That鈥檚 why the 麻豆原创 and a team of researchers from across the country have just released a new online tool that can help people determine how ready their home, or future home, is for the next big storm.

The tool, called HazardAware, is now live, just ahead of the Atlantic hurricane season.

The easy-to-use tool allows users to plug in an address and instantly receive the property鈥檚 HazardReady score. The score shows just how resilient, or disaster-ready, a home is, and projects how much hazards, such as winds and flooding, could cost a homeowner each year.

HazardAware can provide reports for 13.3 million addresses in 196 counties along the Gulf of Mexico 鈥� including all of Florida, and parts of Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and Texas. 聽This is a region that is historically impacted by hurricanes and other large hydrometeorological hazards each year.

With continued funding, HazardAware could also be expanded to cover the entire U.S. and other disasters such as wildfires and earthquakes.

A property鈥檚 HazardReady score takes into account 15 potential threats, including hurricane winds and flooding. The score also considers social and environmental vulnerability, community resilience, and home construction factors.

Users can choose to receive an emailed custom home report for their address, and they will also receive a renter and homebuyer checklist that can help ensure they ask the right questions next time they are in the market for a home.

The tool is part of a larger $3.4 million, multi-institution 麻豆原创-led project funded by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine鈥檚 Gulf Research Program.

鈥淲hen people buy houses, they generally think about location, pricing, crime, walkability and things like that,鈥� says Christopher Emrich, principal investigator of the research and a Boardman Endowed Associate Professor of Environmental Science and at 麻豆原创.聽鈥淏ut rarely do people think about how much hazards will cost. By going to HazardAware, people can compare houses and get more information they can use to make crucial decisions and smart choices about where they live.鈥�

For example, the score includes work by international expert and 麻豆原创 coastal risk engineer Thomas Wahl. Using his models of changes in future coastal flood risk, the tool produces an estimate of when a property will see coastal flooding or when flooding potential will double for properties already in coastal flood zones.

鈥淲e want to democratize this very scarce and very difficult to find hazard disaster and impact information,鈥� says Emrich, who also co-leads 麻豆原创鈥檚 and Sustainable Coastal Systems research cluster. 鈥淪ome of this data would require a Ph.D. and 40 hours of investment to make sense of, but we want to put it into everyone鈥檚 hands. HazardAware has built a team capable of pulling together this type of 鈥榝ugitive鈥� or hard-to-find information for homeowners and renters in the coastal zone.鈥�

For next steps, the researchers want to provide customized mitigation information through the tool for each home highlighting what can be done to reduce future hazard loss. They also want to implement an option where users can improve their home鈥檚 resiliency score by inputting upgrades they鈥檝e made, such as installing stormproof windows or a certified roof.

鈥淚 think the impetus for all this is to help people stay in their homes after a disaster by mitigating the threats hazards pose,鈥� Emrich says. 鈥淚f we can protect people’s homes, and people don鈥檛 have to leave, then they don鈥檛 suffer mental distress as deeply, and they don鈥檛 lose jobs as frequently. We can avoid a bunch of losses just by keeping people in their homes.鈥�

Partner institutions in the project are the University of South Carolina, Arizona State University, Louisiana State University, the University of Florida, the University of New Orleans, Louisiana Sea Grant, Florida Atlantic University and the RAND Corporation.

The project鈥檚 cross-discipline research team includes experts in geography, engineering, economics, hospitality and tourism, political science, ecology, environmental law, sustainability, mitigation, resilience, behavioral health sciences, housing policy, climate adaptation, and science and technical communication.

麻豆原创鈥檚 contributors include Wahl, a assistant professor; Assistant Professor Kristy Lewis;聽Rosen College of Hospitality Management聽Assistant Professor Sergio Alvarez; Associate Professor Jacopo Baggio; Associate Professor Sonia Stephens; Public Administration Associate Professor Claire Knox; Project Coordinator Roel Fleuren; (SMST) Information Systems Engineer Susan Bethel; SMST Senior Information Systems Engineer Eric Johnson; SMST Department of Information Systems Technology Program Director Tammie McClellan and SMST Web Designer Erica Recktenwald.

Emrich received his doctoral degree in geography from the University of South Carolina and joined 麻豆原创鈥檚 School of Public Administration, part of the , in 2016.

INR 4404 鈥� Space Law

Description

A look at how rules and laws regarding outer space pertain to nations, corporations and individuals 鈥� and who should be making and enforcing them.

Instructor

When is it offered?

Usually once a year

How many students in a class?

