Extreme Weather, Health, and Communities ― Interdisciplinary Engagement Strategies

This volume presents a unique interdisciplinary approach, drawing on expertise in both the natural and social sciences. A primary goal is to present a scientific and socially integrated perspective on place-based community engagement, extreme weather, and health. Each year extreme weather is leading to natural disasters around the world and exerting huge social and health costs. The International Monetary Fund (2012) estimates that since 2010, 700 worldwide natural disasters have affected more than 450 million people around the globe. The best coping strategy for extreme weather and environmental change is a strong offense. Communities armed with a spatial understanding of their resources, risks, strengths, weaknesses, community capabilities, and social networks will have the best chance of reducing losses and achieving a better outcome when extreme weather and disaster strikes.

Dr. Sheila Lakshmi Steinberg is a Professor of Social and Environmental Sciences at Brandman University-Chapman University System, Irvine, CA. The theme throughout her research is examining people and their relationship to space and place. Steinberg’s research interests include environmental sociology, research methods, social inequality, community, geospatial research (GIS) and policy. Sheila has always been interested in the weather and climate from living in so many different parts of the U.S. Recently, she co-authored a book entitled GIS Research Methods: Incorporating Spatial Perspectives for Esri Press and has also co-authored a chapter on this topic entitled "Geospatial Analysis Technology and Social Science Research" in theHandbook of Emergent Technologies, Sharlene Hesse-Biber, Editor, Oxford University Press 2011. In 2006, she co-authored a book for Sage Publications entitled,GIS for the Social Sciences: Investigating Space and Place. In 2013, she joined Brandman University where she now teaches courses related to social and environmental sciences.

William A. Sprigg, Ph.D., Yale University is Research Professor Emeritus, University of Arizona, the current and founding director of the World Meteorological Organization’s Pan-America Center for airborne dust forecasting in Barbados, and research associate of the Public Health Institute in California. He is a member of the American Meteorological Society’s Board on Environment & Health, the Chinese Academy of Sciences Committee for Digital Earth Observations, and the Serbian Program of Basic Research, Environmental Protection and Climate Change. Former positions include Distinguished Professor at California’s Chapman University, Director, U.S. National Research Council Board on Atmospheric Science and Climate, head of the U.S. National Climate Program Office, and architect of the U.S. Climate Program. He participated in the first Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Authoring a number of technical publications on climate and, most recently, on his current research interests, airborne dust and human health, Dr. Sprigg continues his interests in interdisciplinary research and science policy.