Stanford University

*** Ph.D. Thesis/ Oral Defense ***

Assessing household climate vulnerability through behavioral decision science and remote sensing

Emma Velterop

Wednesday, June 7 at 11:00 am

VIRTUAL – ON ZOOM

Department of Earth System Science

Advisor: Gabrielle Wong-Parodi

Climate change has already adversely impacted people and nature, and is projected to continue to do so. However, not everyone who is equally exposed to a hazard is equally affected by it. To mitigate the impacts of climate hazards on communities and individuals, it is crucial to understand who is vulnerable to these hazards, and what it is that makes them vulnerable. In this dissertation I contribute to understanding of household climate vulnerability by connecting different methods of inquiry across vastly different fields from behavioral decision science to remote sensing. In Chapter 1, I explore the impacts, protective behaviors, and barriers and facilitators to protective action against household rainwater intrusion in the San Francisco Bay Area through a qualitative interview study. I specifically focus on top-down rainwater intrusion (i.e., entering through the roof or walls), an overlooked form of rainwater intrusion. In Chapter 2, I further this work through a quantitative survey study in both California and the US Midwest, and include ground-up flooding. In Chapter 3, I return focus to the San Francisco Bay Area and develop a deep-learning algorithm using remotely sensed imagery to show that blue roof tarps, used in the area as semi-permanent fixtures to reduce roof leakage, can serve as a proxy for poor-quality housing.

Zoom link : https://stanford.zoom.us/j/95522845250?pwd=UEYrV0lUNkdXZmdyaUpWTGp0VHdjUT09