News from 2017
CNDS part of new collaboration with Makerere University, Uganda
(2017-01-29)
CNDS has become a partner in the Sida-financed project BREAD, Building Resilient Ecosystems and Livelihoods to Climate Change and Disaster Risks, which is carried out in collaboration with Lund University and Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda.
Given its experience as interdisciplinary research centre on natural hazards and disasters, CNDS has become involved in the for Building Resilient Ecosystems and Livelihoods to Climate Change and Disaster Risks (BREAD).
Researchers from Makerere University visited Uppsala in August 2017. The main objectives of the meeting were information and experience sharing, reviewing the progress of the project, and planning of the PhD programme on Disaster Risk Management and Resilience. In November 2017, CNDS Fellow Frederike Albrecht visited Makerere University to give lectures in the M.Sc. for Disaster Risk Management programme and participate in a workshop on Interdisciplinary disaster research. Since January 2018, guest PhD student George Oriangi from Uganda is visiting Uppsala University.
The goal of BREAD is to enhance societal resilience to disasters and climate change under varied ecological conditions in Uganda. Specific objectives are for example to build capacities in disaster risk management, climate change adaptation, and resilience and to enhance science-policy interface that builds community resilience. Moreover, the partnership aims at improving north-south scientific collaboration through research, education, and publication that generates knowledge crucial for sustainable climate change adaptation and resilience to disaster risks. The project seeks to strengthen the M.Sc. Disaster Risk Management programme and develop a new PhD programme in Resilience and Disaster Risk Management at Makerere University, Uganda. More information about BREAD.
CNDS PhD students at the Winter Conferment Ceremony 2017
(2017-01-30)
Four PhD students within CNDS attended the Winter Conferment Ceremony on Friday 27 January 2017.
Adam Dingwell (Department of Earth Sciences), Zahra Atena Khaji (Department of Engineering Sciences), Marc Girons Lopez (Department of Earth Sciences) and Viveca Norén (Department of Earth Sciences) all attended the ceremonial conferment act that took place in Uppsala Cathedral, where they received their symbols of honour: a diploma and a laurel wreath. Congratulations!
CNDS on social media
(2017-02-15)
CNDS is now active on LinkedIn and Twitter. Search for CNDS on LinkedIn or go directly to our LinkedIn group. You can also follow our latest news and various updates from CNDS fellows on Twitter. Happy Tweeting!
CNDS kick-off workshop 2017
(2017-04-10)
Thank you for participating and contributing to great discussions during various panels.
Sara Bondesson nailed her doctoral thesis
(2017-04-28)
Today CNDS PhD student Sara Bondesson nailed her doctoral thesis "Vulnerability and Power - Social Justice Organizing in Rockaway, New York City, after Hurricane Sandy" at the Department of Government, Uppsala University.
Diana Fuentes Andino defends doctoral thesis
(2017-05-03)
On 5 May 2017, CNDS PhD student Diana Fuentes Andino defends her doctoral thesis: Flood Hazard Assessment in Data-Scarce Basins: Use of alternative data and modelling techniques.
The defence takes place at 10:00 AM in Axel Hambergsalen, Geocentrum, Uppsala.
Helena Hermansson nailed her doctoral thesis
(2017-05-05)
Today CNDS PhD student Helena Hermansson nailed her doctoral thesis Disaster Management Collaboration in Turkey: Assessing Progress and Challenges of Hybrid Network Governance at the Department of Government, Uppsala University.
New web page
(2017-05-05)
CNDS has now officially launched its new web page. It already includes all core parts, but we will continue working on the finalization of several additional pages.
Frederike Albrecht nailed her doctoral thesis
(2017-05-18)
Today CNDS PhD student Frederike Albrecht nailed her doctoral thesis The Social and Political Impact of Natural Disasters: Investigating Attitudes and Media Coverage in the Wake of Disasters at the Department of Government, Uppsala University.
Sara Bondesson defends her doctoral thesis
(2017-05-20)
On 19 May 2017, CNDS PhD student Sara Bondesson successfully defended her doctoral thesis: "Vulnerability and Power - Social Justice Organizing in Rockaway, New York City, after Hurricane Sandy".