20-30

Prerequisites

Junior standing

From the Professor

Why is studying space law important?

In the early years, there wasn鈥檛 a whole lot of general interest in the area because only nation-states were doing space exploration. Now with the commercialization of space, who can participate in and impact the solar system is rapidly changing. NASA is relegating some of the more operational side of things to companies like United Launch Alliance and SpaceX while the space agency returns to its original mission, which is research. So there鈥檚 much more interest now and need for a wider audience examining space law.

Why do you enjoy teaching this course?

It鈥檚 an area for students that is different. With Star Wars, Star Trek and CGI, there鈥檚 an interest in space. I wanted to introduce students to this new area of law, rather than the traditional ones.

How did laws for outer space first come about?

Any time that you have nation-states that are interacting in something, there have to be some sort of rules of the road, some sort of ground rules for those interactions. Once Russia launched Sputnik in 1957, the United Nations decided to form the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, which still exists. The first thing that we did then was set up the Outer Space Treaty in 1967, which remains the cornerstone of human activity in outer space. For example, the treaty bans the placement of weapons of mass destruction in space or on any celestial body and seeks to promote peacefulness in outer space, among other things.

How could the announcement of the United States Space Force as a sixth branch of the military affect space law?

I should think that one might simply use the analogy of armed forces that we have for other areas like air, sea, land聽鈥� space would be another one of them. And the question then would become, 鈥淒o we want to try to be proactive and create regulations governing what would happen out there before they actually happened?鈥� or 鈥淎re we going to see what happens and then write regulations in the aftermath of that?鈥� We do have some articles in the Outer Space Treaty that tell us to some aspect that outer space is demilitarized. It鈥檚 certainly denuclearized. To what extent then do we now have to go in and clarify all that with the actual existence of a Space Force? In one sense, we鈥檝e thought about a Space Force for a long time, but it was theoretical. Now, we may seriously need to address this.

What do you think is the No. 1 legal problem stemming from human activity in space?

I think it鈥檚 changing. In the early days, one of the major areas from a legal perspective was looking at the availability of, or the allocation of, slots in the geostationary orbit because that is a very limited resource. Now, where we privatized and commercialized much more of the activities in space, the legal issues are going to revolve more around things like ownership: Who has a right to extract minerals from the moon or from other celestial bodies? From asteroids? We still don鈥檛 know where some entities end and the other begins, like airspace, which nation-states own, and outer space, which belongs to everybody. So that鈥檚 a brave new world of law that we鈥檙e going to have to deal with, which is radically different from what it was historically.

From the Student

-Madison Redington, political science major with a concentration in international relations

What prompted you to take this course?

I took this course in Fall 2018 because I really liked the professor. I also don鈥檛 really know much about space other than the scientific aspect of it, and I was interested to learn more about the legal aspect. It鈥檚 such a different concept and a totally different world up there so it鈥檚 interesting.

What did you like the most about the class?

It gave me a new perspective of what exactly space is and all the opportunities out there. So I definitely learned a lot of really fascinating concepts of how we are applying rules and laws that we apply on Earth and how we鈥檙e extending those to space and space shuttles, which I never thought about. I never thought about people committing crimes at the International Space Station and who has the jurisdiction over that.

What was challenging about the class?

I鈥檇 probably say the workload as far as the amount of reading alone we had to do. We were reading law review articles, so it was definitely really dense reading. Because space and technology are advancing faster than the legal field, there are a lot of gaps you have to deal with when learning about it. You鈥檙e kind of trying to put pieces of a puzzle together.

What鈥檚 something you learned that stood out?

I鈥檇 have to say learning about the different ways that we impact the environment. I鈥檒l never forget learning about how something so tiny as the paint chips off of a satellite or rocket turns into space debris. A millimeter of something can completely destroy something up there because everything goes so fast.

Space Law isn鈥檛 currently being offered, but you can register for the course in the Fall 2019 semester.聽聽

It had been her goal to go to law school 鈥� Harvard, in particular, that she worked so hard for 鈥� and then eventually run for political office after starting a family.

But when life handed her lemons, she made lemonade and forged a path to become the youngest person elected to Florida鈥檚 House of Representatives at 21 years old.

Mariano, a senior, enrolled at the 麻豆原创 as a political science student, joined the Student Government Association and searched for internships that would satisfy her craving to be on the front lines of the legislative system. She landed a spot in 麻豆原创鈥檚 Legislative Scholar Internship program to work with Florida House of Representatives member Rene Plasencia. But there, she found that being an intern wasn鈥檛 enough 鈥� she decided she was ready for office.

