Achievement

CHANGE faculty Katherine J. Curtis and Annemarie Schneider collaborated on a poster for the XXVI IUSSP International Population Conference. It demonstrated a methodology for examining spatial variability in time-correlated climate and population projections at the sub-national scale by analyzing sea level rise and total population size for a select sample of counties in coastal zones of the continental United States. The two key findings: 1) there is considerable spatial variability in the impacts of sea level rise; and, 2) population impacts are not isolated to inundated counties but extend to nearby and distant counties connected through migration streams. This research links two specialties (demographic modeling and GIS) to highlight the vulnerability of specific population groups, and produce data that is crucial for planning mitigation & adaptation strategies in the face of environmental change. The poster won an award as one of the five top posters at the conference.