Lina Eriksson defends her doctoral thesis
(2017-05-20)
On 20 May 2017, CNDS PhD student Lina Eriksson successfully defended her doctoral thesis: Natural Disasters and National Election: On the 2004 Indian Ocean Boxing Day Tsunami, the 2005 Storm Gudrun and the 2006 Historic Regime Shift.
Call for PhD and Postdoctoral Studies at CNDS
(2017-05-22)
We are opening up new opportunities to study and work at CNDS. The positions are coming out in the following weeks and will be gathered and regularly updated on our webpage. Find out more about all vacant PhD and postdoctoral positions here.
Helena Hermansson defends her doctoral thesis
(2017-06-08)
On 8 June 2017, CNDS PhD student Helena Hermansson successfully defended her doctoral thesis: Centralized Disaster Management Collaboration in Turkey.
Frederike Albrecht defends her doctoral thesis
(2017-06-09)
On 9 June 2017, CNDS PhD student Frederike Albrecht successfully defended her doctoral thesis: The Social and Political Impact of Natural Disasters: Investigating Attitudes and Media Coverage in the Wake of Disasters.
CNDS researchers help unveil the secret of the supervolcano
(2017-07-14)
Researchers have now found an explanation for what triggered the largest volcanic eruption witnessed by mankind. The volcano’s secret was revealed by geochemical clues hidden inside volcanic quartz crystals.
The deadliest volcanoes on earth are called supervolcanoes, capable of producing cataclysmic eruptions that devastate huge regions, and cause global cooling of the climate. The Indonesian supervolcano Toba had one of these eruptions about 73000 years ago, when 2800 cubic kilometers of volcanic ash was ejected into the atmosphere and rained down and covered enormous areas in Indonesia and India.
Scientists have long debated how these extraordinary volumes of magma are generated, and what makes this magma erupt so very explosively. A team of researchers at Uppsala University, together with their colleagues around the world, have now found intriguing clues hidden inside millimeter-sized crystals from the volcanic ash and rock.
– Quartz crystals that grow in the magma register chemical and thermodynamical changes in the magmatic system prior to eruption, similar to how tree rings record climate variations. When the conditions in the magma change, the crystals respond and produce distinct growth zones that record these changes. The problem is that each “tree ring”-analogue is only a few micrometers across, which is why they are extremely challenging to analyse in detail, says Dr. David Budd.
The researchers analysed quartz crystals from Toba, and found a distinct shift in the isotopic composition towards the outer rim of the crystals. The crystal rims contain a relatively lower proportion of the heavy isotope 18O compared to the lighter 16O.
– The low ratio of 18O to 16O contents in the crystal rims indicate that something in the magmatic system changed drastically just before the big eruption. The explanation behind these chemical signatures is that the magma melted and assimilated a large volume of a local rock that itself is characterised by a relatively low ratio of 18O to 16O . This rock type also often contains a lot of water, which may be released into the magma, producing steam, and thereby an increased gas pressure inside the magma chamber. This rapidly increased gas pressure eventually allowed the magma to rupture the overlying crust, and send thousands of cubic kilometres of magma into the atmosphere, explains Dr. Frances Deegan.
Luckily, these cataclysmic super-eruptions happen very rarely.
– Biologists have previously shown that this particular eruption at Toba pushed humanity close to extinction. It will hopefully take many thousands of years, but the fact is it is only a matter of time before the next super eruption, maybe at Toba, Yellowstone (USA), or somewhere else, says professor Valentin Troll, who led this study of Toba quartzes at Uppsala University. Hopefully, we will know more and be better prepared next time!
Read more about the research here: http://www.geo.uu.se/forskning/min-pet-tek/
Download the paper here. Contact: Valentin Troll
Valentin Troll in Swedish science magazine
(2017-08-17)
CNDS Fellow Prof. Valentin Troll gave an interview about the supervolcano Campi Flegrei in Italy for the Swedish science magazine "Allt om Vetenskap". Read the interview (in Swedish) here.
Thank you for participating in the 6th Annual Assembly!
(2017-08-26)
Thank you for participating in the 6th Annual CNDS Assembly and for the fruitful discussions on our research framework, publication strategies and networking among other topics.
