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Developing A High School Risk Education Curriculum

Primary Investigators:
Janey Camp
Brief Description of Project:
This project is focused on developing high school-level educational modules about risks (specifically natural hazard risks) for students in West Tennessee and beyond.  The modules will include introductions to risk analysis principles, techniques, and hands-on applications of these concepts in an effort to educate the next generation of leaders so that they can improve their community's ability to recover from future natural disasters.  The modules are expected to be housed on a project website with a repository of materials including case studies, multi-media resources, and  examples of how risk principles factor into specific historic events for teachers and students.  Additionally, the modules will be developed to align with STEM educational standards.

Desired Qualifications: 
Strong written and verbal English skills
Ability to work in teams and also work independently
Interest or experience in using Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Strong organizational skills
A good understanding of databases (Oracle and/or SQL would be a plus)
Interest in resilience and infrastructure systems
Python programming expertise would be ideal 

Nature of Supervision:
We will have weekly (or more frequent as needed) project meetings between the PI and the student. The student will become part of the VECTOR research group and be expected to attend regular VECTOR team meetings where multiple graduate students, faculty, and undergraduates share ideas and collaborate across projects frequently.
A Brief Research Plan (period is for 10 weeks):
The research project will consist of the following activities:
* Become familiar with risk analysis and risk science terminology, literature, and methods
* Perform review of historical extreme weather, seismic, and natural hazard events 
* Develop PowerPoint slide packages including case studies for significant and noteworthy natural hazard events 
* Develop hands-on activities/exercises to expose students to the risk analysis process, etc. using real-world data 
* Contribute to development of a centralized risk education website (potentially helping to create the framework and perform coding of the website and development of any associated online materials repositories). 

Number of Open Slots: 1
Contact Information:
Name: Janey Camp
Title: Research Associate Professor
Department: Civil and Environmental Engineering
Campus Address: Jacobs Hall 290
Mailing Address: 2301 Vanderbilt Place PMB 351831
Nashville, TN 37235-1831
United States
Phone: (615) 322-6013