Anamaria Bukvic, a research assistant professor in Virginia Tech’s department of geography, will present a Suter Science Seminar at Eastern Mennonite University on Wednesday, January 30, at 4 p.m.
Bukvic will discuss The Coastal Systems: What is At Risk and What is Needed to Achieve Resilience?
The seminar in Science Center Room 106 is free and open to the public.
Coastal areas have been experiencing unprecedented and irreversible changes due to accelerating hazards such as erosion, nuisance flooding, sea level rise, and storm surge. These emerging challenges have been reshaping the coastal ecosystems, urban and rural areas, and the functionality of ports and military installations vital for the economy, national security, and overall stability.
Bukvic will discuss the social dimensions of this problem with a focus on the vulnerable groups such as disadvantaged and older populations, and the contextualized policy options and strategies that would help increase their coping capacity and resilience to coastal hazards.
A research assistant professor in the department of geography at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Bukvic has multidisciplinary academic and professional training that drives her dedication to study complex emerging issues with focus on interdisciplinary integration and holistic problem-solving. As a social scientist and human geographer, she studies coastal hazards and disasters, adaptation to sea level rise, social vulnerability and resilience in coastal communities, as well as population displacement and relocation due to coastal flooding.
Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation and the Institute for Society, Culture and Environment, Virginia Tech.
This is the first of five spring semester Suter Science Seminars, which are made possible by the sponsorship of the Daniel B. Suter Endowment in Biology and the co-sponsorship of supporting programs.
The next seminar is Feb. 13, and features John Lowe, endowed professor for health disparities research and director of the Center for Indigenous Nursing Research for Health Equity, Florida State University College of Nursing, on The Journey to Address Health Disparities Among Native Americans and Indigenous Populations.