Below are descriptions of recently awarded contracts and grants for the study of hazards and disasters. An inventory of contracts and grants awarded from 1995 to the present (primarily those funded by the National Science Foundation) is available on the Natural Hazards Center's Web site: http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/grants.html.
Reconstruction of Drought and Streamflow Over the Coterminous United States from Tree Rings, with Extensions
in Mexico and Canada. Funding: National Science Foundation, $35,674, 36 months. Principal Investigators: Connie A.
Woodhouse, University of Colorado-Boulder, 450 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309-0450; e-mail: woodhous@ngdc.noaa.gov;
and David M. Meko, University of Arizona, Tree Ring Laboratory, West Stadium 105, Tucson, AZ 85721; (520) 621-3457;
e-mail: dmeko@ltrr.arizona.edu.
This award will support a dendrochronological (tree ring) study of past droughts in North America. The project will
consider new measures of drought, improved techniques for drought management through reservoir operation and water
resource allocation, and improved statistical measures for analyzing drought variability.
Coastal Tsunami Effects: Mitigation Component. Funding: National Science Foundation, $128,000, 36 months.
Principal Investigator: Jane Preuss, GeoEngineers, Inc., 600 Stewart Street, Suite 1215, Seattle, WA 98101; e-mail:
jpreuss@geoengineers.com.
Recently, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) launched a comprehensive program to identify
potential tsunami inundation zones along the Pacific Coast of the U.S. (see http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tsunami/time). The
next step in reducing loss of life and property is to evaluate the runup process--flow patterns, induced forces, and the
impact of debris and floating objects--in greater detail in order to improve the design of waterfront structures and decisions
concerning land use. This project involves researchers from Cornell University, Southern Methodist University, the
University of Washington, Urban Regional Research, Harvard University, and Japan's Public Works Research Institute.
Strategic Renewal of Large Floodplain Rivers: Integrated Analysis. Funding: National Science Foundation, $795,000,
12 months. Principal Investigators: Richard E. Sparks, David C. White, John B. Braden, Andrew M. Isserman, Daniel W.
Schneider, Douglas M. Johnston, Misganaw Demissie, and Zorica Nedovic-Dubic, University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign. For information, contact Richard Sparks, River Research Laboratory, Forbes Biological Station, P.O. Box
590, Havana, IL 62644; (309) 543-3950.
A challenge facing managers of rivers, floodplains, and parts of large river valleys is to develop strategies and practices that
sustain ecological systems without disrupting human economic and settlement systems that have evolved in the same area.
This project's team, including hydrologists, ecologists, economists, and regional scientists, will develop a series of
interrelated models of an 80-mile section of the Illinois River in west-central Illinois. The models will be used to simulate,
test, and communicate to stakeholders alternative restoration strategies related to the general hypothesis that river
hydrology and floodplain lands can be managed in ways that restore and sustain ecosystems while not diminishing the
overall economic well-being of an affected region.
Hurricane Engineering: A New Curriculum for a Planet at Risk. Funding: National Science Foundation, $500,000, 36
months. Principal Investigators: Marc L. Levitan, Vijay P. Singh, William M. Moe, Brian Wolshon, and Emir Jose Macari,
Hurricane Center, 3513 CEBA Building, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803-6405; (225) 578-4445;
levitan@hurricane.lsu.edu.
These researchers will develop curricular materials for the newly emerging field of hurricane engineering, design and
implement several new courses, create a new civil engineering minor in hurricane engineering at Louisiana State University
(LSU), prepare the first textbook on the subject, and establish a Web-based program. A multidisciplinary team of 23 faculty
from civil, environmental, chemical, and mechanical engineering; coastal science; landscape architecture; and
environmental studies will participate in the project, coordinated by the LSU Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering and the LSU Hurricane Center, with participation from other LSU departments, Southern University, and the
University of Missouri-Rolla. The course "Hurricanes and the Built Environment" will be developed for nonengineering
majors and will be a core component of a new degree in Disaster Science, Mitigation, and Management, being developed
by the Hurricane Center for the College of Arts and Sciences.
Collaborative Research: Damage Assessment, Control, and Restoration of the Electric Power Grid Following
Catastrophic Disturbances. Funding: National Science Foundation, $80,000, 12 months. Principal Investigators: Arun G.
