“There’s definitely not going to be a decrease in the types of skills that relate to climate and weather and understanding place-based impacts of climate change and severe weather,” she said. The equity and lack thereof surrounding climate change and responses to it are part of what Domingue sees in the future of the field. “The idea is how can we be proactive in making adaptation work for everybody and making sure that adaptation and resilience building is equitable.” “Climate justice refers to the fact that so much of the impacts of climate change are going to be disproportionately felt by historically marginalized or underserved communities,” said Domingue.

While here, she’s excited to help develop a research theme around climate justice with SCIPP. “I wanted to be a part of this to grow my career.” “There is a tremendous amount of exciting research at the intersection of climate change, hazards and disasters, and society happening here,” said Domingue. But a lot of places are also just experiencing more precipitation, more high heat days, things that impact their stormwater systems even if they’re not coastal.”ĭomingue chose to come to OU because of the research happening here. “They’ll be affected by sea level rise and stronger hurricanes and tropical storms. Most of the cities studied are approximately 50–100 miles from the coast. “We’re doing that through workshops that take stormwater professionals through a customized vulnerability assessment,” said Domingue. “There’s just so much emphasis on the environment and environmental components.” Domingue is additionally affiliated with the Southern Climate Impacts Planning Program (SCIPP) working on a program funded by the National Academies of Science’s Gulf Research Program to improve the capacity of smaller cities to adapt to climate change. Now, she’s glad to be back in a geography department, working as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Geography and Environmental Sustainability.

“When I was getting my master’s in environmental sciences, I realized that I was very interested in the people and human components to environmental problems. While completing her master’s thesis on superfund site remediation and community participation, she decided she’d need a Ph.D. But it wasn’t until the end of her undergraduate degree that she found courses in geographic sciences and decided to pursue environmental science.ĭomingue describes her background as very interdisciplinary. She grew up in an oil and gas family and often found herself thinking about the environmental consequences of extractive industries, the threat of climate change, and the problem of where future energy will come from. Simone Domingue has always had thoughts of energy and the environment running through her head.

Bill boss meteorologist