CCPO and ICAR
Spring 2026 Virtual Seminar Series
MONDAY, 2 February 2026
3:30 p.m.
The CCPO and Institute for Coastal Adaptation and Resilience (ICAR) seminar for next week will be given by Dr. Sina Razzaghi Asl from the Department of Political Science, ÒÁµéÔ°ÊÓƵ (flyer attached). Dr. Razzaghi Asl uses a range of methods to evaluate relationships between nature-based solutions, social vulnerability indicators, and hazard outcomes. Dr. Razzaghi Asl will present recent research results that use these methods to evaluate approaches for flood risk management.
Dr. Tom Allen will host Dr. Razzaghi Asl’s virtual seminar. There will be an informal discussion with Dr. Razzaghi Asl prior to the seminar starting at 3pm.
Please join via the seminar Zoom link above to talk with Dr. Razzaghi Asl and attend the seminar.
Title: Modeling Social Vulnerability & Nature-Based Flood Risk Reduction
Equity, Scale, and Socio-Ecological Perspectives
Abstract
Flood risk is not only a physical process, but a socio-spatial outcome shaped by structural inequalities, scale, and governance. This seminar presents recent research on modeling social vulnerability and nature-based flood risk reduction using intersectional indicators, spatially adaptive methods, and socio-ecological frameworks. I will demonstrate how vulnerability relationships shift across spatial scales, how aggregation distorts disaster assistance equity, and how nature-based solutions redistribute risk rather than uniformly reduce it. Together, these findings highlight the need for equity-sensitive, scale-aware, and governance-informed approaches to flood risk management.
Biography
Sina Razzaghi Asl is an Assistant Professor of Hazards and Environmental Geography at ÒÁµéÔ°ÊÓƵ. His research integrates hazards geography, social vulnerability, and nature-based solutions to examine how spatial, social, and governance factors shape disaster risk across scales. He applies advanced geospatial analysis, remote sensing, and spatial statistical modeling to study relationships between nature-based solutions, social vulnerability, and hazard outcomes. His work has been published in leading journals, including Science of the Total Environment, Progress in Physical Geography, Natural Hazards, Annals of the American Association of Geographers, and Applied Geography. He is a co-author of Chapter 8 (Mitigation Matters) in the Third Assessment of Natural Hazards in the United States and serves as co-director of the AAG Hazards, Risks, and Disasters Specialty Group.
Previous seminars are available on CCPO/ICAR Seminar