IBS Speaker Series: Karen Bailey

Join in person or via Zoom, email ibs-contact@colorado.edu for the password.
*Light lunch served at 11:45, please RSVP.

Title: Investigating the role of equity and sense of place in climate adaptation

Abstract:  As climate change worsens and exposes vulnerable populations to natural hazards, there is a growing call to understand the nuances and complexities of climate adaptation. In this talk, Dr. Bailey draws on multiple case studies from the western US and the northeastern US to unpack the realities of climate adaptation. She specifically highlights two key themes: equity and sense of place in the context of drought and flooding. Her goals are to understand both how climate adaptation efforts may exacerbate inequity and strategies to avoid this, and how our relationships with the environment may be altered and modified in the course of adapting to environmental change. This research helps us think more holistically and inclusively about climate adaptation efforts and consider novel approaches to adapting to the changing realities of water in the US.

Bio:  Dr. Karen Bailey is an Assistant Professor in the department of Environmental Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She is interested in human-environment interactions, climate change, and sustainable rural livelihoods. She is an environmental social scientist and combines social science research with environmental and ecological data to understand feedbacks between communities and their environments, how we can build resilience to climate change, and how to support landscapes that meet human needs and sustainability goals. She also has an emphasis on justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in environmental fields and STEM more broadly and is committed to research that supports, amplifies and engages the most vulnerable among us. Her current projects focus on climate adaptation in southern Africa, human health and well-being in east Africa, barriers to entry in natural resource fields, just and equitable climate change research, and human-wildlife conflict and coexistence in Asia.