauguration festivities on Tuesday, January 21st."
Jan 16
The Institute of Sustainable Coastal Communities (ISCC) at Texas A&M
University seeks a postdoctoral scholar to be part of a collaborative
venture to create a fundamentally different way to identify and tackle
critical coastal resiliency challenges that threaten human communities and
the integrity of natural systems.
Jan 6
Superstorm Research Lab has just released the first in-depth report aimed on Sandy's aftermath that examines a wide cross-section of post-Sandy perspectives, including policymakers in New York City Hall, individuals whose lives were acutely affected, established NGOs, and community-based organizations like Occupy Sandy. Drawing on over 70 extensive interviews, we have found that two divergent concepts of disaster have lead to different types of response, definitions of recovery, and attention to justice following Hurricane Sandy's landfall in New York City in 2012.
Dec 30
Unfinished Work: Views of Superstorm Sandy from the Ground Up is an event on Thursday, January 16 at 6:30pm that will feature NY1 anchor Elizabeth Kaledin as moderator for a conversation among community leaders in area deeply impacted by Sandy.
Dec 2
The largest collection of Superstorm Sandy Oral Histories was released recently at Monmouth University, in West Long Branch, NJ. Anthropology Professor Edward Gonzalez-Tennant and his students collected and transcribed nearly 30 oral histories from residents impacted by the worst natural disaster ever to hit New Jersey.
Dr. Gonzalez-Tennant is presenting an oral history workshop focusing on the recording of personal histories. The recording of personal histories is increasingly viewed by researchers and members of the public as a vital source of information regarding the past. Everyone has a story to tell and oral history recognizes the importance of personal experiences in understanding our shared past.
This workshop will introduce participants to the standard methods of oral history and will include a discussion of interviewing techniques, pointers for collecting personal stories, and a discussion on the use of digital recorders in oral history. An overview of the transcription process will also be presented.
When: Saturday, December 7 from 11am to 1pm
Where: Upper Shores Library, 112 Jersey City Avenue, Lavalette, NJ
About the Superstorm Sandy Oral History Project
The recording of personal histories is increasingly viewed by researchers and members of the public as a vital source of information. Everyone has a story to tell and oral history recognizes the importance of personal experiences in understanding our shared past. The purpose of this project is to document personal testimonies related to Hurricane Sandy.
Our primary research question seeks to contextualize extreme weather within the daily lives of New Jersey residents. This type of research recognizes that disaster is a complex process. Risk and vulnerability are concentrated in specific locations and locally-based research is required to fully understand its lingering effects.
Oral histories provide an important response to regional and national coverage of the event for several reasons. They provide in-depth accounts of everyday individuals and their strategies for preparing and surviving such events. In addition, our project continues to collect interviews as a way to showcase the long-term effects of these kinds of events.
If you have any questions or would like to participate in the project, please contact Dr. Edward Gonzalez-Tennant via email at egonzale@monmouth.edu or phone at 732-571-4458.
To access a sample of the oral history interviews, please click here.
Nov 12
Talking Transition is an open conversation between New Yorkers, as we begin to think about how we transition to the next mayor. Topics include: "The New Resilient City: Big Infrastructure Meets Community Fabric," "From the Edge of Disaster: How Activists and Insiders Can Use the Lessons of Hurricane Sandy to Make the City Safer," "Sustainable, Healthy, and Resilient Construction," and "Rethinking City Building: New Priorities for Zoning and Preservation"
Nov 6
Join Superstorm Research Lab, a mutual aid research collective, and our allies in five free, open workshops designed to address past, current, and future problems related to disaster and the complexities of justice on the ground. Workshops will be followed by a panel discussion, "A Tale of Two Sandys," that highlights current research in this area.
On November 11, 2013, join Superstorm Research Lab and our allies in free, open workshops designed to address past, current, and future problems related to disaster and the complexities of justice on the ground. Workshops will be followed by a panel discussion, "A Tale of Two Sandys," that broadly examines the ways one disaster contains multiple crises, how the nature of a single disaster fundamentally changes over time, and how some forms of aid or notions of recovery can cause new crises, all of which can create new or multiple "Sandys."
