That’s why the �鶹ӳ����ý and a team of researchers from across the country have just released a new online tool that can help people determine how ready their home, or future home, is for the next big storm.

The tool, called HazardAware, is now live, just ahead of the Atlantic hurricane season.

The easy-to-use tool allows users to plug in an address and instantly receive the property’s HazardReady score. The score shows just how resilient, or disaster-ready, a home is, and projects how much hazards, such as winds and flooding, could cost a homeowner each year.

HazardAware can provide reports for 13.3 million addresses in 196 counties along the Gulf of Mexico — including all of Florida, and parts of Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and Texas.  This is a region that is historically impacted by hurricanes and other large hydrometeorological hazards each year.

With continued funding, HazardAware could also be expanded to cover the entire U.S. and other disasters such as wildfires and earthquakes.

A property’s HazardReady score takes into account 15 potential threats, including hurricane winds and flooding. The score also considers social and environmental vulnerability, community resilience, and home construction factors.

Users can choose to receive an emailed custom home report for their address, and they will also receive a renter and homebuyer checklist that can help ensure they ask the right questions next time they are in the market for a home.

The tool is part of a larger $3.4 million, multi-institution �鶹ӳ����ý-led project funded by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Gulf Research Program.

“When people buy houses, they generally think about location, pricing, crime, walkability and things like that,” says Christopher Emrich, principal investigator of the research and a Boardman Endowed Associate Professor of Environmental Science and at �鶹ӳ����ý. “But rarely do people think about how much hazards will cost. By going to HazardAware, people can compare houses and get more information they can use to make crucial decisions and smart choices about where they live.”

For example, the score includes work by international expert and �鶹ӳ����ý coastal risk engineer Thomas Wahl. Using his models of changes in future coastal flood risk, the tool produces an estimate of when a property will see coastal flooding or when flooding potential will double for properties already in coastal flood zones.

“We want to democratize this very scarce and very difficult to find hazard disaster and impact information,” says Emrich, who also co-leads �鶹ӳ����ý’s and Sustainable Coastal Systems research cluster. “Some of this data would require a Ph.D. and 40 hours of investment to make sense of, but we want to put it into everyone’s hands. HazardAware has built a team capable of pulling together this type of ‘fugitive’ or hard-to-find information for homeowners and renters in the coastal zone.”

For next steps, the researchers want to provide customized mitigation information through the tool for each home highlighting what can be done to reduce future hazard loss. They also want to implement an option where users can improve their home’s resiliency score by inputting upgrades they’ve made, such as installing stormproof windows or a certified roof.

“I think the impetus for all this is to help people stay in their homes after a disaster by mitigating the threats hazards pose,” Emrich says. “If we can protect people’s homes, and people don’t have to leave, then they don’t suffer mental distress as deeply, and they don’t lose jobs as frequently. We can avoid a bunch of losses just by keeping people in their homes.”

Partner institutions in the project are the University of South Carolina, Arizona State University, Louisiana State University, the University of Florida, the University of New Orleans, Louisiana Sea Grant, Florida Atlantic University and the RAND Corporation.

The project’s cross-discipline research team includes experts in geography, engineering, economics, hospitality and tourism, political science, ecology, environmental law, sustainability, mitigation, resilience, behavioral health sciences, housing policy, climate adaptation, and science and technical communication.

�鶹ӳ����ý’s contributors include Wahl, a assistant professor; Assistant Professor Kristy Lewis; Rosen College of Hospitality Management Assistant Professor Sergio Alvarez; Associate Professor Jacopo Baggio; Associate Professor Sonia Stephens; Public Administration Associate Professor Claire Knox; Project Coordinator Roel Fleuren; (SMST) Information Systems Engineer Susan Bethel; SMST Senior Information Systems Engineer Eric Johnson; SMST Department of Information Systems Technology Program Director Tammie McClellan and SMST Web Designer Erica Recktenwald.

Emrich received his doctoral degree in geography from the University of South Carolina and joined �鶹ӳ����ý’s School of Public Administration, part of the , in 2016.

INR 4404 – Space Law

Description

A look at how rules and laws regarding outer space pertain to nations, corporations and individuals — and who should be making and enforcing them.

Instructor

When is it offered?

Usually once a year

How many students in a class?

