Eight University of Nebraska partners, including the Nebraska State Climate Office, recently were awarded a Collaboration Initiative Seed Grant worth about $145,000 to examine the human health and socio-economic effects of extreme weather and climate-related events.
The two-year $145,000 grant brings together an intercampus, interdisciplinary team of experts who can address health issues that arise from extreme weather and other climate-related events. The health outcomes and economic losses often are diverse and complex, and therefore difficult to predict outcomes, which are localized based on societal and environmental factors.
“A sustained, concentrated effort has not been made to understand the role of extreme weather and other climate-related events on human health for this region,” the partners wrote in their grant. Their goal is to lead climate and health preparedness efforts in the state and region.
Shulski and the state climate office will analyze data and conduct frequency analysis on historical weather extremes and hazards, such as heat waves or floods, with the hope that a risk-based assessment of climate impacts related to health in Nebraska can then be developed.
“There is a knowledge gap in terms of health-related climate impacts for Nebraska and this work hopes to bridge this gap,” Shulski said. “It is bringing together a newly-formed research group to tackle this issue.”
Partners on the grant include Jesse Bell, lead on the project, Sharon Meaker-Medcalf, Rachel Lookadoo and John-Martin Lowe, all of the University of Nebraska Medical Center; Martha Shulski, NSCO director, Rezaul Mahmood, High Plains Regional Climate Center director, and Mike Hayes, all of the School of Natural Resources at Nebraska, and Clint Rowe, of the Earth and Atmospheric Science Department at Nebraska.
Natural Resources
More details at: http://nsco.unl.edu