Informing Decision-makers About Science
Announcing the Center for Science and Technology Policy Research
Public and private sector decision-makers need scientific and technical information to
help them form policy. Too often, scientific information is not readily available or easily grasped. Exploring and understanding the relationship between scientific research and decision-making is the focus of the new Center for Science Policy and Research. The Center is part of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at the University of Colorado. The new program employs research, graduate and undergraduate education programs, and outreach through the Internet, newsletters, and workshops to explore its emphasis in:
- Science policy—studying how scientific information is linked to decisionmaking and how science is governed (funding to peer review) using atmospheric science, energy, and prediction as models;
- Technology policy—understanding, developing, evaluating, and critiquing the transfer of science and technology to useful products and processes; and
- Technology assessment—integrating understanding of technology in society to optimize decisions about future science and technology research directions.
The center has several ongoing projects linking science and society. The Atmospheric Sciences Policy Education and Network Program (ASPEN, formerly within the National Center for Atmospheric Research’s Environmental and Societal Impacts Group) focuses on the societal aspects of weather through a World Wide Web portal and the WeatherZine newsletter. Predictcentral.org evaluates prediction products and their use in decision-making. Undergraduate students explore how science and society interact to form public policy through the Global Climate Change and Society project. And, researchers in the Western Water Assessment project conduct interdisciplinary research linking climate, water, and society.
For more information about the center and its activities, visit the web site at http://sciencepolicy.colorado.edu or contact the Center for Science and Technology Policy Research, 488 UCB, 1333 Grandview Avenue, University of Colorado/CIRES, Boulder, CO 80309-0488; (303) 735-0451; fax: (303) 735-1576.
New Center Launches Ogmius Newsletter
A new newsletter published by the Center for Science and Technology Policy Research (see above) highlights ideas, events, and research from the world of science and technology policy. The Ogmius newsletter, named after the Gallic god of Eloquence, is published three times a year and contains information of interest to the science policy and hazards communities. Included are topical exchanges from leading policy professionals; news; educational and research opportunities; meetings; updates on the center’s projects, web sites, and publications; and media resources. Ogmius is available on-line at http://sciencepolicy.colorado.edu/ogmius. To be added to the e-mail notification list, use the on-line form at http://sciencepolicy.colorado.edu/ogmius/subscriptions.html or send an e-mail message to ogmius-admin@sciencepolicy.colorado.edu with your name, organization, e-mail address, interests and needs, and how you heard about the newsletter.
Protecting the Bay Area
San Francisco Develops Action Plan for Earthquakes
San Francisco is one of the most seismically active regions in the U.S. The 1906 earthquake on the San Andreas fault was one of the most damaging of the 20th century, causing the largest urban fire in U.S. history and resulting in the destruction of a large part of the city. To address the dangers of earthquakes, the city is developing an extensive program of studies and programs to reduce their impacts in the Bay Area. The Community Action Plan for Seismic Safety (CAPSS) will explore methods to minimize the social, economic, and cultural effects of earthquakes through building upgrade programs, post-earthquake response and repair measures, public education, and other means.
Under contract from the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection, CAPSS is being developed by the Applied Technology Council (ATC), a professional non-profit corporation founded to protect life and property through the application of science and engineering. ATC is joined in this effort by a team of other consultants. CAPSS will also be guided by a group of volunteer specialists, stakeholders, and community representatives.
Over the next two years, ATC will:
- Conduct a city-wide earthquake vulnerability assessment to determine the significant impacts that various scenario earthquakes will likely have on the buildings and people in the area;
- Formulate community-backed guidelines and criteria for evaluating and subsequently repairing or demolishing earthquake-damaged buildings; and
- Identify and define other practical, achievable, and community-supported seismic hazard mitigation programs.
CAPSS will focus on both privately owned and city-owned buildings.
For more information about CAPSS, contact Marcie Adams, CAPSS, 177 Post Street, Suite 910, San Francisco, CA 94108-4712; (415) 989-1446 ext. 13; e-mail: info@capss.org; WWW: http://www.sfcapss.org.
EERI Kicks Off Quake ‘06 Campaign
The Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) is an international nonprofit
organization that works to reduce the impact of earthquakes through seismic studies, post-earthquake reconnaissance, education about quakes and their potential risks, and technology transfer. Recently, EERI’s Northern California Chapter launched a four-year campaign to reduce earthquake risk that will culminate with the 100th anniversary of the devastating 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The campaign is a partnership among earthquake professionals, agencies, and other groups at risk in northern California who work to encourage building owners to identify and reduce their risks.
The chapter hopes to work with managers of hospitals and other medical buildings, public school system officials, owners and managers of commercial buildings, owners of single and multifamily residences, utilities and other lifeline providers, and local government officials. The group is also an active participant in CAPSS, a City of San Francisco program to reduce earthquake risk, described in the article above.
For those who are interested in obtaining more information about this effort or would like to participate, e-mail Charles Scawthorn at crs@eqe.com or contact EERI, 499 14th Street Suite 320, Oakland, CA 94612-1934; (510) 451-0905; fax: (510) 451-5411; e-mail: eeri@eeri.org; WWW: http://www.eeri.org.
Table of Contents for This Issue of the Natural Hazards Observer