Phadke and Virgilio A. Centeno, Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, 340 Whittemore Hall,
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0111; e-mail: aphadke@vt.edu; and Vijay Vittal
and Manimaran Govindarasu, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011; e-mail: vittal@ee.iastate.edu.
Due to the complexity of power delivery networks spanning large geographical areas, power restoration can be difficult
following catastrophic disturbances by natural phenomena or human action. This project will examine damage assessment,
control, and restoration of electric power grids, including the use of a wide array of communication technologies such as
global positioning systems, microwave networks, the Internet, low-earth orbit satellites, and other networks. It will address
issues related to the scheduling and processing of real-time information in order to assess damage and any hazards caused
by a failure, as well as the best approaches for restoring power.
Analysis of Institutional Response to the Taiwan Earthquake. Funding: National Science Foundation, $74,999, 12
months. Principal Investigators: Carla S. Prater, Dennis E. Wenger, and Michael K. Lindell, Hazards Reduction and
Recovery Center, College of Architecture, C.B. 3137, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3137; e-mail:
carla@archone.tamu.edu.
This study focuses on governmental and institutional response to the September 1998 earthquake in Taiwan that left nearly
2,500 people dead and thousands injured and homeless. It will examine the capacity of local governments to respond to the
disaster and the relationships between local jurisdictions and the national government.
Doctoral Dissertation Research: Social and Political Aspects of Flooding in the Tensas Basin of Louisiana, 1865-1930. Funding: National Science Foundation, $4,915, 24 months. Principal Investigator: Arthur F. McEvoy, 975 Bascom
Mall, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706; (608) 265-4771; e-mail: amcevoy@facstaff.edu.
The Tensas River Basin in the northeastern part of Louisiana, was subjected to repeated flooding after the Civil War.
Although scientists have a good understanding of how flooding shaped and reshaped the physical terrain of the lower
Mississippi River Valley, the social and political repercussions of repeated flooding remain largely un-explored. This
study's hypotheses assume that floods and flood policies divided communities; flooding upset social relations as people
struggled to reorder their world; and race, class, and gender affected how people experienced the floods. Primary sources of
information include government documents, newspapers, manuscript collections, maps, photographs, and published
reports. Statistics will also be gathered from census, tax, conveyance, and plantation records.
Hurricane Risk Modeling and Forecasting. Funding: National Science Foundation, $25,000, 18 months. Principal
Investigator: Rachel A. Davidson, 373 Hollister Hall, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cornell
University, Ithaca, NY 14855; (607) 255-7155; e-mail: rad24@cornell.edu.
As cities grow, age, and evolve, their exposure and vulnerability to natural hazards changes dramatically. Risk assessors
and managers, therefore, will always be a step behind the problem unless they anticipate how the world will change,
estimate what the risk will be when a hazard such as a hurricane occurs in the future, and plan for that scenario. This study
will develop a prototype risk assessment system that evaluates wind hazard, coastal flooding, and vulnerability to damage
as a means of estimating how hurricane risk changes over time. Models will be applied to the coast of North Carolina to
evaluate their effectiveness.
Real-time Capture, Management, and Reconstruction of Spatio-Temporal Events. Funding: National Science
Foundation, $649,837, 36 months. Principal Investigators: Ouri Wolfson and Bo Xu, Department of Electrical En-gineering
and Computer Science, 1137 SEO, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL 60612; (312) 996-6770; e-mail: wolfson@uic.edu.
Advances in technology have made it possible to amass and distribute unprecedented amounts of diverse data about our
surroundings and activities, such as emergency response and disaster relief operations, weather conditions and storm tracks,
forest fire evolution, and transportation system status. This project will evaluate an integral component of this information
collection and distribution process--the transfer of data from sensor devices, where data originates, to large data banks
where the information is stored and analyzed. Researchers from the University of Maryland, the University of
California-Irvine, and the University of California-Los Angeles will also participate.
Understanding Individual Differences in Judgmental Performance. Funding: National Science Foundation, $184,500,
24 months. Principal Investigators: Thomas R. Stewart and Elise A. Weaver, Department of Public Administration and
Policy, Center for Policy Research, State University of New York-Albany, Albany, NY 12201; e-mail:
t.stewart@albany.edu.
