Research

RESEARCH INTERESTS

My research addresses issues of community vulnerability and resilience to hazards. Broadly speaking, it investigates three types of questions:  What happens in disasters, and why? What can be anticipated in future disasters? And, how can disruption from disasters be effectively reduced?

Most of my current and past work relates to studying the socio-economic impact of disasters and the dynamics of disaster recovery and long-term urban risk. I am especially interested in the roles of infrastructure systems (e.g., water, electric power, transportation) and green infrastructure in disaster risk and resilience. My work currently focuses on earthquakes, coastal flooding, and pandemics.

My students and I use a range of methodologies as appropriate to the research question at hand. These include statistical analysis, surveys and interviews, stakeholder workshops, economic analysis, and computer modeling.

CURRENT PROJECTS

Supporting Business Preparation for Future Shocks: International Cases to Understand How Recovery Programs Can Facilitate Adaptation (BRIDGE) - This study investigates the effectiveness of government policies in supporting business recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Together with an international research team, my students and I are conducting coordinated data collection across 10~15 cities around the world. We seek to understand how businesses were impacted by the pandemic, how government policies influenced their recovery, and how policies can best support businesses' capacity to withstand future crises, including climate-related disasters. This study is a collaboration with researchers in the U.S., Japan, New Zealand, and the Netherlands.

BC Local Government Actions to Address Coastal Flooding, Sea-Level Rise, and Tsunami Hazard - This project examines how coastal municipalities and other communities in British Columbia are currently addressing coastal flooding risks, including sea-level rise and tsunami inundation. Building on the Resilient Coasts Canada project (see Recent Projects, below), my students and I are developing an overview of the state of coastal adaptation across BC in 2023.

Living with Water - My students and I are participating in the Living with Water project (link), which seeks to help communities on BC's South Coast prepare and adapt for sea level rise and flooding.

Reducing the Catastrophic Risk of a Cascadia Megathrust Earthquake (Cascadia) - A major earthquake on the Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ) could cause devastating impacts across the Cascadia region, including British Columbia. This project brings together an interdisciplinary team of researchers to address the following objectives: (1) to quantify expected ground shaking associated with M8-9 earthquakes in the CSZ; (2) to understand how the built environment will perform; and (3) to identify community risk reduction and resilience strategies. The study is a collaboration with Carlos Molina Hutt at UBC (structural engineering) and Sheri Molnar and Katsuichiro Goda at Western University (seismology). My students and I have focused on understanding socio-economic vulnerability in Vancouver's West End neighbourhood.

RECENT PROJECTS (selected)

Resilient Coasts Canada platform (Resilient-C) – Coastal communities face many hazards, ranging from oil spills to coastal flooding and the longer-term threat of climate change. New information tools are needed to help communities find relevant tools and information to address these risks. The Resilient Coasts Canada (Resilient-C) online platform was developed to facilitate knowledge and resource sharing between coastal communities to support hazard risk reduction. Launched in 2016, the platform uses an indicator approach to help communities identify similarly vulnerable peer communities, as well as learn about risk reduction actions they are undertaking. The platform currently includes 180+ coastal communities and 2100+ risk reduction actions from across Canada. 

Strategic Planning for Coastal Community Resilience to Marine Transportation Disruption (SIREN) – A catastrophic earthquake could disrupt marine transportation across coastal British Columbia, severely affecting supply chains to coastal communities and emergency response capabilities. This project seeks to better understand such risks and develop effective resilience strategies for different types of coastal communities. It inquires into how disaster events would likely affect ports, marine transportation routes, and the associated movement of people and resources in the emergency response phase, and what strategies would be effective to alleviate potential consequences. Co-principal investigators on this project are David Bristow at the University of Victoria (infrastructure systems modeling), Ron Pelot and Floris Goerlandt at Dalhousie University (shipping risk), Cheng Lin and Lina Zhou at the University of Victoria (port geotech and structural modeling), and Anne Goodchild at the University of Washington (shipping logistics).

Model of Impact of Dilbit and Oil Spills in the Salish Sea (MIDOSS) – The Salish Sea and coastal communities are at risk of marine oil spills from various ship sources, including tankers carrying diluted bitumen (dilbit), which are projected to increase. This project seeks to improve scientific knowledge and tools to support evidence-based planning for oil spills. The research will improve modeling of dilbit in the coastal ocean, prediction of near-surface currents, and risk communication strategies for diverse decision-making groups. It will produce predictions of strong currents and extreme high/low water for pilots to help reduce ship accidents, as well as maps and related information products to aid in community planning and in addressing ecosystem vulnerability. The study is a collaboration with Susan Allen at UBC (oceanography) and Haibo Niu at Dalhousie University (oceanography).