Virginia Tech Researcher Looks at Human Impacts of Coastal Flooding
Over half of Virginia’s population lives along the coast and face increasing threats from extreme weather events and sea level rise. There is a need to better understand the impacts coastal flooding and hazards pose for these coastal communities and how to develop resilience strategies to prepare those affected.
Anamaria Bukvic, an assistant professor in the Department of Geography at Virginia Tech, focuses on human geography, and more specifically, on population displacement and relocation due to coastal flooding.
Deciding to relocate in the face of flooding
The possibility of relocation due to environmental change is a difficult and complex issue. “Determining whether homeowners and other community members are interested in relocation is comprised of many external and personal factors,” Bukvic explained.
After Hurricane Sandy, Bukvic conducted two household surveys on willingness to consider relocation in disaster-affected communities. She not only examined risk perceptions, but also asked people about their sense of place and factors that affect how they feel about relocation. She also conducted interviews on barriers and opportunities for adaptation and relocation among the stakeholders from the Eastern Shore, Maryland and Hampton Roads, Virginia. “We all have a different resilience thresholds and different way of coping with flooding. What are the reasons that make people more resilient and determined to stay in place?”
Coastal collaboration across disciplines
Bukvic’s research is inherently collaborative with its focus on interactions within communities, making her a natural selection as a Fellow of the National Center for Atmospheric Research’s Early Career Faculty Innovator Program. The program provides funding for fellows to conduct interdisciplinary research that addresses a pressing issue and examines both its physical and social dimensions. “This program is very interdisciplinary and open to both STEM-based and non-STEM-based scientists. It recognizes the importance of social science in coastal research”
She is also a part of the leadership team for the newly formed Center for Coastal Studies at Virginia Tech, which includes more than 40 faculty members from different disciplines working on coastal zone issues, from geoscience to urban planning. Bukvic co-organizes Rotating Resilience Roundtables, a collaborative effort between Virginia Tech and Old Dominion University that convenes stakeholders, such as local officials and NGOs, and faculty participants from all Virginia universities interested in advancing coastal resilience.
Bukvic’s newest grant from the National Science Foundation studying potential impacts of relocation on coastal jurisdictions is also highly interdisciplinary, bringing together expertise from geography, civil and biological systems engineering, and business information technology. The study aims to provide data about the possible consequences of flood-driven depopulation of coastal jurisdictions, including the loss of sociocultural identity and economic viability.
“I strongly believe it is important to engage local partners in the research process early on to ensure that any outcomes we scientists generate align with the actual problems communities are experiencing. Only then, our science can have a meaningful impact on the local policy and projects that foster resilience to coastal flooding” Bukvic emphasized.