What is necessary for good judgment in uncertain situations? Some people perform better than others, both in making
everyday decisions, such as a consumer determining the quality of a product, and professional judgments, such as a
physician judging the severity of an illness. This study will measure how intelligence, good statistical reasoning, and the
ability to learn how to use information affect judgement. It will examine weather forecasters' professional judgment
performance based on their track record as forecasters and their performance on a new task. The data will be used to
explore how judgmental skill is related to other cognitive abilities.
Technological Disaster, Resource Loss, and Long-Term Social Change in a Subarctic Community. Funding: National
Science Foundation, $139,756, 12 months. Principal Investigator: J. Steven Picou, Department of Sociology and
Anthropology, Humanities Building, Room 34, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL 36688-0002; (205) 460-6347.
Technological disasters can have longer-term community impacts than natural disasters. This project will identify patterns
of social change in a small fishing community 12 years following the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Survey and ethnographic data
will be related to patterns of community stress and change, particularly the loss of ecological, social, and cultural resources.
The Collection, Synthesis, and Quality Assessment of Data Describing the Response to Human Needs Following the
1999 Turkey Earthquakes. Funding: National Science Foundation, $74,999, 12 months. Principal Investigators: John R.
Harrald, Johan R. Van Dorp, and Joseph Barbera, Institute for Crisis and Disaster Management, Gelman Library, Suite
904, 2130 H Street, N.W., George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052; e-mail: harrald@seas.gwu.edu.
Turkish governmental and nongovernmental organizations failed to anticipate the scale of human needs following the
devastating 1999 earthquakes. Scenario-based needs estimation modeling is essential to the development of the response
and recovery strategies, plans, and organization structures needed to prepare for future earthquakes. The purpose of this
research is to collect the data necessary to develop models before they are lost. The resulting databases will be made
available to researchers and emergency planners on the Internet.
Impact of a Natural Catastrophe on Animal Populations. Funding: National Science Foundation, $24,258, 12 months.
Principal Investigators: George W. Uetz, Guy N. Cameron, and Michal Polak, A & S Biological Sciences, Crosley 1507,
University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221-0006; e-mail: uetz@uc.edu.
In April 1999, a class 5 tornado struck the area north of Cincinnati, Ohio, destroying approximately half of the 65-acre
Benedict/Hazelwood Botanical Preserve. The blow-down area has been left relatively undisturbed to allow analyses of
forest recovery. This study will examine the first post-tornado generation of several animal species and determine whether
environmental stress from habitat destruction will lead to developmental instability.
Earthquake Damage Detection Using Remote Sensing Technologies: Validation Using Data from the 1999
Earthquakes in Turkey and Taiwan. Funding: National Science Foundation, $75,000, 12 months. Principal Investigators: Masanobu Shinozuka and Ronald T. Eguchi, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Mail Code 2531,
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089; (213) 740-9528; e-mail: shino@usc.edu or eguchi@aol.com.
The objective of this project is to determine the feasibility of using remote sensing to determine the scope and magnitude of
damage after major earthquakes. It will combine remote sensing and ground-based loss estimation data from the Turkey
and Taiwan earthquakes.
Biocomplexity-Incubation Activity: Integrated Modeling of the Complementarities and Conflicts Between Ecological Systems and Economic Activities in North Carolina. Funding: National Science Foundation, $99,999, 24 months.
Principal Investigators: V. Kerry Smith and Leonard J. Pietrafesa, Department of Economics, Box 8110, North Carolina
State University, Raleigh, NC 27695; (919) 737-7888; e-mail: kerry_smith@ncsu.edu.
Rapid economic growth, ongoing transformation of environmental resources, growing nutrient loadings in coastal
waterways, animal agriculture, and the prospect of increased hurricanes and coastal flooding are all growing concerns in
North Carolina. This research will develop links between ecosystem models and an economic model to describe the
interactions of ecological processes and economic activities in that region.
Development of a Database from the Dusce-Bolu Region in Turkey to Enable Testing Hypotheses Relating Urban
Building Damage to Structural, Geotechnical, and Geological Parameters. Funding, National Science Foundation,
$74,999, 12 months. Principal Investigators: Robert J. Frosch, Mete A. Sozen, Antonio Bobet, Julio A. Ramirez, and
Kenneth D. Ridgway, Department of Civil Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-1284; (765) 494-5904; e-mail: frosch@purdue.edu.
