All communities face hazard risk. Climate, environmental conditions, land use, and socio-economic pressures can dictate community exposure to extreme events. Students in K-12 and higher education often encounter these and related topics through a curriculum that is discipline-specific, resulting in conceptual abstraction or fragmentation. I argue it is important for students to encounter these topics as locally-relevant, actionable science rooted in everyday lived experience to improve hazard literacy across our communities. Hazard literacy is an essential competency in disaster management, sustainability, and related disciplines because it is a contributor to long-term societal resilience, adaptation, and transformation.

In this poster, I present a selection of pedagogical tools that use active learning and experiential practices to help students connect STEAM disciplines to real-world processes, issues, and decision-making as they relate to hazard risk. I focus on a semester-long disaster management course for undergraduates in higher education and a week-long Summer Academies summer camp for middle schoolers, both at the University of Georgia. I describe the two learning spaces (i.e., context, enrollment, environment, goals, structure) and present how I have integrated different activities and practices to foster sustained student engagement. I also reflect on the benefits of multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and convergence perspectives, and I offer tips for creating accessible learning experiences and welcoming learning environments based on best practices and lessons learned.

Poster viewers will gain practical strategies for integrating storm science, hazard preparedness, and related topics in their own classrooms, outreach programs, and partnerships within and between K-12 and higher education. My hope is that together we can increase sustained participation in, interest in, and pursuit of STEAM learning, research, and career pathways.