SRL members Max Liboiron and David Wachsmuth have recently published an article on “The Fantasy of Disaster Response: Governance and Social Action During Hurricane Sandy,” in the Sandy-themed issue of Social Text Periscope: "Governments make disaster plans. Between municipal, state, and federal level agencies, the amount of planning for potential disasters is enormous. But during Hurricane Sandy, plans that took several years and millions of dollars to produce were thrown out almost immediately. In fact, discarding disaster plans is entirely normal, and may even be desirable....."
Oct 30
Home damage is known to lead to emotional distress, yet it was not until recently that researchers began to understand the complexity of this relationship in disaster-impacted communities. One might assume that as the amount of housing damage increases, so too does the emotional distress of its owner or occupant. In post-Katrina New Orleans, however, we found that residents whose homes were badly damaged but remained standing had higher levels of emotional distress than those whose homes were completely destroyed.
Oct 16
NYU Divest is a group of New York University students, faculty, alumni, and parents working to freeze any new NYU investment in fossil fuel companies and divest from the top 200 publicly-traded and government owned fossil companies over the next five years. And, not surprisingly, they have made the link between financially supporting fossil fuel extraction and development with Hurricane Sandy.
They are marking the one year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy with a video and community event to highlight the stories of people impacted by the storm and call for action on climate change.
Oct 15
I.M. Systems Group, Inc. (IMSG) is looking to hire a Social Scientist for a highly visible office in NOAA: Office of Program Planning & Integration (PPI) in Silver Spring, MD. The incumbent will provide direct support to the NOAA Chief Economist/Social Scientist, Assistant Administrator, and NOAA Senior Leadership. Working with the Chief Economist/Social Scientist, the Social Scientist provides expertise on economics and social science to promote sound analyses for policy and programmatic decision making.
Oct 14
350.org, an activist NGO dedicated to slowing global climate change, is sending out a message similar to the Alliance for a Just Rebuilding, Faith in New York and other community-based groups in Sandy-hit areas. 350.org and other groups are organizing a march on City Hall for October 27th as part of the continuing "Turn the Tide" Campaign.
Sep 30
The Union of Concerned Scientists is calling for flood insurance reform. They argue that reforms currently in front of the US congress for October 1 would help coastal homeowners better assess their risks so that they can take steps to reduce them, as well as help reduce the costs to taxpayers from large insurance payouts and disaster relief in the wake of major storms.
Sep 12
One year after Superstorm Sandy made landfall, the Union of Concerned Scientists will co-host a full-day forum to discuss what we've learned and what we still need to do in order to make New Jersey more resilient and help the region plan for the future. The event will be held at Monmouth University and will be webcast live nationwide.
Sep 6
Rebuild by Design is a multi-stage regional design competition that will develop innovative approaches to enhancing resiliency in Hurricane Sandy–affected communities. The competition is looking to learn from direct experience, local perspective, and citizen insights as communities across the region begin to rebuild and renew. At each regional meeting below, we invite you to share your experiences and ideas for your community with the participating teams. Your on-the-ground perspective will help Rebuild by Design develop appropriate solutions that respond to local and regional needs.
Aug 28
We would like to begin the process of organizing both panels and papers for the coming meeting in Albuquerque. We are asking colleagues involved in disaster research to submit preliminary proposals for panels or individual papers.
Aug 26
This conference is tailored for academic, clinical and community researchers interested in developing a local/regional/international pathway to whole community emergency preparedness. The success of the conference will also come from equal participation of a wide variety constituents, including government officials, public health professionals, community based organizations, small and large businesses, and volunteer groups.
Aug 7
The Superstorm Research Lab (SRL), a mutual aid research collective, has just launched an online resource for the wider knowledge community working on issues related to the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in the tri-state area: superstormresearchlab.org. In addition to its own qualitative interviews with first responders, affected residents, policy makers, and NGOs, which SRL has shared under a Creative Commons License, they have also collected a number of other data resources...
Superstorm Research Lab 