This project will gather, collate, and archive data related to urban building seismic vulnerability in the Duzce-Bolu region
in Turkey, focusing on the damage caused by the November 12, 1999, event. It will be carried out by faculty and students
of Purdue University, the University of Notre Dame, the University of Illinois, and the Middle East Technical University in
Ankara, Turkey. The Turkish State Waterworks and the Turkish Directorate for Resettlement and Natural Disasters will
share their databases of geological, geotechnical, and seismological information. Preliminary data is already available on-line at http://www.AnatolianQuake.org.
Hazardous Materials Releases and Associated Emergency Response Efforts in the Turkey Earthquake of August 17,
1999: Implications for Future Risk Management Planning. Funding: National Science Foundation, $74,801, 12 months.
Principal Investigator: Laura Steinberg, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tulane University, New
Orleans, LA 70118; e-mail: lauras@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu.
The August 1999 quake in Turkey offers a unique opportunity to study how hazardous materials releases may be triggered
by earthquakes. The investigator will survey Turkish industrial facilities to learn what hazardous materials releases
occurred and what mitigation and emergency response measures were effective. She will offer recommendations for
making U.S. and Turkish hazardous material management plans and emergency response procedures more responsive to
the unique circumstances caused by joint natural and technological disasters.
Spatial Based Integrated Assessment of Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery for the Kocaeli (August
17, 1999) and Duzce (November 12, 1999) Earthquakes. Funding: National Science Foundation, $74,970, 12 months.
Principal Investigator: Ted S. Vinson, 107 Apperson Hall, Department of Engineering, Oregon State University, Corvallis,
OR 97331; (541) 737-3494; e-mail: vinsont@ccmail.orst.edu.
Vinson and his colleagues will collect and organize time-sensitive data and field information, records of constructed facility
performance, and reports of institutional action related to emergency response and recovery for these two quakes. The
effort will be undertaken by teams of U.S. and Turkish scientists, engineers, and earthquake professionals, and is part of a
larger research program to develop a spatial analytical approach to improve emergency preparedness, response, and
recovery for earthquakes.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded $300,000 to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to design a national online network for sharing earthquake engineering data. The award is the first step in implementing the Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES), which will provide earthquake engineers remote access to testing and experimental facilities (see the Observer, Vol. XXIII, No. 5, p. 2).
The network will provide researchers across the U.S. access to advanced research equipment, databases, and computer modeling and simulation tools. The university's National Center for Supercomputing Applications will lead a six-month study and design project, partnering with the university's Department of Civil Engineering, the Mid-America Earthquake Center, the Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, the University of Michigan's Collaboratory for Research on Electronic Work, and the University of Southern California's Information Sciences Institute and Department of Civil Engineering. NSF expects to provide additional funds late this year to upgrade existing earthquake research facilities and build new ones.
For more information on the NEES project, view the NSF Web site: http://www.eng.nsf.gov/nees.
A new cooperative research program was recently established by the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER) and the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research (PEER) Center in the U.S., and the National Center for Research in Earthquake Engineering (NCREE) at National Taiwan University and the Office of National Science and Technology Hazard Mitigation in Taiwan. The program will address two principal aspects of the recent Chi-Chi, Taiwan, earthquake: analysis of new information to enhance model validation and development of better understanding that will lead to a new, more accurate knowledge base, and code improvements and implementation specific to Taiwan developed by earthquake hazard mitigation professionals.
The research program will apply new reconnaissance information to projects already in progress. Proposed focus areas include:
The four centers are currently developing specific details of the research program. For more information, contact MCEER, State University of New York at Buffalo, Red Jacket Quadrangle, Buffalo, NY 14261-0025; (716) 645-3391; fax: (716) 645-3399; e-mail: mceer@acsu.buffalo.edu; WWW: http://mceer.buffalo.edu.
Below are the most recent conference announcements received by the Natural Hazards Center. A comprehensive list of hazard/disaster meetings is posted on our World Wide Web site: http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/conf.html.
Tenth Plenary Meeting of the Working Group on Emergency Telecommunications (WGET). Convener: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). New York, New York: November 30-December 1, 2000. This conference will include all United Nations agencies involved in international humanitarian assistance as well as major nongovernmental organizations and individual experts from the private sector and academia concerned about the use of telecommunications in emergencies and disasters. For details see http://www.reliefweb.int/telecoms, or contact Goli Farrell, WGET Secretariat, e-mail: farrellg@un.org; fax: +41 22 917 0208.
