AEDE’s strong presence studying the economic impact of climate change has been further demonstrated with the selection of Dr. Sathya Gopalakrishnan, AEDE assistant professor working in the field of environmental economics, to participate in a national symposium for early career scientists focusing on interdisciplinary climate change research.
Dr. Gopalakrishnan will attend the Dissertations Initiative for the Advancement of Climate Change Research (DISCCRS) Symposium, which will be held in Colorado Springs, CO from October 12-19, 2013. The gathering will bring together a selected group of 42 scholars from around the world who were chosen from a pool of 249 applicants. The symposium is funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and NASA.
The 42 scholars seek to work across traditional disciplinary boundaries with the goal of developing creative solutions to understand climate change and mitigate its impacts. DISCCRS aims to provide a platform where researchers from around the world working across the natural and social sciences can engage.
As the symposium founders state, “The goal is to develop international, interdisciplinary collegial networks among scholars likely to become leaders in their chosen fields.” Since 2002, more than 1,800 PhDs have registered their dissertations on the DISCCRS website and over 200 scholars from 27 countries have attended the organization’s annual symposium.
While at the symposium, Dr. Gopalakrishnan will present her research on the economic impact of shoreline changes as a result of climate change: “Shifting Shorelines: Coupling economics and geomorphology to adapt to climate change.” In her research, Dr. Gopalakrishnan examines the economic value of increasing beach width in a community and the extent that policy interventions aimed at stabilizing shorelines capitalize into property values. In conducting her analysis she found that coastal property values are significantly more sensitive to changes in beach width than previously believed and that coastal economies can better adapt to climate change through coordinated management along the coast.
Dr. Gopalakrishnan is also a member of the Ohio State multidisciplinary research and outreach initiative, The STEAM Factory, which aims to promote interdisciplinary collaboration in the OSU community across the areas of science, technology, engineering, arts and math, and to disseminate Ohio State knowledge through creative interaction with the public. The STEAM Factory, which was launched in 2012, engages with the Central Ohio community twice a month at the 400 West Rich Street market in Columbus. The group also hosts interdisciplinary conversations (STEAM Exchanges) on the Ohio State campus.
October 9, 2013