Natural hazards – capturing weather patterns across climates and scales
(2017-08-28)
CNDS fellows have published a recent study in the NATURE journal Scientific Reports on the challenges of spatio-temporal precipitation generation under various climate and data related conditions, using a model called TripleM, which is now also available to the public.
Precipitation is the most important component of the water cycle. Multiple studies rely on the availability of long precipitation time series for different types of impact analyses such as in the earth sciences, ecology and climate research. Such impact analyses include but are not limited to flood hazard assessment, agricultural production or public health. Long precipitation time series can be simulated with stochastic algorithms, usually termed weather generators. Weather generators are mathematical algorithms that can extrapolate observed ground observation weather time series with similar statistical characteristics to the observations.
The simulation of precipitation fields is challenging due to the complex intermittent character of precipitation in space and time. For this reason, various algorithms have been proposed and applied. As strategic evaluations are still missing, the knowledge in spatio-temporal precipitation generation remains fragmented. “All the really interesting different weather generators that have been published over the last few years have specific advantages and disadvantages, and we are currently facing a situation where a strategic evaluation of the different model philosophies in an application context is required, to get a better picture of what the different algorithms can or cannot provide to the various scientific disciplines”, says Dr. Korbinian Breinl.
CNDS fellows collaborated in this study with national and international peers of Uppsala University, SLU, the University of Zurich (Switzerland) and the United Nations University (Germany). They suggested a new evaluation framework for testing weather generation across spatial scales, climates and assuming data scarcity as faced in various regions around the globe using their own precipitation model TripleM. Three large-scale study areas in the United States with a solid database were chosen to cover a range of different climate types (Figure 1). The team took a very first step towards narrowing the knowledge gap. “We also want to be as transparent as possible with our work and made the source code available to support the development of future algorithms”, says Prof. Giuliano Di Baldassarre, co-author of the study and director of CNDS. The team considers their study to be a call upon scientists for testing various weather generators using common evaluation standards and for making their source codes accessible to contribute to this task.
The TripleM precipitation model is a crucial component of the ongoing project STEEP STREAMS (funded by the Swedish Research Council FORMAS within WaterJPI, ERA-Net Cofund WaterWorks 2014), where hydrologists of Uppsala University in collaboration with Italian and Portuguese researchers from Trento and Lisbon are investigating how future changes of weather patterns will lead to changes in the hydrology of small steep Alpine catchments that are highly vulnerable to flash flooding and hyperconcentrated flows. The results of the STEEP STREAMS project will support the development of new design criteria for defence structures to mitigate the impact of such extreme events in the future.
Download the paper here. Access the model here. Contact: Korbinian Breinl
Sara Bondesson: Politically produced disasters affect the world, Swedish online magazine Mänsklig Säkerhet
(2017-09-15)
India, Bangladesh, The Caribbean Islands, and the USA have been tormented by powerful hurricanes and floods the last few weeks. Sara Bondesson's article in Swedish online magazine Mänsklig Säkerhet (in Swedish) highlights the political decisions that underlie these events.
CNDS has a new name in English
(2017-09-20)
CNDS has changed the research centre's name in English. During the Annual Assembly 2017, CNDS fellows and the CNDS Board unanimously agreed to change the English name of CNDS to “Centre of Natural Hazards and Disaster Science”, while keeping the acronym and the Swedish name. The new name better reflects the centre's views regarding the debate on using the term natural disasters and is more representative for our research, which has always emphasized that disaster risk involves natural hazards and social vulnerabilities.
For more information on the debate on "natural disasters", we recommend a recent talk by CNDS Fellow Korbinian Breinl, and Ilan Kelman's talk during the CNDS Forum on Natural Hazards 2016.
Giuliano Di Baldassarre receives ERC Consolidator Grant for his project on hydrological extremes and society
(2017-09-22)
Giuliano Di Baldassarre, the Director of CNDS, was awarded the European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant for his project "HydroSocial Extremes: Unravelling the Mutual Shaping of Hydrological Extremes and Society."
