A Citizen Science-Based Approach to Address Flood Vulnerability

Student Classification

Raven Funderburk (Junior, Major: Biology, Minor: Chemistry) Kendall Tyson (Junior, Majors: Sociology and Industrial and Systems Engineering) Co-author: Victoria Tanoh (PhD candidate, Applied Science and Technology)

Faculty Mentor

Dr. Stephanie Teixeira-Poit (Sociology), Dr. Leila Hashemi Beni (Built Environment)

Document Type

Poster

Publication Date

Spring 2023

Abstract

As environmental emergency events become more frequent and severe in the coming decades due to intensifying global climate change, there is a growing need to improve the scope and efficiency of emergency management tools. To address this need, we are developing a pilot, dynamic environmental management dashboard to support informed decision-making during an environmental emergency, particularly related to flooding. To determine what data will be integrated into our dashboard, we reviewed scholarly literature on indicators of flood vulnerability. We developed preliminary maps to illustrate indicators of flood vulnerability in community contexts in North Carolina. Additionally, we conducted listening sessions with emergency management professionals and community-based organizations (CBOs) to gather supplemental information. The results of the literature review indicated that the dashboard should integrate data on the physical, social, and economic aspects of flood risk and vulnerability, thereby supporting a comprehensive approach to flood risk management. The listening sessions revealed practical use cases for the dashboard, including pre-disaster predictions and planning as well as post-disaster recovery. Using the information gathered, we are developing a dashboard using an advanced knowledge graph database to assess the complexities of flood disaster events and meet the needs of the proposed use cases. Our approach aligns with citizen science and public participatory research that foster collaborations between scientists and community members to address real-world problems.

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