A Summary of Existing Resources and Roadmap for the Hazards Equity Working Group of the American Geophysical Union’s Natural Hazards Section

Abstract

The Hazards Equity Working Group (HEWG), founded in 2020 by the American Geophysical Union’s Natural Hazards Section, seeks to address issues of equity and justice in the study of earthquakes, tsunamis, and other natural hazards. This effort focuses on (1) improving diversity, equity, and inclusion within the hazards research community and (2) increasing the availability and uptake of research addressing matters of social vulnerability to these hazards. Social vulnerability refers to disproportionate impacts due to personal or social attributes such as race, income, gender, disability status, sexual orientation, spoken languages, or family structure. HEWG has undertaken a survey of existing resources, such as webinars and documentation, of which we will present a summary with emphasis on seismology. We find there is a strong push within the scientific community for action towards goal (1), but fewer materials and less systemic organization for the more niche goal (2). HEWG is therefore well-positioned to scope an action plan, especially for goal (2), in coordination with other groups.

We present our 5-year vision with a call for membership and action. Progress can be made toward goal (1) through actions including evaluating prejudicial aspects of hiring/retention policies, mandating implicit bias/discrimination training, improving mentorship and requiring somewhat controversial ‘broader impacts’ verbiage in proposals. Goal (2) can be approached through activities like partnerships between social and physical scientists, building knowledge around cultural competencies, introducing social vulnerability training in geoscience curriculum, evaluating social vulnerability considerations in funding proposals for physical scientists, making open access publication the gold standard for academic productivity, and fostering relationships between academia, practitioners and communities such that scientific inquiry is co-designed and addresses sustainable end user goals.