Emergency Preparedness for the Americas Conference. Sponsor: U.S. Trade and Development Agency (TDA) in co-operation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). San Juan, Puerto Rico: December 4-6, 2000. Recognizing that the disaster management focus in Latin America and the Caribbean is changing from response, recovery, and reconstruction to preparedness and mitigation, TDA and FEMA have organized this conference so that agencies involved in hazard mitigation projects in the region can learn about the goods and services available from U.S. companies that can help them accomplish their goals. A conference brochure and further details are available from Sylvia Szankay, Technical Resources International, Inc., 6500 Rock Spring Drive, Suite 650, Bethesda, MD 20817; (301) 897-7482; fax: (301) 897-7400; e-mail: sszankay@tech-res.com; WWW: http://www.tech-res-intl.com/tda/emergency.
Responding to Disaster. Host: Mansfield College, Oxford University. Oxford, U.K.: December 10-11, 2000. This interdisciplinary conference will explore issues surrounding all types of disasters, including management, training, and response. Perspectives will include anthropology, agricultural economics, city planning, community health services, cultural studies, economics, environmental sciences, geography, government, literature, philosophy, political studies, psychology, sociology, and theology. Participants will also include representatives of aid agencies, charities, consulting firms, government departments, nongovernmental organizations, emergency services, and the armed forces. For further details and information, contact Rob Fisher; fax: 0870 0560055; e-mail: rob@fishwest.demon.co.uk.
International Conference on Natural Disasters. Sponsors: Governments of Japan and Hyogo Prefecture, United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) Secretariat, World Bank, and others. Kobe, Japan: February 5-7, 2001. The major goal of this conference is to identify ways to improve international cooperation in disaster management, particularly in areas other than disaster relief, such as preparedness, risk reduction, and reconstruction. The organizers will promote an integrated approach recognizing that all aspects of disaster reduction are related. The meeting will draw on lessons learned from recent disasters, and participants will be invited to adopt a statement on disaster preparedness, reconstruction, and mitigation. Additional information is available from Toshiyasu Noda, Disaster Prevention Bureau, National Land Agency, Japan; tel: +81 3 3503 5691; fax: +81 3 3501 5199; e-mail: a711901@nla.go.jp.
Hemispheric Conference on Vulnerability Reduction of Trade Corridors to Natural Disasters. Organized by the Organization of American States, Unit for Sustainable Development and Environment; and the Secretariat of Environment, Government of the Province of Mendoza, Argentina. Mendoza, Argentina: March 26-28, 2001. This conference will bring together public- and private-sector specialists in agriculture, energy, and transportation development; risk and natural hazards management; and international development and finance to discuss the disaster vulnerability of international trade, focusing on the four major geographical trade areas of the hemisphere--the North American Free Trade Association (NAFTA), Mercosur (the Southern Common Market), the Andean Community, and the Central America Common Market. Presentations will be used to formulate action agendas to reduce natural disaster impacts on trade and to ensure that natural hazard risks are incorporated into business and trade planning. The conference will be in English and Spanish with simultaneous translation. For further information, contact Karina Nowakowski, tel: 0054-261-4232841 or 0054-261-439-4531; fax: 0054-261-452-5378; e-mail: karinnowakow@mixmail.com, or riesgo_gest@hotmail.com. Alternatively, interested persons can contact the Organization of American States, Unit for Sustainable Development and Environment, 1889 F Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20006; (202) 458-6295; fax: (202) 458-3560.
International Disaster Management Conference. Sponsor: Florida Emergency Medicine Foundation. Tampa, Florida: March 28-April 1, 2001. The International Disaster Management Conference will review recent disasters, highlighting incident command strategies and issues in interagency coordination. For details, contact Suzanne Lobb, Conference Coordinator, Florida Emergency Medicine Foundation, 3717 South Conway Road, Orlando, FL 32812; (800) 766-6335 or (407) 281-7396; fax: (407) 281-4407; e-mail: info@fcep.org; WWW: http://www.fcep.org.