Last November, Mariano, a registered Republican, won the election for House District 36 in Pasco County where she鈥檚 from. She ran a successful campaign despite raising less money than her opponent. She campaigned door-to-door in the county to garner support, all while juggling a full-time course load at 麻豆原创 in Orlando an hour and a half away from Pasco County. With the support and inspiration of her family 鈥� particularly her dad who is a Pasco County county commissioner 鈥� she achieved her goal of becoming an elected official much younger than she, or anyone else, expected.

Mariano鈥檚 story, in her own words, is featured in Cosmopolitan. for the full story.

Neither of her parents earned college degrees, and growing up in a single-parent household meant there was little to no extra money to send her to school, she said. But when her fifth-grade teacher opened Fate鈥檚 eyes to her potential, her vision of the future drastically changed.

At 21, Fate is now an alumna of the 麻豆原创鈥檚 Burnett Honors College. She graduated May 6 with bachelor鈥檚 degrees in political science and legal studies, honors in the major, a 4.0 GPA and a near perfect score on the Law School Admission Test under her belt. Out of 180 possible points, Fate earned 178 and a seat at one of the country鈥檚 most prestigious law schools, Harvard, where she sent her 鈥渄ream application,鈥� she said.

鈥淚 knew since Rebecca was in my criminal law class in spring 2014 that she was extremely gifted and that she would do very, very well on the LSAT,鈥� said James Beckman, 麻豆原创 professor of legal studies and Fate鈥檚 Honors in the Major thesis chair. 鈥淗owever, I must admit, when she told me that she scored nearly perfect, I was slightly taken aback. Not because I did not expect an extremely high score from her, but simply because I have never known a single student, of the over 1,000 students I鈥檝e taught, who has scored in the top 0.15 percent.鈥�

Fate credits her success in education to her elementary school teacher who saw something special in her while giving her individualized curriculum. Fate, her mom and older sister a month into her fifth-grade classes moved from Oregon to the Tampa Bay area. When Fate鈥檚 new teacher took her aside to help her get caught up to the rest of the class, the teacher noticed the young student already knew the material and more.

鈥淪he encouraged me to do more because she felt I was ahead of the curriculum already,鈥� Fate said. 鈥淚t was a difficult transition moving to Florida, and school gave me something to focus on. The attention she gave me really helped.鈥�

Fate鈥檚 teacher encouraged her and her mom to consider a magnet school for sixth grade. Although hesitant at first 鈥� considering it was a two-hour bus ride one way to the school 鈥� Fate ultimately attended. That was the beginning of her college-bound path. She would continue on to a high school where there was an International Baccalaureate program filled with students whose expectations were to go to college. Being immersed into that atmosphere, where resources were in plenty to help students apply to college, gave Fate the vision she needed to continue her education.

鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 until the IB program and its expectations that I starting thinking about college,鈥� she said. 鈥淐ollege was never pushed on me. It just wasn鈥檛 offered up as the obvious path.鈥�

Fate applied to a handful of universities 鈥� University of Florida, Florida State University, Vanderbilt University and ones back in Oregon 鈥� but 麻豆原创鈥檚 offer of a full-ride National Merit Scholarship sealed the deal.

鈥溌槎乖� just gave me the feeling that I was wanted here,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f I hadn鈥檛 gotten a scholarship, it would鈥檝e been really difficult for me to come to college.鈥�

Fate joined pre-law fraternity Phi Alpha Delta, became a tutor at 麻豆原创鈥檚 Student Academic Resource Center, and worked for the honors college as a student assistant and peer ambassador.

Now, Fate aspires to continue in higher education as a professor of law.

鈥淚 like the university atmosphere and learning,鈥� Fate said. 鈥淚 just never want to leave.鈥�

For students taking the LSAT, Fate suggests diligently studying in the months leading up to the test and taking the LSAT practice tests. She bought LSAT preparation books to figure out which parts she struggled with, and studied daily.

鈥淚 am confident that she will do extremely well at Harvard and I wouldn鈥檛 be surprised in the least if she ends up at the top of her class at Harvard Law,鈥� said Beckman. 鈥淚t has been my great privilege to have interacted with Rebecca at 麻豆原创.鈥�

Beginning in October, articles written at 麻豆原创 started appearing regularly in the newspaper published in India with a circulation of more than 300,000 and an online presence around the globe.

