Members of the Social Science Extreme Events Research (SSEER) network and other interested researchers and potential collaborators are invited to join a Virtual Forum in response to the devastating wildfires that are still unfolding in Hawaii. The forum will be held on Tuesday, August 22, from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. Mountain Time.
This forum will focus on the early effects of the disaster, research needs and priorities, and ethical considerations for the culturally informed conduct of research. In addition, participants will have the opportunity to learn more about the Wildfire Ready Quick Response Research Awards. This award program funds the collection of perishable data before, during, and after wildfires, as well as the publication of wildfire datasets and instruments. The program, which is supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, will offer awards ranging from $1,000 to $7,500. Proposals are evaluated contemporaneously as they are submitted and will be accepted through June 1, 2024.
Because we will be focusing on research priorities and coordination during this call, we hope that you will join us if you are:
- a locally-affected researcher from any discipline,
- a social science researcher who has launched an investigation or you plan to launch a study in response to the wildfires,
- a researcher from another discipline, such as civil engineering, who would like to join a social science team,
- interested in learning more about available resources to inform the ethical collection of perishable data, conducting emotionally challenging research, reciprocity in disaster research, and more.
If you have questions or would like to share during this Virtual Forum, please contact Lori Peek at SSEER@colorado.edu. If you are new to hazards or disaster research, we hope you will access the online CONVERGE Training Modules and Extreme Events Research Check Sheets. If you are a social scientist who has not yet joined the SSEER network, please sign up.
Our thoughts are with the people of Hawaii who have endured the devastating fires that have claimed so many lives and destroyed irreplaceable cultural and historical assets. We hope, as ever, that the research generated from this event can make a difference in the affected communities and other places at risk to disaster.
You are also encouraged to sign up for updates at https://converge.colorado.edu/signup/.
