July 25, 2025, Filed Under: Presentations and Workshops, Student AchievementsCongratulations Dr. Sandeep Paul! Dr. Sandeep Paul successfully defended his dissertation, earning his doctorate in Public Policy. Dr. Paul’s research makes important theoretical and empirical contributions to understanding urban climate agenda setting and action in India and beyond. Dissertation: Governing Climate Change: Policy Communities and Science Policy Interfaces in Urban India.
July 17, 2025, Filed Under: Presentations and Workshops, Student AchievementsCongratulations Dr. Joyce Ovalle! Dr. Joyce Ovalle successfully defended her dissertation, earning her doctorate in Public Policy. Dr. Ovalle’s research focuses on the environmental nonprofit sector in the U.S. Through her innovative mixed-methods approach that includes network analysis, machine learning, and large-scale text analysis of over 10,000 organizations, she demonstrates how factors like political context, revenue composition, and organizational legacy shape how environmental nonprofits frame climate issues. Dissertation: Environmental Nonprofits in U.S. Climate Governance: Understanding Resources, Rhetoric, and Heterogeneity
April 23, 2025, Filed Under: Presentations and Workshops, Student AchievementsTrevor Passed His Qualifying Exam! PhD Student Trevor Brooks passed his qualifying exam, and has advanced to candidacy status. Trevor will be focusing on his dissertation, Urban Hot Spots: A New Framework for Assessing and Mitigating Heat Risk in Cities.
April 4, 2025, Filed Under: Presentations and Workshops, Student AchievementsSandeep presents at MPSA PhD Candidate Sandeep Paul presented his research at the Midwest Political Science Association Annual Conference.
March 10, 2025, Filed Under: Presentations and Workshops, Student AchievementsCongratulations Dr. Matthew Preisser! Dr. Matthew Preisser successfully defended his dissertation, earning his doctorate in Environmental and Water Resource Engineering. Dr. Preisser’s research is at the intersection of hydrology and social sciences. Dissertation: Description, prediction, and prescription of the compounding impacts of hazards on society
February 28, 2025, Filed Under: Presentations and Workshops, Student AchievementsSSPG showcased their work at PT2050. Eight SSPG members presented their research at the Planet Texas 2050 Symposium, and hosted two workshops. Maddy Richter-Atkinson & Deidra Miniard both presented as part of a panel on Data, Design, and Decision-Making: Integrating Research, Policy, and Community Engagement in Austin. Maddy talked about her work on the Climate Atlas and Deidra discussed the A2SI project. Patrick Bixler was a panelist on Community-Based Participatory Research for Community Resilience: Lessons and Perspectives from Project CRESSLE to discuss how to establish partnerships between academia and community members. Jacquie Moss served as a moderator for the panel: Get your Umbrella (Organizations) for Texas WEATHER: Whole-community Efforts to Adapt, Thrive, and Enhance Resilience. The panel discussed barriers communities face when planning for disasters and how to build capacity and resilience. Miles Baker, Yuer Wang, Rodrigo Leal, and Matt Preisser presented posters. Miles presented on emergency preparedness and social connectedness, Yuer discussed how community-centered surveys can be a useful tool to engage residents and community organizations. Matt presented his research on flooding and resilience. Rodrigo’s poster discussed his work on heat in vulnerable communities. SSPG also contributed to two workshops. In partnership with the UT-City Climate CoLab, Deidra helped organize a workshop to connect students with city departments to address city agency-driven research questions, attended by SSPG members Philip and Sarah. Maddy developed a workshop to evaluate the usability of the Climate Atlas for advocacy purposes.
December 1, 2024, Filed Under: Presentations and WorkshopsClimate Atlas presented at AGU Patrick presented the NASA-funded Climate Atlas at AGU, discussing how to combine community tacit knowledge with earth observation data to address urban flooding and heat. The Atlas integrates interactive geospatial data layers that explore hazard exposure with social vulnerability metrics and local policy information in the form of a story map to serve as a tool for communities.
August 1, 2024, Filed Under: Presentations and Workshops, Student AchievementsSummer REU students present their research. Undergraduates Willow Nagai (University of Rochester) and Abby Couture (Wellesley College) joined the group as part of the NSF-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates, lead by the Environmental Science Institute at UT Austin. During this 8-week program, Abby and Willow gained research experience by assisting with the lab’s research activities and conducting an independent research project. Students were co-advised by Dr. Patrick Bixler, Dr. Eric McDaniel, and Dr. Deidra Miniard. Abby presented her project investigating climate anxiety, green space, and social vulnerability. She found that there was more greenspace in areas with more community relationships, and areas with more social vulnerability live in areas with less tree cover. Willow, presented her project investigating resilience hubs, cooling centers, and social vulnerability in the Austin area, finding that those with stronger community relationships are more prepared for emergencies.
