Flooding - impact & recovery: SFU experts available

Officials have begun to assess the massive damage caused by flooding and mudslides after an atmospheric river led to historic rainfall across BC last weekend.  

Experts from Simon Fraser University are available on the impact on communities, the environment, and supply chain. 

LAND & COMMUNITIES:

ALEX BOSTON, executive director, Renewable Cities | a_boston@sfu.ca 
- The role of sustainable land use in mitigating extreme weather events and BC’s new Roadmap to 2030
- Urban sustainability and planning for a low carbon future

SEAN MARKEY, professor, resource & environmental management sean_markey@sfu.ca
- Impact on farming - rural and urban connections 
- Rebuilding and resilience planning to build back better

TIM TAKARO, professor, health sciences | ttakaro@sfu.ca
- Short- and medium-term human health impacts of flooding
- Climate change connection to atmospheric rivers and extreme rain events
- Toxicants in flood waters and precautions needed

JEREMY VENDITTI, director, environmental science | jeremy_venditti@sfu.ca (limited availability)
- Impact of flooding on river bank erosion; currently researching earlier Fraser River landslide activity (in the Big Bar area)

BRENT WARD, professor, Earth Sciences, co-director, Centre for Natural Hazards Research |  bcward@sfu.ca
- Impact of natural landslides on creeks, rivers and fish habitat
- How to make communities more resilient to climate change and specifically flooding
- Timing of major flood events and lingering impacts

ECONOMIC IMPACTS:

ZAFAR ADEEL, professor, sustainable energy engineering |  zafar_adeel@sfu.ca
- Economic impacts of flooding
- Water-energy-food nexus and climate change adaptation

STAN HETALO, PhD student, economics | shetalo@sfu.ca
- Economic impacts of severe weather events including cost of damage caused by flooding

DAVID JACKS, professor, economics (note time difference: currently in Singapore) |  dsjacks@gmail.com
- International trade, maritime transport
- Shipping delays and supply chains
- Commodity prices

ANDREY PAVLOV, professor, finance, Beedie School of Business| apavlov@sfu.ca
- Economic and financial causes of supply chain issues
- Regulatory impacts on production

ANDY YAN, director, The City Program | ayan@sfu.ca 
- Local effects of climate change: impact on housing and real estate
- 1948 Fraser Valley floods, creation of the Agricultural Land Reserve and legacy of current flooding 

CONTACT 

MELISSA SHAW, SFU  Communications & Marketing 
236.880.3297 | melissa_shaw@sfu.ca

Simon Fraser University
Communications & Marketing |  SFU Media Experts Directory
778.782.3210

ABOUT SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

As Canada’s engaged university, SFU works with communities, organizations and partners to create, share and embrace knowledge that improves life and generates real change. We deliver a world-class education with lifelong value that shapes change-makers, visionaries and problem-solvers. We connect research and innovation to entrepreneurship and industry to deliver sustainable, relevant solutions to today’s problems. With campuses in British Columbia’s three largest cities—Vancouver, Burnaby and Surrey—SFU has eight faculties that deliver 193 undergraduate degree programs and 144 graduate degree programs to more than 37,000 students. The university now boasts more than 170,000 alumni residing in 145+ countries.