20-30

Prerequisites

Junior standing

From the Professor

Why is studying space law important?

In the early years, there wasn’t a whole lot of general interest in the area because only nation-states were doing space exploration. Now with the commercialization of space, who can participate in and impact the solar system is rapidly changing. NASA is relegating some of the more operational side of things to companies like United Launch Alliance and SpaceX while the space agency returns to its original mission, which is research. So there’s much more interest now and need for a wider audience examining space law.

Why do you enjoy teaching this course?

It’s an area for students that is different. With Star Wars, Star Trek and CGI, there’s an interest in space. I wanted to introduce students to this new area of law, rather than the traditional ones.

How did laws for outer space first come about?

Any time that you have nation-states that are interacting in something, there have to be some sort of rules of the road, some sort of ground rules for those interactions. Once Russia launched Sputnik in 1957, the United Nations decided to form the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, which still exists. The first thing that we did then was set up the Outer Space Treaty in 1967, which remains the cornerstone of human activity in outer space. For example, the treaty bans the placement of weapons of mass destruction in space or on any celestial body and seeks to promote peacefulness in outer space, among other things.

How could the announcement of the United States Space Force as a sixth branch of the military affect space law?

I should think that one might simply use the analogy of armed forces that we have for other areas like air, sea, land — space would be another one of them. And the question then would become, “Do we want to try to be proactive and create regulations governing what would happen out there before they actually happened?” or “Are we going to see what happens and then write regulations in the aftermath of that?” We do have some articles in the Outer Space Treaty that tell us to some aspect that outer space is demilitarized. It’s certainly denuclearized. To what extent then do we now have to go in and clarify all that with the actual existence of a Space Force? In one sense, we’ve thought about a Space Force for a long time, but it was theoretical. Now, we may seriously need to address this.

What do you think is the No. 1 legal problem stemming from human activity in space?

I think it’s changing. In the early days, one of the major areas from a legal perspective was looking at the availability of, or the allocation of, slots in the geostationary orbit because that is a very limited resource. Now, where we privatized and commercialized much more of the activities in space, the legal issues are going to revolve more around things like ownership: Who has a right to extract minerals from the moon or from other celestial bodies? From asteroids? We still don’t know where some entities end and the other begins, like airspace, which nation-states own, and outer space, which belongs to everybody. So that’s a brave new world of law that we’re going to have to deal with, which is radically different from what it was historically.

From the Student

-Madison Redington, political science major with a concentration in international relations

What prompted you to take this course?

I took this course in Fall 2018 because I really liked the professor. I also don’t really know much about space other than the scientific aspect of it, and I was interested to learn more about the legal aspect. It’s such a different concept and a totally different world up there so it’s interesting.

What did you like the most about the class?

It gave me a new perspective of what exactly space is and all the opportunities out there. So I definitely learned a lot of really fascinating concepts of how we are applying rules and laws that we apply on Earth and how we’re extending those to space and space shuttles, which I never thought about. I never thought about people committing crimes at the International Space Station and who has the jurisdiction over that.

What was challenging about the class?

I’d probably say the workload as far as the amount of reading alone we had to do. We were reading law review articles, so it was definitely really dense reading. Because space and technology are advancing faster than the legal field, there are a lot of gaps you have to deal with when learning about it. You’re kind of trying to put pieces of a puzzle together.

What’s something you learned that stood out?

I’d have to say learning about the different ways that we impact the environment. I’ll never forget learning about how something so tiny as the paint chips off of a satellite or rocket turns into space debris. A millimeter of something can completely destroy something up there because everything goes so fast.

Space Law isn’t currently being offered, but you can register for the course in the Fall 2019 semester.  

It had been her goal to go to law school – Harvard, in particular, that she worked so hard for – and then eventually run for political office after starting a family.

But when life handed her lemons, she made lemonade and forged a path to become the youngest person elected to Florida’s House of Representatives at 21 years old.

Mariano, a senior, enrolled at the �鶹ӳ����ý as a political science student, joined the Student Government Association and searched for internships that would satisfy her craving to be on the front lines of the legislative system. She landed a spot in �鶹ӳ����ý’s Legislative Scholar Internship program to work with Florida House of Representatives member Rene Plasencia. But there, she found that being an intern wasn’t enough – she decided she was ready for office.

