CHRR Research

BASIC DISCIPLINARY RESEARCH

Basic research includes ongoing physical science and engineering studies of earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, climatic and hydrologic hazards, and man-made environmental hazards.  Another dimension studies the role humans play in hazards, societal vulnerability and impacts, and core policy and management decisions.

INTEGRATED RESEARCH

Integrated research focuses on projects that reach outside of normal disciplinary boundaries and combine both physical and human dimensions of hazards.  Specific components include:

• Multi-hazard research focusing on the study of physical and/or human processes and their interactions, and the development of aggregate risk management strategies
• Case studies that seek to understand the physical and social dimensions of major disasters by exploring models for the systematic evaluation of hazard risk, management options, and principles for communication and decision-making across fields
• Data integration research that brings together social and physical science information in ways useful for decision-making
• Integrated risk assessment and risk management research focusing on the utilization of physical science, engineering, and socio-economic information within a management-oriented framework

EXTENSION SERVICES

Research and training extension services provide linkages to policy and management by developing and applying models for hazard assessment, response, and management in a client-based context.  Local and regional probabilistic hazard assessment, geospatial risk analysis, decision research, urban planning, and earthquake engineering are among our existing extension services.  A key element is practical experience in data integration and spatial analysis within a GIS framework.  Future extension will give significant attention to devising processes for policy decision-making, with attention to issues of communicating probability and uncertainty into terms that can be understood and used across communities.