Identifying and addressing fundamental knowledge gaps about the risks emerging from the interplay of hydrological extremes and society
More than 100 million people per year are affected by hydrological extremes, i.e. floods and droughts. Hydrological studies have investigated human impacts on droughts and floods, while conversely social studies have explored human responses to hydrological extremes. Yet, the dynamics resulting from their interplay, i.e. both impacts and responses, have remained poorly understood. Thus, current risk assessment methods do not explicitly account for these dynamics. As a result, while risk reduction strategies built on these methods can work in the short-term, they often lead to unintended consequences in the long-term.
As such, this project aims to unravel the mutual shaping of society and hydrological extremes. A combined theoretical and empirical approach will be developed to uncover how the occurrence of hydrological extremes influences society’s wealth, institutions and population distribution, while, at the same time, society in turn alters the frequency, magnitude and spatial distribution of hydrological extremes via structural measures of water management and disaster risk reduction.
To explore the causal mechanisms underlying this mutual shaping, this project will propose explanatory models as competing hypotheses about the way in which humans drive and respond to droughts and floods. These alternative explanations will be developed and tested through: i) empirical analysis of case studies, and ii) global investigation of numerous sites, taking advantage of the current unprecedented proliferation of worldwide datasets. By combining these different methods, this project is expected to address the gap of fundamental knowledge about the dynamics of risk emerging from the interplay of hydrological extremes and society.
About the ERC Consolidator Grant
The grant is eligible for researchers with at least seven and up to twelve years of experience after their PhD work, who have a scientific track record showing great promise and potential to have a far-reaching impact. The ERC is part of the EU research and innovation programme, Horizon 2020, and is led by an independent governing body, the Scientific Council.
Professor Troll awarded by Padjadjaran University, Indonesia
(2017-09-28)
Professor Troll’s contribution to the field of volcanology and geochemistry of Indonesian volcanoes was recognized by an invitation to give the highly reputed Koesmono guest lecture at Padjadjaran University (UNPAD) in Bandung, Java. The lecture is named in honour of the founder of the faculty of Technical Geology at UNPAD, Dr. M Koesmono. Today the UNPAD faculty represents the largest academic Earth Science section in Indonesia (ca. 1000 undergraduate students).
CEREMONIAL LECTURE
Troll presented the Koesmono lecture to an audience of over 200 listeners and was held on the University’s 60th anniversary of its foundation day. Following the three hour ceremonial lecture and discussion session, Professor Troll was awarded with the lecture certificate and the seal of UNPAD, in addition to several books on Indonesian volcanoes and the history of volcanology in the region. In closing, Professor Troll was praised for his contributions to the volcanology of Indonesia over the last 15 years, a time during which he published over 20 scientific articles on the volcanology, geochemistry and various hazards of high-risk volcanic systems such as Krakatau, Merapi, Kelut and most recently on Earth’s largest supervolcano Toba, on Sumatra Island in the westernmost part of Indonesia
The day concluded with a discussion on establishing a cooperation agreement between Uppsala University and UNPAD in Bandung.
LECTURE TOUR AND SPRINGER BOOK CONTRACT
Troll’s lecture tour started a week earlier, however, with lectures at the Merapi Observatory and Hazard Mitigation Centre (BPPTKG) and at Gadja Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta, Central Java. Troll visited the Merapi Observatory and Hazard Mitigation Centre on September 7, 2017, and presented an invited lecture on the hazards associated with subduction zone dome volcanoes.
The occasion was furthermore marked by the recent signing of a contract with Springer Publishing Company to produce a book on Merapi volcano, where Troll and I Gusti Made Agung Nandaka, the Head of the Merapi Observatory and Hazard Centre, will be co-editors together with colleagues from the UK, Germany and Indonesia.
The visit to BPPTKG was followed by an invited lecture at Gadja Mada University on September 8, at the Department for Geological Engineering, which is amongst the most highly regarded Earth Science departments in all of Indonesia. The Department of Earth Sciences at Uppsala University and UGM’s Department for Engineering Geology have an academic cooperation agreement since 2014, and Troll was instrumental in preparing this cooperation. After a two hour lecture by Troll on Krakatau volcano and a subsequent discussion session to a brimming audience in an overflowing lecture theatre, Troll was presented with a certificate and the medal of the department of Engineering Geology in recognition to his contribution to education at UGM
Troll’s visit to Yogyakarta was followed by the prestigious Koesmono lecture on volcanology and volcanic hazards at Padjadjaran University (UNPAD) in Bandung, in West Java, on September 11, 2017.
