Students brief Congress on natural disaster risks

Last week, students of GEO 499: Investigating Natural Hazards ventured to Capitol Hill to present original research on the risk of natural disasters.

The class, taught by visiting professor Gregory van der Vink, encouraged students to carry out their own research on an aspect of natural disasters in the United States.

"I set the bar pretty high," van der Vink said. "The expectation is that at the end of the semester the students will produce something at the level of publication or presentation at a scientific conference."

Though the class met during the fall semester, the group of students went to Washington, D.C., last Thursday to present their findings to the Congressional Natural Hazards Caucus and the House Science Committee.

Andrew Jarrett '03 said he enjoyed speaking in front of influential political staffers.

The Hazards Caucus is comprised of senators concerned with natural disaster response.

Though the senators did not hear the presentation, the working committee — a panel of experts who collect and process information for caucus members — attended.

"They had a very good exchange," said Peter Folger GS '95, a member of the working committee and manager of public affairs for the American Geophysical Union.

"They actually briefed some key staff members of the House Science Committee," he said.

The focus of the presentation was a map that integrated research conducted by the class into a comprehensive national picture of natural disaster risk.

The map included historical data on earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes and floods, combined with population data from the 2000 census that sheds light on the connection between development and the damage from natural disasters, Jarrett said.

Each person in the group researched either a type of disaster or an aspect of disaster preparedness policy, Sarah Apgar '02 said.

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Apgar, a history of science major, said her research on hurricanes making landfall in the United States during the last century eventually led her to her senior thesis topic.

Van der Vink's experience as a visiting professor at the University — he is on the staff at the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology — allowed him to bridge the gap between science and policy, Apgar said.

Among the interesting patterns found in the original research performed by the class, Jarrett said, was that disaster damage is higher in areas where disasters are infrequent because the residents are not as well informed about risk.

"This was the first time anybody had tried to put together a comprehensive look at the risk of natural hazards that combined all of the hazards and population information," van der Vink said.

He stressed that the research was done independently by the students. "[Professor Jason Morgan and I] did the choreography; they did the dance," he said.

The map will also be presented to the AGU in at its spring meeting, Folger said.