CAREER: Location-Aware Social Science for Adaptation: Modeling Dynamic Patterns in Public Perceptions and Behavior

这项研究项目将调查公众对气候适应的行为、感知和态度的地理模式。该项目将推动采用在较大单位收集的社会数据所需的科学方法，并将其应用于国家以下一级的数据，以便在与决策有关的地理尺度上衡量公众反应。将提供项目洞察力，以改进有关社会适应环境变化和变化造成的风险的决策。一个公众可访问的、交互式的在线地图和数据工具将向美国各地的公众、教育工作者和政策制定者提供与当地决策相关的信息，并促进公共地理素养和教育。该项目的教育议程将通过指导本科生和研究生、课程开发、研究、参与K-12教育活动以及整合科学、艺术和地理教育的公共推广活动，加强科学、技术工程和数学(STEM)学科的人才库。综合研究和教育活动将促进对适应战略的科学理解，以减少环境风险的负面影响。适应环境风险涉及从地方到国家层面的个人和其他利益攸关方的决策。承担这一研究项目的调查员将收集与国家一级气候适应相关的公众感知、态度和行为的调查数据，并将这些数据用于建立和验证模型和可视化工具。他将开发模型，将公众感知随时间的动态变化与个人之间的空间关系结合起来。这些新方法将有助于研究与适应相关的公众风险认知和行为变化的驱动因素，并为当地决策者提供相关数据。研究人员将开发一个公众可访问的、基于网络的、风险和适应决策观察站工具，以促进将建模结果可视化、绘制地图并向公众和决策者传达。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This research project will investigate geographic patterns of public behavior, perceptions, and attitudes about climate adaptation. The project will advance scientific methods needed to take social data gathered in larger units and apply them to make the data usable at subnational levels in order to measure public responses at geographic scales relevant to decision making. Project insights will be provided to improve decision making about societal adaptation to risks created by environmental variability and change. A publicly accessible, interactive, online mapping and data tool will provide local decision-relevant information to the public, educators, and policy makers across the U.S. and promote public geographic literacy and education. The educational agenda of this project will strengthen the talent pool in science, technology engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines through mentorship of undergraduate and graduate students, course development, research, participation in K-12 educational activities, and public outreach activities that integrate science, art, and geographic education. The integrated research and educational activities will advance scientific understanding about adaptation strategies to reduce the negative impacts of environmental risks.Adaptation to environmental risk involves decision making by individuals and other stakeholders from the local to national levels. The investigator undertaking this research project will collect survey data regarding public perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors relevant to climate adaptation at the national level, and he will use these data for building and validating models and visualization tools. He will develop models that integrate both dynamic changes in public perceptions over time and spatial relationships across individuals. These new methods will facilitate study of the drivers of changes in public risk perceptions and behaviors related to adaptation and provide relevant data to local decision makers. The investigator will develop a publicly accessible, web-based, risk- and adaptation-decision observatory tool to facilitate the visualization, mapping, and communication of the modeled outcomes to the public and decision makers.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.