Last November, Mariano, a registered Republican, won the election for House District 36 in Pasco County where she’s from. She ran a successful campaign despite raising less money than her opponent. She campaigned door-to-door in the county to garner support, all while juggling a full-time course load at �鶹ӳ����ý in Orlando an hour and a half away from Pasco County. With the support and inspiration of her family – particularly her dad who is a Pasco County county commissioner – she achieved her goal of becoming an elected official much younger than she, or anyone else, expected.

Mariano’s story, in her own words, is featured in Cosmopolitan. for the full story.

Neither of her parents earned college degrees, and growing up in a single-parent household meant there was little to no extra money to send her to school, she said. But when her fifth-grade teacher opened Fate’s eyes to her potential, her vision of the future drastically changed.

At 21, Fate is now an alumna of the �鶹ӳ����ý’s Burnett Honors College. She graduated May 6 with bachelor’s degrees in political science and legal studies, honors in the major, a 4.0 GPA and a near perfect score on the Law School Admission Test under her belt. Out of 180 possible points, Fate earned 178 and a seat at one of the country’s most prestigious law schools, Harvard, where she sent her “dream application,” she said.

“I knew since Rebecca was in my criminal law class in spring 2014 that she was extremely gifted and that she would do very, very well on the LSAT,” said James Beckman, �鶹ӳ����ý professor of legal studies and Fate’s Honors in the Major thesis chair. “However, I must admit, when she told me that she scored nearly perfect, I was slightly taken aback. Not because I did not expect an extremely high score from her, but simply because I have never known a single student, of the over 1,000 students I’ve taught, who has scored in the top 0.15 percent.”

Fate credits her success in education to her elementary school teacher who saw something special in her while giving her individualized curriculum. Fate, her mom and older sister a month into her fifth-grade classes moved from Oregon to the Tampa Bay area. When Fate’s new teacher took her aside to help her get caught up to the rest of the class, the teacher noticed the young student already knew the material and more.

“She encouraged me to do more because she felt I was ahead of the curriculum already,” Fate said. “It was a difficult transition moving to Florida, and school gave me something to focus on. The attention she gave me really helped.”

Fate’s teacher encouraged her and her mom to consider a magnet school for sixth grade. Although hesitant at first – considering it was a two-hour bus ride one way to the school – Fate ultimately attended. That was the beginning of her college-bound path. She would continue on to a high school where there was an International Baccalaureate program filled with students whose expectations were to go to college. Being immersed into that atmosphere, where resources were in plenty to help students apply to college, gave Fate the vision she needed to continue her education.

“It wasn’t until the IB program and its expectations that I starting thinking about college,” she said. “College was never pushed on me. It just wasn’t offered up as the obvious path.”

Fate applied to a handful of universities – University of Florida, Florida State University, Vanderbilt University and ones back in Oregon – but �鶹ӳ����ý’s offer of a full-ride National Merit Scholarship sealed the deal.

“�鶹ӳ����ý just gave me the feeling that I was wanted here,” she said. “If I hadn’t gotten a scholarship, it would’ve been really difficult for me to come to college.”

Fate joined pre-law fraternity Phi Alpha Delta, became a tutor at �鶹ӳ����ý’s Student Academic Resource Center, and worked for the honors college as a student assistant and peer ambassador.

Now, Fate aspires to continue in higher education as a professor of law.

“I like the university atmosphere and learning,” Fate said. “I just never want to leave.”

For students taking the LSAT, Fate suggests diligently studying in the months leading up to the test and taking the LSAT practice tests. She bought LSAT preparation books to figure out which parts she struggled with, and studied daily.

“I am confident that she will do extremely well at Harvard and I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if she ends up at the top of her class at Harvard Law,” said Beckman. “It has been my great privilege to have interacted with Rebecca at �鶹ӳ����ý.”

Beginning in October, articles written at �鶹ӳ����ý started appearing regularly in the newspaper published in India with a circulation of more than 300,000 and an online presence around the globe.

The early focus of stories has been on the U.S. presidential election and results because of the potential effects on India, but various topics are on the horizon.

