GradUATE Student NEWS

Marilyn Averill

Marilyn gave a presentation titled “Courts and the Diffusion of Climate Science” at the International Studies Association Annual Conference in San Francisco this March. She also has a publication forthcoming this year: Averill, M. Insights on COP 18/CMP 8. Insights, American Society of International Law.

Graduate Student News

Marisa McNatt

Marisa was chosen as a 2013 Climate Media Fellow for the Heinrich Boll Foundation. The goal of the Climate Media Fellowship is to familiarize US energy experts with the European and German experiences transitioning toward a low carbon economy by emphasizing the role of increased energy efficiency and renewable energy in securing economic opportunities for business and industry, and to communicate these in the US policy debate on a local, regional and national level.

Graduate Student News

Xi Wang

Xi recently received the Albert E. Smith Emerging Scholar Award from The Center to Advance Research and Teaching in the Social Sciences (CARTSS) at the University of Colorado Boulder. The Smith Award provides support for innovative social science research on issues associated with human survival in a nuclear age.

The grant will contribute to Xi’s thesis research titled “Public Engagement in Renewable Energy Transitions: A Comparison of Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) Policy across the United States.” The research will examine the factors that influence the adoption of an RPS--an obligation that requires a certain percentage of electricity in a jurisdiction to come from renewable sources. Specifically, it will examine whether, where, and to what extent the public has been engaged in RPS enactment. Xi presented her work at the Dimensions of Political Ecology 2013 Conference at the University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, on March 1, and at the Carbon Management Research Symposium, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, on March 27.

Graduate student News

Jessica Weinkle

Jessica gave a talk titled “Model Me This: What is Florida’s hurricane risk?” on December 17, 2012, at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, FL.

Abstract: When The Riddler first appeared as a Batman villain, he was a simple fellow; so too, were his riddles. Over time, The Riddler and his game evolved, mirroring the techno-socio-political context in which Batman- and his real life fans- understand and make decisions about risk. Despite conventional wisdom about risk and insurance ratemaking, Florida’s hurricane risk is not an objective fact that exists “out there.” Today, the hurricane risk is highly dependent on the context in which it is assessed and requires societal identification, interpretation, and decision-making. Thus, perceptions of the hurricane risk have changed along with changes in science, policy, and social values. Evaluation of the social context in which decisions about risk are made brings forth questions about the role of experts in decision making about society’s risk and the use of public insurance regimes to control ‘exaggerated uncertainties’ and define acceptable hurricane risk.