Pulte Director Presents at National Academies Event on Housing and Disasters
As the world grapples with the accelerating impacts of climate change, disaster preparedness and recovery strategies are shifting to meet the demands of a more volatile and interconnected landscape. Traditional frameworks that treat disasters as isolated events are now outdated in the face of back-to-back catastrophes, where regions barely have time to recover before the next blow. These "compounding disasters" create new challenges, with infrastructure and communities struggling to withstand the cumulative effects. This evolving reality calls for bold, innovative thinking and transformative leadership.
Dr. Tracy Kijewski-Correa, the William J. Pulte Director of the Pulte Institute for Global Development at the University of Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs, is at the forefront of this movement. As a distinguished professor of Civil Engineering and Global Affairs, Kijewski-Correa’s research centers on enhancing the resilience and sustainability of communities vulnerable to climate hazards. With a specialized focus on disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation, her work pushes the boundaries of engineering and policy to ensure that vulnerable populations have the shelter and security they need amid escalating threats.
Kijewski-Correa’s expertise in infrastructure resilience and her leadership in mobilizing engineering networks globally garnered her a spot in a recent edition of the Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action series hosted by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. This monthly webinar series convenes experts to discuss high-level strategies for addressing climate change and its myriad impacts. In a session moderated by Christopher Flavelle of The New York Times, Kijewski-Correa was joined Carlos Martín of Harvard University in a discussion on housing resilience, access, and the urgent need to redesign our disaster frameworks for a new reality of persistent, overlapping crises.
The event explored questions that sit at the heart of Kijewski-Correa’s work: How can we build housing that withstands not just one storm but a series of disasters? What strategies are needed to ensure housing remains a source of stability for those at risk? These questions reflect her commitment to addressing some of the world’s most complex and interconnected challenges.
In addition to her role at the Pulte Institute, Kijewski-Correa serves as the inaugural director of the Structural Extreme Event Reconnaissance (StEER) network, a collaborative initiative that leverages global engineering expertise to evaluate the impacts of extreme weather events on communities. Through StEER, she has mobilized teams of engineers to assess disaster-affected areas worldwide, gathering data that will shape future policy and disaster response frameworks. Her hands-on approach underscores her dedication to creating practical, research-backed solutions that improve lives on the ground.
By participating in this timely and prominent conversation, Kijewski-Correa continues to champion a vision for resilient housing that adapts to a changing climate and meets the needs of at-risk communities. Her expertise will no doubt shed light on the path forward, as policymakers, communities, and researchers strive to build a safer, more sustainable future for all.
View the event recording below:
Originally published by pulte.nd.edu on November 04, 2024.
atLatest Research
- Notre Dame and NSWC Crane announce new educational partnershipNotre Dame Vice President for Research…
- New vector control tool effectively reduces malaria transmission in major clinical trialThe University of Notre Dame and Unitaid have announced that an innovative vector control tool for malaria called a spatial repellent showed a significant impact on reducing malaria infections in a study published in …
- With latest policy consultation, Notre Dame continues ongoing work to inform and support the Philippines’ peace processNotre Dame’s Peace Accords Matrix-Mindanao initiative has made significant strides in supporting the Philippines peace process, marking a critical year of policy impact. The work, which builds upon Notre Dame’s ongoing efforts to support the Colombian peace process through the Peace Accords Matrix, extends Notre Dame’s policy impact to a post-conflict setting in Southeast Asia that can benefit from peacebuilding research insights.
- Cyber SMART welcomes the University of Technology Sydney as its first international siteAt an agreement signing on Tuesday, December 10, 2024, Cyber SMART officially welcomed the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) at its first international site. The ceremony took place at UTS, with Cyber SMART leadership…
- Notre Dame Law School hosts Symposium on the future of the Federal Trade CommissionOn December 6, the Program on Law and Economics hosted a symposium focused on the future of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The symposium was organized and moderated by Professor Avishalom…
- Notre Dame graduate students win grants for time on Keck TelescopeTwo University of Notre Dame graduate students — Pranav Nalamwar and Alex Thomas — have each won a Keck grant, which includes access to the W. M. Keck Observatory’s Keck Telescope for two nights. The Keck Observatory telescopes,…