“We’ll take on subjects such as the impact of India’s culture in the United States, the lives and livelihoods of Indian-Americans, U.S. foreign policy and India, where Indian-American students go after graduating from U.S. colleges and universities, etc.,” said John C. Bersia, special assistant to the �鶹ӳ����ý president for global perspectives and co-chair of The India Center, who initiated the relationship. Kerstin Hamann, chair of the �鶹ӳ����ý Political Science Department, also co-chairs The India Center.

The potential for collaboration started when a delegation from India representing multiple news outlets was hosted in Orlando last spring by The India Center and others from the �鶹ӳ����ý and Central Florida communities. After discussing possible ties in the months that followed, representatives from The India Center at �鶹ӳ����ý were extended the opportunity to write in The New Indian Express.

Hamann said the collaboration has already evolved into a productive relationship.

“The regular contributions from The India Center in The New Indian Express significantly increases the visibility of the center in India and presents a high-profile partnership between �鶹ӳ����ý and the newspaper, but on a larger scale also between the two countries,” she said.

Bersia added that the new relationship will give �鶹ӳ����ý staff and students a special international experience: regularly presenting insights to primarily Indian readers on issues of importance to them.

“I believe the newspaper would say it benefits from having unique content originating in the United States that holds appeal for its main audience,” he said. “Further, the effects go beyond the United States and India, given that the online versions of the pieces greatly extend their reach.”

So far, articles in the publication have been written primarily by Shannon Payne, a recent �鶹ӳ����ý graduate, and Pratyush Goberdhan, the �鶹ӳ����ý India Fellow this semester. Payne, a senior program assistant for The India Center and the Global Perspectives Office, majored in anthropology and minored in diplomacy. Goberdhan, a junior majoring in international and global studies, also minors in French and art history. Stories have featured comments from several Indian-American students at �鶹ӳ����ý.

are available for reading on The India Center’s website.

Payne said the writing collaboration will provide the opportunity to share with a broader audience the research capabilities of The India Center because many of the articles have a research component provided by the center.

“This partnership showcases the way international, professional exchanges are ideally supposed to work,” Bersia said. “They’re designed to plant seeds for ongoing, mutually beneficial interaction – communication, idea-sharing, collaboration, future exchanges, etc. – and possibly more-involved partnerships.”

The India Center, supported by The India Group Annual Fund, The Anil and Chitra Deshpande India Program Endowed Fund and the India Studies Fund of the Global Connections Foundation, was established in 2012. It is housed in the Political Science Department in the College of Sciences at the �鶹ӳ����ý.

Issues that have particular consequences for small countries, including those in the Caribbean, will be the focus of a new program at the �鶹ӳ����ý.

The Isle of Man Small Countries Program aims to develop greater awareness about small countries; encourage the exchange of information about their security, political, economic, social and environmental issues; and facilitate links between �鶹ӳ����ý and those countries. Toward those ends, it will present public discussions involving prominent speakers, panels and other meetings; encourage scholarship; and work with partners from the United States, the Isle of Man and the Caribbean.

The program is a cooperative undertaking of �鶹ӳ����ý’s Global Perspectives Office, �鶹ӳ����ý’s Political Science Department, the Small Countries Financial Management Centre (SCFMC) on the Isle of Man, and the Global Connections Foundation. It is supported by the Ellan Vannin Fund of the Global Connections Foundation, in association with the Isle of Man business community.

“This small-countries initiative represents yet another step in �鶹ӳ����ý’s efforts to sharpen its international focus and bring more global content into the regional mainstream,” said John C. Bersia, special assistant to the president for Global Perspectives at �鶹ӳ����ý.

Tim Cullen, executive director of the SCFMC, said the program will build upon the work of the center “in underscoring and addressing the unique challenges facing small countries, which are disproportionately affected by global forces.” Cullen added that the SCFMC “was established with the purpose of contributing to the growth and prosperity of small countries through education programs that provide improved skills in government financial activities.”

Kerstin Hamann, chair of the Political Science Department at �鶹ӳ����ý, said “the program represents an excellent opportunity for cooperation in light of our new Ph.D. program in security studies, as well as many of our other global interests.”

Because of �鶹ӳ����ý’s proximity to and connections with the Caribbean, the program will have a special focus on that region, but it will also promote awareness and discussion of small-country issues throughout the world.