CAREER: Research and Education in Natural Disaster Risk Assessment

Rachel davidson北卡罗来纳大学夏洛特分校职业：自然灾害风险评估研究与教育本项目包括与自然灾害风险评估相关的综合研究和教育活动。一个结构对自然灾害的脆弱性会严重影响其居住者的安全以及它所代表的经济投资的安全。然而，自然灾害脆弱性对购买、融资、保险和占用建筑物的决策影响不大。为了将这些与结构相关的决策中的自然灾害信息制度化，研究活动包括：(1)开发一个模型系统来对结构的多灾害自然灾害风险进行评级，(2)将评级系统应用于美国三个城市的结构样本以验证它，以及(3)开发一个基于地理信息系统（GIS）的交互式应用程序来传播评级工具。这些教育活动旨在通过对自然灾害脆弱性和风险的研究，将重点放在环境问题、沟通技巧、多样性、建立终身学习的愿望和能力，以及土木工程作为公共服务领域的新形象，从而加强工程教育对解决问题能力和技术基础的传统重视。实现这些目标的方法有：(1)开设一门关于自然灾害风险的课程，(2)让本科生参与自然灾害风险研究，以及(3)指导来自代表性不足群体（尤其是女性）的学生。此外，通过在研究活动中纳入技术转让部分和参与地方减灾活动，例如夏洛特-梅克伦堡项目影响工作，提高了公众对自然灾害风险的认识。本CAREER提案的研究和教育计划相辅相成，因此它们一起将比单独使用更有效。

Rachel DavidsonUniversity of North Carolina at Charlotte9984338CAREER: Research and Education in Natural Disaster Risk AssessmentThis project includes integrated research and educational activities related to natural disaster risk assessment. A structure's vulnerability to natural disasters can significantly affect the safety of its occupants and the security of the economic investment it represents. Nevertheless, natural disaster vulnerability has little influence on decisions related to buying, financing, insuring, and occupying structures. With the ultimate goal of institutionalizing natural hazards information in these structure-related decisions, the research activities involve (1) developing a model system for rating a structure's multihazard natural disaster risk, (2) applying the rating system to a sample of structures in three U.S. cities to validate it, and (3) developing an interactive Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-based application to disseminate the rating tool.The educational activities aim to enhance engineering education's traditional emphasis on problem-solving skills and technical fundamentals by using the study of natural disaster vulnerability and risk to focus attention on contextual issues, communication skills, diversity, building the desire and capability for lifelong learning, and a new image of civil engineering as a field of public service. These objectives are addressed by (1) developing a course on natural disaster risk, (2) including undergraduate students in natural disaster risk research, and (3) mentoring students from underrepresented populations, especially women. In addition, public awareness of natural disaster risk is raised by including a technology transfer component in the research activities, and by participating in local disaster mitigation activities, such as the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Project Impact effort. The research and educational plans of this CAREER proposal complement each other so that together they will be more effective than either would be alone.