Doctoral Dissertation Research: Mapping Socioeconomic Vulnerabilities to Coastal Hazards

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Research has shown that socioeconomic status affects a population's vulnerability to environmental hazards, yet little scholarship exists regarding how such groups understand their own vulnerability to coastal hazards. This doctoral dissertation research project will investigate how a diverse populace understands and visualizes coastal hazards and how these understandings align with depictions of their vulnerability as represented by U.S. Census data. The project will provide new insights on how socioeconomic status affects participation and resource allocation for coastal hazard adaptation and mitigation projects. It will expand hazards theory to include elements of critical race theory and bring to bear the political ecology concepts of marginalization and facilitation. The doctoral student will work closely with several local organizations, state agencies, and nongovernmental organizations to enable findings to help guide policy makers in mitigating social vulnerability via adaptation planning projects. Project findings also will assist resource planners in their long-term management of coastal resources. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.Using a mixed methods approach, the doctoral student will analyze inequalities in social vulnerabilities to environmental hazards. The project will address two core questions: (1) What populations are vulnerable to hazards along the coast of Georgia? (2) How do these populations conceptualize and understand these hazards? Census-based modeling methods such as the Social Vulnerability Index (SoVI) will be used to identify and map vulnerable populations and their exposure to multiple coastal hazards. Furthermore, the student will investigate alternative understandings and conceptions about vulnerability through semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and sketch-mapping of livelihood use spaces across a diverse population. The analyses will inform policy makers and planners about existing inequities in vulnerabilities and provide guidance regarding policies that would minimize the impacts on marginalized or underrepresented populations.