April 22, 2021

The University's goals for Climate Year include creating new climate-focused research and experiential learning opportunities for Drexel faculty, students, and staff. This email profiles two such opportunities that I hope you will consider. In celebration of Earth Day, we encourage you to share these announcements broadly with your colleagues and peers.

Opportunity #1: A Call to the DU/ANS Research Community to Help Develop a Climate Resilience Research Agenda for the Philadelphia Region

As you know, climate change is already impacting the Philadelphia region. We are experiencing more intense rainfall, longer heat waves, a rising sea and more frequent storm surges. These effects increase the risks faced by our communities, environment, economy and infrastructure. Informed decision making is critical to building a more resilient future, and that process begins with research.

We invite all DU/ANS researchers to nominate themselves or a colleague to join a working group to develop a Climate Resilience Research Agenda (CRRA). This unprecedented and collaborative project, organized jointly by the partners listed below, seeks to: 

• Identify knowledge gaps that currently limit regional climate adaptation actions.
• Develop a list of research activities that can help to fill these gaps.

Working groups will meet three times over the summer of 2021 to develop the agenda, with the group's findings presented in a fall public meeting. The groups will be composed of academic researchers, community leaders, practitioners, scientists and others, each of whom will bring a unique perspective to this conversation.

We encourage you to nominate individuals to co-lead or become a member of a working group. The details and responsibilities for working groups, as well as the link to the nomination form, can be found on the CRRA webpage. 

Nominate Working Group Co-Leads by May 3, 2021

Nominate Working Groups Members by May 17, 2021

This initiative is a collaboration between multiple partners, including:

• Franco Montalto and Korin Tangtrakul, Drexel University and the Consortium for Climate Risk in the Urban Northeast
• Hugh Johnson and Jennifer Britton, Drexel University
• Richard Johnson, Alexis Schulman and Roland Wall, Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
• Saleem Chapman and Matina Granieri, City of Philadelphia Office of Sustainability
• Julia Rockwell, Philadelphia Water Department
• Chris Linn, Robert Graff and Miles Owen, Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission
• Ariella Maron, Lion Advisors for Community and Environment

For any questions regarding the CRRA or nomination process, please contact Korin Tangtrakul at krt73@drexel.edu.

Opportunity #2: A Call for Students and Postdocs Who are Interested in a Fellowship Opportunity with New York City Mayor's Office of Resiliency

As a key member of the Consortium for Climate Risks in the Urban Northeast (CCRUN), Drexel researchers have been collaborating with the New York City Mayor's Office of Resiliency (MOR) on climate research in New York City. MOR makes resiliency policy decisions based on regular input from the scientific community. Drexel postdocs, graduate students and undergraduates can now join this effort by applying to be a Fellow with MOR.

MOR Fellows will advance critical research that will help New York City adapt to climate change, mitigate its future impact, and build a more equitable and resilient future. Fellows will serve on one of six working groups: Climate Science and Projects; Equity; Flooding; Futures and Transitions; Health; and Shared Methods and Cross-Cutting Issues.

This opportunity is available to researchers of all experience levels, including students, who can apply to conduct the fellowship for independent study credit.

Please contact Franco Montalto at fam26@drexel.edu to learn how to get involved.