Twelfth Global Warming International Conference and Expo (GWXII): Year 2001 Conference. Hosts: Global Warming International Program Committee and Global Warming International Center. Cambridge, U.K.: April 8-11, 2001. This conference includes tracks covering climate change and global warming, global climate surveillance, extreme events, El Niño & La Niña, impacts on wildfires and forestry, Kyoto Accord compliance and the future of energy and natural resource management, human health, education, oceans and global warming, strategies for mitigating effects of greenhouse gas emissions, policy and economics related to Kyoto compliance, international law and policy making, state and local government actions, and sustainable environment and health in the face of global climate change. The conference also includes the GWXII Expo to promote networking among participants. For complete information, contact the Global Warming International Center, 22W381 75th Street, Naperville IL 60565; (630) 910-1551; fax: (630) 910-1561; e-mail: gw12@globalwarming.net; WWW: http://www.globalwarming.net.
Sixth World Congress on Stress, Trauma, and Coping. Sponsor: International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF). Baltimore, Maryland: April 18-22, 2001. ICISF is a nonprofit foundation dedicated to the prevention and mitigation of disabling stress through the provision of education, training, and other services for emergency personnel; continuing education and training in emergency mental health for all mental health professionals; and consultation in the establishment of crisis and disaster response programs. The world congress provides an opportunity for both emergency management and mental health professionals to survey the state of practice in this field. To receive e-mail updates and a call for papers, contact Shelley Cohen, World Congress Coordinator, ICISF, 10176 Baltimore National Pike, Unit 201, Ellicott City, MD 21042; (410) 750-9600; fax: (410) 750-9601; e-mail: scohen@icisf.org; WWW: http://www.icisf.org.
2001 National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) Conference. Dallas, Texas: April 21-25, 2001. The 2001 NDMS conference is designed to promote interaction among local, state, and federal policy makers and health practitioners of all kinds. It will include over 75 accredited educational sessions focusing on areas such as planning, public health, emergency medicine, counterterrorism, new tools and approaches, and communications. More information is available from NDMS, 12300 Twinbrook Parkway, Suite 360, Rockville, MD 20857; (301) 443-1167 or (800) 872-6367; fax: (301) 443-5146 or (800) 872-5945; e-mail: ndms@usa.net; WWW: http://www.oep-ndms.dhhs.gov.
Americas Conference on Wind Engineering (formerly U.S. National Conference on Wind Engineering). Sponsors: American Association for Wind Engineering and others. Clemson, South Carolina: June 3-6, 2001. Principal conference topics are "Decision Making and Policy," "Performance of Low-Rise Buildings," and "State-of-the-Art Issues in Research and Practice." For details, contact Scott D. Schiff, Department of Civil Engineering, Lowry Hall-Box 340911, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634-0911; (864) 656-0456; fax: (864) 656-2670; e-mail: scott.schiff@ces.clemson.edu.
Public Risk Management Association (PRIMA) 2001 Annual Conference. Chicago, Illinois: June 10-13, 2001. PRIMA's aim is to help public entities minimize their exposure to risks (including natural hazards). Five student scholarships to the PRIMA conference are available; applications are due February 16, 2001. For complete information, contact PRIMA, 1815 North Fort Myer Drive, Suite 1020, Arlington, VA 22209-1805; (703) 528-7701; fax: (703) 528-7966; e-mail: info@primacentral.org; WWW: http://www.primacentral.org.
Tenth Congress of the Federation of International Studies on Latin America and the Caribbean. Moscow, Russia: June 26-29, 2001. The congress will include a section on "Natural Disaster Vulnerability of Latin American Urban Settlements," with sessions on "Vulnerability and Poverty"; "Past Experiences: Earthquakes, Volcanic Eruptions, Hurricanes and Natural Catastrophes from a Historical Perspective"; "Pre-Columbian and Colonial Settlements in the Face of Natural Catastrophes"; and, "Liberalism, Market and Environmental Degradation Related to Increased Vulnerability." For information on the program and a call for papers, contact INCIHUSA-CRICYT, CC 131 (5500), Mendoza, Argentina; fax: (0261) 4287370; e-mail: jeferna@lab.cricyt.edu.ar or gascon@lab.cricyt.edu.ar; WWW: http://www.cricyt.edu. ar/congresos/fuealc.htm.