RESEARCH COLLABORATION EFFORTS
Finally, Professor Troll met with Nadhirah Seraphine, a current MSc student at Uppsala University who is on a work placement at the Merapi Observatory. In addition, he met with Herlan Darmawan, an Indonesian PhD student for whom Troll is a co-supervisor and who is based at GFZ Potsdam in Germany, but was in Indonesia for fieldwork at the time. Herlan’s work focuses on Merapi dome stability and dome alteration and he is scheduled to visit Uppsala later this year to work with Professor Troll and Dr. Frances Deegan in an collaborative effort between GFZ, BPPTGK and Uppsala’s Department of Earth Sciences.
CNDS Fellows receive royal visitor at RiskLab at Karlstad University
(2017-11-06)
The royal visit began with a presentation, for H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf and the other guests, on climate-related risks and society's management of them by Mikael Granberg and Lars Nyberg from the Centre for Climate and Safety (CCS), Karlstad University and CNDS Fellows.
The RiskLab is a meeting place for communicating and sharing knowledge of complex issues that stimulates discussions and learning. In addition to getting concrete information, visitors get the opportunity to test their new knowledge and skills by using two educational tools Riskköping and Floodville. Riskköping is community building game, where participants are tasked with building a sustainable and safe city. Floodville is a flood-simulation game where participants are assigned to protect the city's most critical places and services from flooding. These educational tools are used together to illustrate the complexity of disaster management and climate-related risks.
The honorary guest H.M. King was joined by the County Governor, Karlstad University Rector, and local schoolchildren. Together they were invited to participate in Floodville as experts. Each participant was given a limited number of levees (modelling clay) and tasked to determine which areas should be protected. Then they had to strategically place them in order to protect the key areas from flooding.
"RiskLab provides a fantastic opportunity to raise awareness about our research efforts and the knowledge we are collecting on climate-related risks. Riskköping and Floodville pedagogically showcase how we are working with communication and knowledge dissemination in a way that stimulates discussion and shared learning. Strengthening our knowledge about how to understand and manage climate-related risks is a highly prioritized field of research, both locally and globally, due to climate change and increased vulnerability due to how and where we choose to live."
Contact details
For questions related to the activities research conducted by Centre for Climate and Safety (CCS), Karlstad University:
Professor Mikael Granberg, Director of CCS
Telephone: +46 (0) 72 305 6467
For questions about RiskLab, Riskköping and Floodville:
Emelie Hindersson, Coordinator of CCS
Telephone: +46 (0) 70 432 2361
Korbinian Breinl's views on the Sendai framework and DRR in Sweden
(2017-12-13)
On assignment from the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB), the Swedish Institute of International Affairs (UI) recently investigated how the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction is being implemented in Sweden. The study builds on interviews with representatives of government authorities, the private sector, civil society, counties, cities and research. Our CNDS fellow Korbinian Breinl has also participated in one of these interviews. The interview was conducted by Amanda Haraldsson. The full report of the study is available here.
Amanda Haraldsson: What aspects of DRR are relevant in your research?
Korbinian Breinl: At the hydrology unit at Uppsala University, we focus on the interaction between society and hydrological extremes, mainly floods and droughts. We also focus on climate-driven or anthropogenic changes in the water balance, for example in respect to agriculture. Climate change plays an important role; we want to understand how hydrological processes are going to change in the future. Will floods become more frequent? Will droughts become longer? And consequently, what does that mean for Swedish society?
Amanda Haraldsson: How would you say Sweden’s work and progress within DRR compares to other countries?
Korbinian Breinl: In general, the biggest gap is between the high and low-income countries. In my opinion there is a certain European standard that Sweden definitely meets as a major donor country to the UN office for disaster reduction. And, in Sweden there is an approach for the joint analysis of development, humanitarian and environmental work. Likewise, Sendai itself is implemented by the contingency agencies.
Amanda Haraldsson: In your opinion, what is the biggest problem that must be overcome in order to improve the understanding of disaster risk?
