About
Students, faculty and staff are invited to attend the next Nicholas Institute and UPEP Environmental Institutions Seminar Series presentation. Our speakers will be Dr. Deserai Anderson (Professor in the School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado Denver) and Dr. Katie Dickinson (Associate Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health at the Colorado School of Public Health). No registration required.
The Marshall Fire was the most destructive wildfire in Colorado’s history. On December 30, 2021, this climate-enabled and weather-driven event destroyed 1,084 homes and damaged hundreds more in the communities of Louisville, Superior, and unincorporated Boulder County. These communities are among a growing number that face fire risk from nearby wildlands that can spread into suburban and urban areas, causing catastrophic damage. After the Marshall Fire, we saw similar events unfold in Lahaina, Hawaii and Los Angeles, California.
As climate change sets the stage for increasing disasters of these types, there is an urgent need for researchers to expand our collective capacity for rapid and responsive research that will facilitate learning and support short- and long-term recovery and resilience. To advance the most rigorous, meaningful science around wildfire recovery and preparedness, research efforts must be tailored to the social, cultural, environmental, and technical realities of each community and disaster context. This talk will highlight findings and methodologies from a longitudinal Colorado-based wildfire research effort, which centers community-engaged practices.
Specifically, we explore a set of questions related to the impacts of the Marshall Fire on communities’ disaster and climate resilience. The areas affected by the disaster are known for their commitments to climate action and resilience, with regulations in place prior to the Marshall fire to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improve the resilience of their built environments. For these and the growing number of communities facing a new set of risks due to climate change, key questions now emerge: Do these events strengthen communities’ resolve to build climate resilience, or erode public support for such policies in favor of reducing short-term recovery costs? Do community members who live through rebuilding and recovery shift their opinions of and support for such resilience policies? And how do local policies and individual rebuilding decisions interact to shape post-disaster built environments?
This is an in-person event with no virtual viewing option.
Part of the UPEP Environmental Institutions Seminar Series, organized by the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability and the University Program in Environmental Policy (UPEP), a doctoral degree program jointly offered by the Nicholas School of the Environment and Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University.
SPEAKER BIOS
Dr. Deserai Anderson
Dr. Deserai Anderson (Crow) is a Professor in the School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado Denver. She researches community resilience in the face of climate risks and disasters, with specific focus on vulnerabilities, recovery outcomes, and cross-sector collaborative engagement in decision-making.
Within this body of scholarship, she specializes in local and state-level policy, including stakeholder participation and influence, information sources used, and policy outcomes. Dr. Anderson’s crisis and disaster work includes National Science Foundation funded studies of community flood recovery and policy learning in the aftermath of the 2013 floods in Colorado, COVID-19 risk perceptions and behaviors as influenced by state-level policies, and recovery after Colorado’s 2021 Marshall Fire. Her ongoing research includes a study of statewide building codes for wildfire mitigation in Colorado as well as assessments of stakeholder needs in communicating complex climate, drought, and disaster data.
Dr. Anderson also directs the Doctoral Program and Co-Directs the Center for Community Safety and Resilience at the School of Public Affairs. She earned her PhD from Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment in Environmental Policy. She also holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Colorado at Denver’s School of Public Affairs and a B.S. in Journalism from the University of Colorado Boulder.
Dr. Katie Dickinson
Dr. Katie Dickinson is an Associate Professor with tenure of Environmental and Occupational Health in the Colorado School of Public Health. Her interdisciplinary research examines environmental and climate issues and the impacts of policies and programs on health and social outcomes. International projects have addressed problems at the nexus of environmental quality, economic development, and human health, including water and sanitation, household energy and air pollution, and mosquito-borne diseases. Domestically, she has studied drivers of environmental health in the context of wildfire, air quality, infectious disease, and oil and gas development. Dr. Dickinson has a passion for teaching students about policy processes and how public health professionals can partner with change-makers at different levels to build healthier and more resilient communities where everyone can thrive. She earned her PhD in Environmental Economics & Policy from Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment and holds MS and BS degrees in Earth Systems from Stanford University. Before joining the Colorado School of Public Health, Dr. Dickinson completed postdoctoral training at the University of Wisconsin - Madison and the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Currently, Katie enjoys spending time with her three bright and witty children and her spouse in their hometown of Louisville, Colorado.