New grant will train PSU students to support community resilience in the face of extreme events

The Highway 138 corridor during the Archie Creek Fire in September 2020 (U.S. Forest Service - Pacific Northwest Region).

In a world where extreme weather events and natural hazards are becoming more common and destructive, there is a growing need for scientists, managers and policymakers to more holistically address and identify solutions for cascading hazards. Portland State is responding to the need, building on the university's expertise in community resilience with a nearly $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation's Research Traineeship program.

The grant will fund PSU's five-year project - Community Resilience to Cascading Impacts of Extreme Events and Geohazards Across Scales Through Engaged Scholarship and Learning - to train 22 master's and doctoral students in applying a transdisciplinary approach to disaster management and community resilience with a particular focus on urban and rural communities. As many as 100 additional undergraduate and high school students will benefit from the courses, research experiences and collaborations associated with the project.

"The Pacific Northwest offers an excellent laboratory for investigating how society reacts to the complex dynamics of overlapping hazards," said Heejun Chang, project lead and professor of geography. "We want to equip students with the knowledge, skills and tools to promote resilient communities around climate-related and geohazards management and prepare them for careers in research, teaching and management."

The program leverages PSU's research strengths in climate-related hazards, geohazards and community engagement, bringing together faculty in disciplines as varied as atmospheric science, computer science, communication, environmental social sciences, ethics, geosciences, geotechnical engineering and urban studies and planning.

Todd Rosenstiel, dean of PSU's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, called the grant funding "a huge win that will continue our efforts to build on our strengths and distinction in the face of extreme events."

Chang says the aim is for students to be exposed to new educational and collaborative research opportunities that they would not otherwise have in their individual degree programs, building on existing interdisciplinary graduate programs at PSU, including a master's in Emergency Management and Community Resilience and a doctorate in Earth, Environment and Society.

Trainees will participate in a weeklong summer institute; a two-year sequence of core courses, seminars and workshops; summer research projects where they will mentor undergraduates and high school students; summer internships with partner organizations; and professional publications and presentations co-authored with community partners.

Faculty and trainees will work closely with community partners to co-develop and produce research that will address pressing issues identified by the communities.

Planned research projects include working with PSU's Emergency Management office and the city's Bureau of Development Services on streamlining post-disaster damage assessment and the reopening of campus buildings after a major disaster like an earthquake. Students will also take on resiliency planning with Portland's Linnton neighborhood, which borders the Critical Energy Infrastructure hub along the Willamette River and has a history of strong community involvement and advocacy around its vulnerabilities to earthquake-triggered landslides, wildfires and fuel storage hazards. Another project will use drones to help semi-rural Oregon communities cope with heat and wildfires.

"Our goal is to prepare a new kind of professional who has in-depth interdisciplinary knowledge, practical community research experience and professional, technical and communication skills," Chang said. "Our graduates will be better prepared to collaborate with government, academic, business and nonprofit organizations to address a rapidly changing landscape in emergency management."

Participating faculty include:

• Arash Khosravifar, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering;
• Paul Loikith, associate professor of geography;
• Ashley Streig, associate professor of geology;
• Yu Xiao, associate professor of urban studies and planning;
• Lauren Frank, professor of communication;
• Jonathan Fink, professor of geology;
• Diane Moug, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering;
• Ameeta Agrawal, assistant professor of computer science;
• Michele Gamburd, professor of anthropology;
• Masami Nishibaba, professor of public administration; and
• Vivek Shandas, professor of geography