Korbinian Breinl: We need to understand how disaster risk is going to change in the future, not only due to climate change but also due to socioeconomic trends. Climate change is a particular concern in Sweden. One example is the decreasing ground water levels in southern Sweden, which could become an issue for agriculture. Other examples are the increasing probabilities of heat waves or vector-borne diseases. As it gets warmer in Sweden there will be a higher risk of malaria. We have several types of mosquitos in Sweden that are theoretically able to spread malaria. At the same time, most people may think this is not a big deal because Sweden is a rich country, which can afford Malaria treatment. But the main Malaria drug is losing its potency as the Malaria parasites are developing resistance. There is no sense in panicking, but these are all risks that we need to fully be aware of and to better understand. By drawing upon research, we need to contemplate future scenarios, and this needs to be done in a much more integrative way than in the past. We need to integrate different disciplines such as natural, engineering and social sciences along with public health. Strictly disciplinary approaches in DRR will not help reduce future risks. Collaboration and dialogue across disciplines are key.
Amanda Haraldsson: Do you see an issue to overcome in terms of investing in DRR?
Korbinian Breinl: You can always spend more money, that is for sure. However, the Swedish government has for example invested in CNDS (Centre of Natural Hazards and Disaster Science), which is the national platform for DRR research, involving various departments at Uppsala University, Swedish Defence University, and Karlstad University. CNDS brings together practice and academia. We have recently received five more years of funding from the Swedish government and that demonstrates that DRR is being taken seriously in Sweden.
Amanda Haraldsson: What actors would you say are most important for implementing DRR internationally, nationally, sub-nationally and even on the individual level?
Korbinian Breinl: All of the actors are equally important no matter what level they are on. In my opinion, this is a weak point in the Sendai framework, because it puts a lot of emphasis on the role of governments. The problem is that there are many weak and fragile states. So in reality, there are governments that are often not functional, or that are in many regards simply absent. That means it is indispensable to also consider non-governmental institutions in DRR. Likewise, the private sector is important, especially in countries where the governments are not really functional. Sub-nationally and individually, local expert knowledge is extremely important. We need to understand the disaster risk from the perspective of those who are most affected. Even though local individuals might not be familiar with some technical or scientific aspects of DRR, they often have a much better understanding of the issues on site and we have to take advantage of that local knowledge and expertise. This bottom-up philosophy is key for successfully implementing Sendai.
Amanda Haraldsson: How much cooperation do you or your department/program have with other actors and what form does this cooperation take?
Korbinian Breinl: Apart from our excellent day-to-day cooperation within academia across the globe, we are working more and more across disciplines and with numerous stakeholders. Uppsala University is very unique in terms of our cooperation within CNDS. In CNDS, we do not only have several universities as partners, but we also work with public authorities and the private sector; for example, the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB), the Swedish international development cooperation agency (SIDA), and the Swedish County Insurance Group (Länsförsäkringar). We have established a constructive dialogue with these institutions, and they regularly attend our meetings and conferences, such as the biannual Swedish meeting place for societal security and the CNDS forum for natural disaster science. At the 2016 CNDS forum we had over 180 participants, including researchers, practitioners and policymakers.
Amanda Haraldsson: In your opinion, how important are academia and research efforts for helping Sweden reach its DRR goals?
Korbinian Breinl: In my opinion, significant scientific innovations are produced by universities and research institutions, even though I personally know from my own career that excellent research is also done in the private sector. That is, constant innovation is needed to reach our DRR goals. What academia has to be aware of is that the involvement of stakeholders from the beginning in DRR related research is important. We need to change from a top-down to a bottom-up philosophy.
Amanda Haraldsson: What do you see as the biggest downside of the Sendai Framework as it is written today?
Korbinian Breinl: The Sendai framework does not sufficiently address DRR in areas affected by conflict, which often face dysfunctional governments. We also have to be aware of current migration movements. Many countries, for example in Africa, need to better utilize their young generation. Young women and men are needed to push development in many areas, not just in DRR. This is not really addressed in the Sendai framework. Another critical point is that human rights have not received a prominent role. They are referenced to in the guiding principles, but Sendai does not really connect human rights to DRR. Doing this would be very beneficial as most countries recognise human rights as an international standard and these could act as a standard for domestic frameworks. But despite some minor weak points that could use some improvement, the Sendai framework is a huge step in the right direction.
