Sustainable Adaptation
Course Description
How do we adapt to the rapid global environmental changes that are happening around us? How do we do so in a way that is sustainable, enhancing human and environmental well-being, now and in the future? In this course, we will explore these questions through an interdisciplinary lens, drawing from the social sciences, engineering, and public health. We will focus on people’s responses to a range of impacts related to global environmental change from sea level rise to extreme weather events. Example responses include changes in fishing practices, taking protective action during wildfires or hurricanes, and migrating to a new location. Often, we will draw case studies from frontline communities, those who experience the “first and worst” of global environmental changes. Through readings, film, and field trips, we will ask what adaptation to global environmental change is, what does it mean to be sustainable, and how can it be sustained.
Meet the Instructor: Gabrielle Wong-Parodi
“I am an assistant professor in the Department of Earth System Science, Environmental Behavioral Sciences, and a center fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment. I am an interdisciplinary social scientist who seeks to understand how people make decisions to address the impacts of climate change, and how robust interventions can empower them to make decisions that serve their lives, communities, and society. My work focuses on frontline communities who experience the 'first and worst' of climate change impacts. My work applies multiple convergent methods—interviews, surveys, experiments, prospective longitudinal designs, ecological momentary assessments, and remote and personal sensing. When working with frontline communities, I pursue a community-based approach, where research is a true collaborative enterprise between researchers and communities.”