International Conference on Disaster Management. Host: International Association of Disaster Management. Orlando, Florida: August 6-10, 2001. The primary goal of the International Conference on Disaster Management is to improve preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation for all natural and human-caused disasters in order to save lives and reduce property damage. To accomplish this goal, the conference will bring together all disciplines involved in disaster management and encourage the exchange of knowledge, problems, and solutions. The program will emphasize response and recovery lessons from recent disasters around the world, current state-of-the-art programs and strategies, and new approaches currently being tested or considered. For more information, contact the Conference Organizing Committee, International Conference on Disaster Management, 2952 Wellington Circle, Tallahassee, FL 32308; (850) 906-0221; fax: (850) 906-9228; e-mail: mail@disastermeeting.com.
First Joint Scientific Assembly of the International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy (IAGA) and the International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth's Interior (IASPEI). Hanoi, Vietnam: August 20-31, 2001. This assembly will allow scientists from different disciplines to exchange ideas about present-day problems in seismology, physics of the earth's interior, geological hazards, geomagnetism, aeronomy, and other areas of interest. The program will feature a multidisciplinary array of oral and poster presentations, colloquia, general symposia, short courses, workshops, and field trips. It also includes several special symposia focusing on frontiers of international research, including the origin and evolution of natural hazards. Additional programs will be offered before and after the assembly in other regions of Vietnam. All papers must be presented in English. There will be simultaneous translation for a few symposia, and translators (English, French, Chinese, Vietnamese, and a few other languages) will also be available at the poster sessions. The abstract and grant application deadline is February 1, 2001. Details about the program, abstract submission, and registration can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.iagaandiaspei.org.vn. Interested persons can also contact the Local Organizing Committee, IAGA-IASPEI 2001, Joint Scientific Assembly, Institute of Geophysics, Box 411 Buu dien Bo Ho, Hanoi, Vietnam; fax: (84 4)8364696; tel: (84 4) 7562802; e-mail: IAGA-IASPEI@fpt.vn.
Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS) Annual Congress. San Antonio, Texas: November 14-15, 2001. IBHS is an insurance industry initiative created to reduce deaths, injuries, property damage, economic loss, and human suffering caused by natural disasters. The institute promotes planning and construction of the built environment that incorporates structural and nonstructural loss-reduction practices. The IBHS Annual Congress is a showcase for recent developments in all facets of disaster mitigation. The 2001 congress will focus on issues of interest to underwriters, actuaries, and loss-control experts. For details, contact IBHS, 1408 North Westshore Boulevard, Suite 208, Tampa FL 33607; (813) 286-3400; fax: (813) 286-9960; e-mail: info@ibhs.org; WWW: http://www.ibhs.org.
As the direct losses and disruptions caused by natural disasters continue to grow, communities have become increasingly aware that natural hazards were often inadequately considered in previous development decisions and that there is more to disaster recovery than reconstructing buildings and infrastructure. Community leaders are also finding that they lack strategies for dealing with the complex, politically and emotionally charged environment after a disaster occurs. Moreover, a 1993 study conducted by the Natural Hazards Research and Applications Information Center revealed that only a very small percentage of graduate planning programs incorporate hazard mitigation into their curricula.
To address these problems, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), through the Multihazard Mitigation Council (MMC) of the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS), sponsors Hazard Mitigation Planning Fellowships for graduate-level planning students. The fellowships are intended to foster integration of hazard mitigation principles into graduate-level curricula of planning schools; encourage the use of planning policies, tools, and techniques to reduce the impacts of natural hazards in the U.S.; help determine how FEMA can best assist communities, regional organizations, and states in developing and maintaining effective hazard mitigation planning programs and how FEMA can best integrate planning principles and approaches into its mitigation and recovery programs.
The graduate student or students selected will be provided funding for one year of field research in local and state hazard mitigation planning. The fellowships will involve orientation work at FEMA headquarters in Washington, D.C.; extensive fieldwork within communities to be selected by FEMA; and independent follow-up work during the 2001-2002 academic year.
All applicants must have completed one year of graduate study before the summer of 2001, be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, demonstrate an understanding of and interest in planning and disasters, have the support of a faculty advisor who shares that interest, and be willing to prepare a paper and presentation on their research.
Interested persons must submit an application and supporting materials by January 8, 2001. For an application form and additional information, contact Claret M. Heider, National Institute of Building Sciences, Multihazard Mitigation Council, 1090 Vermont Avenue, N.W., Suite 700, Washington, DC 20005-4905; (202) 289-7800, ext. 134; fax: (202) 289-1092; e-mail: cheider@nibs.org.
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