Korbinian Breinl graduated with distinction in Physical Geography at Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich (Germany), before he worked for three years as a catastrophe risk model developer with a focus on large-scale flood risks in the private sector. In 2011, he was awarded a scholarship by the European Commission's Marie-Curie Initial Training Network (ITN) 'Changes' to pursue his PhD studies on flood risk assessments with consideration for climate change at the University of Salzburg (Austria), with secondments in the Netherlands and Germany, for which he finished summa cum laude. In 2016, he joined the Department of Earth Sciences at Uppsala University as a Postdoctoral Researcher, where he is working closely with the director of CNDS, Professor Giuliano Di Baldassarre, on hydrological impact assessment and disaster risk reduction in various regions around the world.
Amanda Haraldsson completed the master’s programme International Administration and Global Governance at the University of Gothenburg before joining the Swedish Institute of International Affairs (UI) in Stockholm as a research assistant. She is currently a PhD researcher at the department of Political and Social Sciences at the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence.
CNDS Fellows contribute to Routledge series book: Local Action on Climate Change - Opportunities and constraints
(2017-12-20)
The latest addition to Routledges series on Advances in Climate Change Research is the book "Local Action on Climate Change - Opportunities and constraints" with valuable contributions from CNDS board member Mikael Granberg and CNDS management team member Lars Nyberg.
Local Action on Climate Change examines how local climate change responses are emerging, being operationalized and evaluated within a range of geographical and socio-political contexts across the globe. Focussing on the role and potential of local governments, non-government organisations and community groups in driving transformative change, the authors analyse how local climate change responses have emerged and explore the extent to which they are or have the potential to be innovative or transformative in terms of governance, policy and practice change.
Drawing on a diverse range of case studies, including examples from Vanuatu, Japan, South Africa, Australia, Sweden, the USA and India, this book should be of great interest to students and scholars of climate change, environmental policy and governance, and sustainability.
Contributions from CNDS
- Moloney, S., Fünfgeld, H. and Granberg, M., Editors (2018), Climate change responses from the global to local scale: an overview, pp. 1-16
- Baja, K. and Granberg, M. (2018), From engagement to empowerment: climate change and resilience planning in Baltimore City, pp. 126-145
- Moloney, S., Fünfgeld, H. and Granberg, M. (2018), Towards transformative action: learning from local experiences and contexts, pp. 146-156
- Granberg, M. and Nyberg, L. (2018), Climate change adaptation, city competitiveness and urban planning in the city of Karlstad, Sweden, pp. 111-125
READ MORE:
Local Action on Climate Change - Opportunities and constraints, at the webpage of publisher Routledge
Steffi Burchardt awarded a research grant by the Wallenberg Foundation for her project on fracture formation in magma
(2017-12-20)
CNDS fellow Steffi Burchardt was awarded a research grant by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation for her discovery of a paradoxical property in magma: it can fracture even though it flows. Her aim is to understand how fracture formation in magma influences everything from the prediction of volcanic eruptions to deposits of noble metals and the formation of oil reservoirs.
As the Earth’s interior pushes up through its crust, it forms magma chambers, hot reservoirs of mostly liquid magma. Previously, researchers had thought that earthquakes occur when the rock around the magma chamber fractures, but Associate Professor Steffi Burchardt from Uppsala University, and CNDS fellow, has studied ancient, solidified magma chambers and deduced that the magma itself also appears to fracture. This could be because of the enormous forces that arise as additional magma flows into the already overflowing chamber.
The assumption that only rock can fracture has led to researchers probably underestimating the amount of magma below various volcanoes. Steffi Burchardt will now investigate how her new insights will influence predictions of volcanic eruptions.
Understanding of how magma fractures is also important for localizing noble metals and oil reservoirs. Magma can be rich in silver, gold, copper and platinum, which are deposited in the cracks that form. In Argentina, oil has been found in solidified magma chambers, which can be explained through fracturing. Steffi Burchardt will also work with the Icelandic Deep Drilling Project to optimize the extraction of geothermal energy from magma chambers.
Text borrowed from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation.