Our Vision
The Center for Innovation in Risk-analysis for Climate Adaptation and Decision-making (CIRCAD) will be a science and policy research center where university faculty and students work with partners from the insurance, finance, and other risk-related industries to develop innovative solutions to society’s climate challenges.
CIRCAD’s research will integrate data science and modeling, risk assessment and decision theory, and economic and policy analysis to design and evaluate novel and actionable strategies, products, policies, and practices.
By disseminating the knowledge and tools produced by the center to communities, commercial and residential customers, and government officials, CIRCAD will enhance climate decision-making and foster resilience on a system-wide scale.
In the process of achieving these goals, CIRCAD will also recruit, mentor, and develop a diverse, highly-trained, climate-ready workforce.
Planning Process
To achieve our vision, we are building CIRCAD as a consortium of university research sites, government agencies and labs, and public and private companies following the National Science Foundation’s successful Industry-University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC) model.
We have already received a one-year grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to support our planning process and have obtained letters of interest from more than thirty parties.
We are currently soliciting input from these and other potential CIRCAD members to prioritized our center’s goals, activities, partnerships, and research themes.
This process will culminate in a Climate Resilience Summit to be held in Atlanta in September, 2024. The full proposal for a five-year IUCRC focused on climate risk is then due to NSF by mid-December, 2024.
The Partnership
Our Expertise
CIRCAD consists of two academic sites (Duke University and the University of Georgia) and a number of collaborating partner institutions. We have over 30 faculty and senior researchers ready to work with industry on projects related to climate risk and resilience. Our faculty span the fields of engineering, climate science, public policy, decision science, economics, law, statistics, and computing. CIRCAD’s competitive advantage arises not only from our disciplinary expertise, but also our ability to integrate across disciplines to develop innovative and actionable solutions. CIRCAD’s areas of expertise include:
Data Science & Modeling
Nature-Based Solutions
Risk Assessment & Decision Theory
Economic & Policy Analysis
Insurance & Financial Innovation
Community Engagement
