Our video will be voted Public's Choice. We are the definition of greatness and the uniqueness of this program makes no other able to outcompete. 

This is such a great initiative!. I congratulate you all for having an agenda for action.

Looking further back, most disastrous events have been water related. In the natural nexus therefore, water is a weak link within our interconnected and mutually dependent global systems. Strengthening this link to cope with increasing climate variability and extreme events is a no-regret strategy for climate adaption. Better climate information and robust early warning signals are essential, to help people and businesses avoid or minimize loss and damage from disasters. With satellite imagery and mobile communications, information can be shared more quickly and effectively than ever before!

Isaac, thanks for your comment and insight.  I love this program because it actually focuses on hazard and disasters research in third world countries such as US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, and improvish areas that have very poor infrastructures and antiquated designs. 

This program draws on the skills and expertise of minority students from underrepresented groups in STEM and social sciences in universities across the United States, including Puerto Rico. 

We, the minority scholars best understand  and represent the challenges and difficulties pre- and post disasters in these areas. We are best suited to create that nexus between science and citizen and politicians. We as scientists like never before have acknowledged how important citizen science is. 

It is one of our duties to put our boots on the ground in these disaster prone areas, connect with the locals, learn their countries / communities and tradition, conduct long term follow up research and elevate the consciousness of the people about natural and anthropogenic disasters and how they can contribute to building more resilient and resistive systems that are sustainable and livable. 

Can you imagine a team engineers, social scientists, natural scientists, and expertise from various organization putting their great minds together to execute a single project? Greatness will be the result. 

We need intelligent cities but more so intelligent designs and constructions that integrate ecology and disaster mitigation plans, this will lend to sustainability via resilience and resistance. However, it is highly important that we educate, enlighten and empower people living in these disaster probes areas. 

I'm happy to be apart of this initiative. I'm motivated and inspired to just do great things. 

King, witness the greatness we will unveil as aunique group. 

Thanks.

Thank you, Isaac. We hope that this initiative will help with the broader understanding of how to reduce disaster vulnerabilities. 

Thank you, Covel, for showing so much enthusiasm for the project. 

Thank you, Dr. DeeDee Bennett. Programs such this I want to be used by. I'm expecting to get the most out of myself. Also, I hope to trecruit other scholars inthe future that will add more value to this program. 

Thank you. Yes, we have recruited both mentors and students from beyond the sponsoring institutions. The students are pursuing graduate degrees. The students have an interest in research or practice around hazards mitigation and disaster management. 

Thank you, Kay. This has been a group effort and a very rewarding experience. Also, thanks to iMovie software!

Hi George, 

Fortunately, one of the key partners for SURGE, the University of Colorado Natural Hazards Center, has spent more than 40 years fostering the development of a community around hazards and disasters. The NHC hosts events and creates information products that place academic and non-academic researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and others in conversation with one another. These linkages have created a wealth of social capital that we have drawn on to expose SURGE students to diverse perspectives. We hope that this will in turn increase the students' own social capital and prepare them to pursue transdisciplinary approaches in their future work. 

Thank you!

Thank you, Sarah.

We anticipate preparing our Masters and Ph.D. students for academic or practitioner careers related to hazards mitigation and disaster management. I found life after graduation. I teach and perform research on disasters in higher education (undergraduates and graduates), as do our team members and several of our mentors. There are also positions at all levels of government, in non-profits, and private sector businesses, related to the field. 

We just started and are working on several plans to ensure longevity. First, we are identifying need and interest among students and stakeholders. 

Thanks so much for your encouraging words, George! We still have a long way to go, but we do believe that the hazards and disaster community holds a lot of promise as a model for breaking down disciplinary silos in support of solutions to complex problems--And we hope that SURGE and its scholars will be at the forefront of those efforts! 

Hi Shirley, 

Thank you for visiting our page! Yes, you can use this video. I believe it will live on this site indefinitely, and we will also have it housed on our homepage (www.surgedisasters.com) after the showcase concludes. 

Hi Michael,

Thank you for the great questions. Yes, we absolutely think this project can encourage non-STEM focused students to become STEM-focused. We believe this project and our participants will see firsthand why we need more STEM scholars and how they can apply their knowledge beyond the classroom setting. Younger students are highly motivated to make an impact in their community and often feel STEM disciplines are too far removed. Therefore, our project strives to connect what is learned in the classroom to the most impacted areas of our society.

We absolutely believe this model can be expanded to include younger students. We are currently focused on graduate level students but hope to expand in the future. Our application pool opened in October 2017 and within two months, we received over 50 applications that were both demographically diverse and from of a wide spectrum of academic disciplines. Graduate students representing 20 universities located in 16 states and U.S. territories submitted applications. The 10 selected were chosen for their high academic achievement, interest in applying their STEM knowledge to a post-disaster setting, dedication to improving the lives of the most vulnerable populations in U.S.A, and career goals related to the hazard mitigation field.