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CEE Seminar: Disaster Risk Reduction and Planetary Health

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Friday, January 28, 2022
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Brian G. McAdoo, Associate Professor of Earth and Climate Science, Nicholas School of the Environment
CEE Spring 2022 Seminar Series Colloquium

The PlanetLab at Duke is dedicated to researching hazards emerging from interactions between Earth systems and complex human systems in order to reduce loss of life and property. Recognizing the objectives outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals, we are interested in using solutions framed by Planetary Health that increase community resilience while simultaneously improving the environment. In this talk, I will present examples from Nepal, Borneo and Madagascar where road construction (land-use change, slope instability, air quality) and tropical deforestation (water regulation, air quality, biodiversity) both aid development and reduce the functioning of systems that communities would otherwise benefit from. By measuring changes associated with these development projects, we can suggest interventions that will aid in community resiliency by maintaining the functions that keep communities healthy.