Speaker: Marc Linderman | SEES

Title: The impacts of fuelwood collection on households in Rajasthan, India

Abstract: Nearly three billion people rely on open fires or traditional cookstoves that use fuelwood and other biomass fuels for cooking. These traditional wood-burning cookstoves result in approximately four million deaths annually due to indoor air pollution (World Health Organization). In turn, the collection of biomass fuel has environmental and household impacts, particularly on the time required for collection by women and girls. In India, where approximately 67% of the population resides in rural areas with limited access to electricity or natural gas for cooking, the problem of biomass cookstoves is particularly severe. Here, we examine the labor requirements of the use of biomass stoves and the relative impacts on other household activities. To gain a better understanding of the daily experiences of women, 200 rural households in seven different villages in the state of Rajasthan, India, were interviewed to investigate the economic, household, and time-based components of daily life for women in these rural villages. We also examine the economic and social factors, such as household financial conditions, household size, and access to the wage economy, that affect the time women spend on collecting firewood and cooking.

Speaker: Frank Weirich | SEES & IIHR Hydroscience and Engineering

Title: The challenge of assessing and managing risk in wildfire, debris flow and flood-prone environments

Abstract: This seminar will focus on our recent and ongoing research on: a) the Montecito Debris Flows; b) the Maui Wildfire; c) the recent Los Angeles wildfires; and d) an example of the development of a community focused flood/debris flow warning system. In each instance the need to integrate basic research into the hydrologic and geomorphic processes underlying these events with the development and refinement of risk and warning systems will be discussed. In the case of the last example, involving the development and deployment of a site-specific community focused warning system, a more detailed discussion of both the underlying risk assessment and the challenges associated with the design and implementation of a warning system will be presented.