Planning: CRISES: Southeast Center for Just, Resilient, and Sustainable Ecosystems (SECURE)

Extreme heat events are becoming more prevalent and severe in many regions. This project develops plans for a research center to investigate how extreme weather in the Southeast US disproportionately impacts disadvantaged communities. An interdisciplinary research team will examine how to improve public safety and resilience by building collaborations among community-based organizations, industry, and academics to address disaster preparedness, emergency response, technology adoption, and social-behavioral and policy aspects of climate-resilient systems serving urban and rural communities. The project seeks to strengthen infrastructure while serving social justice goals. This project develops research approaches to address critical community needs and solutions to improve crisis management strategies in the context of energy supply systems (e.g., power grid), built environment, transportation systems, and health infrastructures. This project prepares for establishing the Southeast Center for Just, Resilient, and Sustainable Ecosystems (SECURE) to transform scientific knowledge and research products from cross-disciplinary programs for long-lasting benefits to the community through a wide range of stakeholder networks. The goal is to improve climate resilience and impacts through five research pillars: 1) multidimensional community vulnerability frameworks; 2) needs assessments to understand barriers to climate mitigation; 3) resilience and sustainability of interdependent energy, transportation, health, and building infrastructure; 4) community engagement to co-design solutions on climate preparation; and 5) workforce development opportunities for individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences. The resulting knowledge-to-action and socio-technological integration frameworks impact interdisciplinary fields and disadvantaged communities, including Indigenous and low-income households, for pre-disaster resilience, adaptation, and mitigation. The workforce development plan includes creation of a diverse and inclusive environment for under-represented populations (i.e., people of color, women, veterans, and low-income residents, among others) and seeks to build a comprehensive talent pipeline and future climate-resilience leaders, especially for underserved communities in the Southeast and similar communities in the nation. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.