Designing a Thoughtful Social Science Presence in a Weather Laboratory: Raising Local Voices

Dr Kim Klockow-McClain, research scientist, University of Oklahoma Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Severe Storms Laboratory.

To date, severe weather research has been dominated by a technocratic philosophy: improvements in technology were seen as the path to improvements in societal outcomes, including reductions in damage and loss of life.  Recent devastating events, however, began a process of reckoning with this perspective and re-evaluating what a weather research capability should consider in its work.

Kim’s talk provides an overview of some key policy advancements that have shaped the inclusion of social sciences in weather research in the U.S. It concludes with a look at the approaches that are being taken within the National Severe Storms Laboratory to thoughtfully include social sciences from end-to-end in its research programs. The session is moderated by PhD student Andrew Brown.