The Institute for Climate and Community Resilience (ICCR) mission is to advance climate science and create equitable, community-driven climate resilience solutions for vulnerable communities across Appalachia and beyond by leveraging the skills, expertise, and research experiences of faculty and students from the University of Tennessee.
Overview
The ICCR addresses three strategic areas of climate resilience, including the climate system, compounding risks, and community-driven resilience solutions, and engages and supports collaborative scholarship and education opportunities for a Community of Scholars. The Community is composed of climate and resiliency scholars, as well as faculty who have relevant skills and experiences to apply to grand and urgent challenges in climate science and resilience. The placed-based work of the Institute engages diverse communities for local challenges by building meaningful partnerships with community groups. Through these partnerships, the Institute is strategically positioned to address climate resilience pursuits in the Southern Appalachian region, which has a unique risk and vulnerability profile that requires targeted, community-engaged work and can inform climate resilience for a global community.
The Climate System: Integrating data from natural and impacted environments for improved climate projects
Compounding Risk: Assessing exposure and impacts resulting from interacting natural and socioeconomic drivers
Community-Driven Solutions: Co-developing resilience solutions for disadvantaged communities
People
Kelsey Ellis
Director, Institute for Climate and Community Resilience
Associate Professor, Department of Geography & Sustainability
Scholarship focus: Hazardous weather and climate and its intersection with society and the Weather and Climate Enterprise
Eminé Fidan
Assistant Professor, Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science
Scholarship focus: sustainable water management, extreme weather impacts, and large-scale watershed analysis
Gabe Schwartzman
Assistant Professor, Department of Geography & Sustainability
Area of interest: political ecology and environmental justice in the context of decarbonization and fossil fuel transition
Nicholas Shanahan
Associate Director, Institute for Climate and Community Resilience
Area of interest: Advancing climate resilience in Appalachian through community-engaged research and applied climate science.
Lisa Zottarelli
Clinical Associate Professor, College of Social Work
Scholarship focus: Social vulnerability and health disparities in extreme weather events, disaster preparedness, and public health messaging
Programs
The ICCR regularly hosts events that encourage team building between scholars across campus and with community groups.
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