Unit 1: Hazards, vulnerability and risk
Brittany Brand, Boise State University; Pamela McMullin-Messier, Central Washington University; Melissa Schlegel, College of Western Idaho
Students will identify and apply credible geologic and social science data sets to identify local hazards and vulnerable groups and structures, and assess risk for their community.

Natural Hazards & Climate Change Risks
Sarah Fortner, Carleton College
× Students characterize how climate change impacts natural hazards and pose research-based solutions to the county Emergency Management Agency. Presentations require the use of local data, created figures, ...

Old Sticks in the Mud: Hazards of Lahars from Mount Rainier Volcano
Patrick Pringle, Centralia College
Volcanic debris flows (lahars) flow long distances, bury and aggrade river valleys, and cause long-term stream disturbances and dramatic landscape changes. Students will evaluate the nature, scale, and history of ...

Unit 1: Slip-sliding away: case study landslides in Italy and Peru
Sarah Hall, College of the Atlantic; Becca Walker, Mt. San Antonio College
How have mass-wasting events affected communities, and what lessons have we learned from these natural disasters that might help us mitigate future hazards? In this unit, students answer these questions by being ...

Unit 5: Mitigating future disasters: developing a mass-wasting hazard map
Becca Walker, Mt. San Antonio College
This unit serves as the summative assessment of the Surface Process Hazards module. In September 2013, the Boulder area of Colorado experienced an extreme rain event that led to mass wasting in many areas. This has ...

Unit 5: Hurricane Risks and Coastal Development
Lisa Gilbert, Cabrillo College; Josh Galster, Montclair State University; Joan Ramage, Lehigh University
This unit addresses changes in hurricane risks due to coastal development. Students will calculate the risks from hurricanes and how the hazards have changed (or not) from 1901 to 2010. Students will determine how ...

Case Study 6.1- Adapting to a Changing World
Becca Walker, Mt. San Antonio College
In this activity, students consider how several communities are adapting to climate change-related problems including drought's impacts on agriculture, loss of assets due to climate-related hazards, freshwater ...

Unit 4: Anatomy of a tragic slide: Oso Landslide case study
Becca Walker, Mt. San Antonio College
Landslides can have profound societal consequences, such as did the slide that occurred near Oso, Washington in 2014. Forty-three people were killed and entire rural neighborhood was destroyed. In this unit, ...

Community Flood Risk Assessment from Rising/Surging Seas Project
Kevin Kupietz, Elizabeth City State University
Globally 634 million people, 10% of the world's population, live in coastal areas less than 10 meters above sea level. According to 2010 census data, 123 million people, 39% of the United States population, live in coastal counties with an estimated increase to this number by 8% in the 2020 census. As natural disasters have been seen to increase in frequency and severity in the past five years coupled with expected sea rises from climate change it is important that anyone involved with the safety and resiliency planning of their organization/community have an understanding of how to scientifically assess risk from flooding in order to mitigate and recover from the effects. This project allows students the ability to develop skills to utilize computer modeling systems and to apply the data to real world communities in examining risk to structures as well as different groups in the community.

Unit 6: Predictions and Evacuation
Lisa Gilbert, Cabrillo College; Josh Galster, Montclair State University; Joan Ramage, Lehigh University
Students watch a video and read about past evacuations, including a premature or unnecessary evacuation, a late or botched evacuation, and about people determined to stay put no matter what. Students participate in ...