The early focus of stories has been on the U.S. presidential election and results because of the potential effects on India, but various topics are on the horizon.

鈥淲e鈥檒l take on subjects such as the impact of India鈥檚 culture in the United States, the lives and livelihoods of Indian-Americans, U.S. foreign policy and India, where Indian-American students go after graduating from U.S. colleges and universities, etc.,鈥� said John C. Bersia, special assistant to the 麻豆原创 president for global perspectives and co-chair of The India Center, who initiated the relationship. Kerstin Hamann, chair of the 麻豆原创 Political Science Department, also co-chairs The India Center.

The potential for collaboration started when a delegation from India representing multiple news outlets was hosted in Orlando last spring by The India Center and others from the 麻豆原创 and Central Florida communities. After discussing possible ties in the months that followed, representatives from The India Center at 麻豆原创 were extended the opportunity to write in The New Indian Express.

Hamann said the collaboration has already evolved into a productive relationship.

鈥淭he regular contributions from The India Center in The New Indian Express significantly increases the visibility of the center in India and presents a high-profile partnership between 麻豆原创 and the newspaper, but on a larger scale also between the two countries,鈥� she said.

Bersia added that the new relationship will give 麻豆原创 staff and students a special international experience: regularly presenting insights to primarily Indian readers on issues of importance to them.

鈥淚 believe the newspaper would say it benefits from having unique content originating in the United States that holds appeal for its main audience,鈥� he said. 鈥淔urther, the effects go beyond the United States and India, given that the online versions of the pieces greatly extend their reach.鈥�

So far, articles in the publication have been written primarily by Shannon Payne, a recent 麻豆原创 graduate, and Pratyush Goberdhan, the 麻豆原创 India Fellow this semester. Payne, a senior program assistant for The India Center and the Global Perspectives Office, majored in anthropology and minored in diplomacy. Goberdhan, a junior majoring in international and global studies, also minors in French and art history. Stories have featured comments from several Indian-American students at 麻豆原创.

are available for reading on The India Center鈥檚 website.

Payne said the writing collaboration will provide the opportunity to share with a broader audience the research capabilities of The India Center because many of the articles have a research component provided by the center.

鈥淭his partnership showcases the way international, professional exchanges are ideally supposed to work,鈥� Bersia said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e designed to plant seeds for ongoing, mutually beneficial interaction 鈥� communication, idea-sharing, collaboration, future exchanges, etc. 鈥� and possibly more-involved partnerships.鈥�

The India Center, supported by The India Group Annual Fund, The Anil and Chitra Deshpande India Program Endowed Fund and the India Studies Fund of the Global Connections Foundation, was established in 2012. It is housed in the Political Science Department in the College of Sciences at the 麻豆原创.

Issues that have particular consequences for small countries, including those in the Caribbean, will be the focus of a new program at the 麻豆原创.

The Isle of Man Small Countries Program aims to develop greater awareness about small countries; encourage the exchange of information about their security, political, economic, social and environmental issues; and facilitate links between 麻豆原创 and those countries. Toward those ends, it will present public discussions involving prominent speakers, panels and other meetings; encourage scholarship; and work with partners from the United States, the Isle of Man and the Caribbean.

The program is a cooperative undertaking of 麻豆原创鈥檚 Global Perspectives Office, 麻豆原创鈥檚 Political Science Department, the Small Countries Financial Management Centre (SCFMC) on the Isle of Man, and the Global Connections Foundation. It is supported by the Ellan Vannin Fund of the Global Connections Foundation, in association with the Isle of Man business community.

鈥淭his small-countries initiative represents yet another step in 麻豆原创鈥檚 efforts to sharpen its international focus and bring more global content into the regional mainstream,鈥� said John C. Bersia, special assistant to the president for Global Perspectives at 麻豆原创.

Tim Cullen, executive director of the SCFMC, said the program will build upon the work of the center 鈥渋n underscoring and addressing the unique challenges facing small countries, which are disproportionately affected by global forces.鈥� Cullen added that the SCFMC 鈥渨as established with the purpose of contributing to the growth and prosperity of small countries through education programs that provide improved skills in government financial activities.鈥�

Kerstin Hamann, chair of the Political Science Department at 麻豆原创, said 鈥渢he program represents an excellent opportunity for cooperation in light of our new Ph.D. program in security studies, as well as many of our other global interests.鈥�

Because of 麻豆原创鈥檚 proximity to and connections with the Caribbean, the program will have a special focus on that region, but it will also promote awareness and discussion of small-country issues throughout the world.