Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers — Part 1: Natural Disaster Risk and Resilience

ABOUT THIS WEBINAR

Join the American Academy of Actuaries for the first in a two-part webinar series highlighting the National Science Foundation’s Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers (IUCRCs). IUCRCs consist of academic researchers at two or more universities who work with an industry-led advisory board to determine which projects would be most useful.  In this webinar, you will:

• Learn about the research agendas of two of the IUCRCs sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF). 
• Learn about the research designed to provide tools and techniques to improve the ability of the insurance industry to manage climate risk.
• Engage directly with experts driving these advances during the Q&A. 
• Learn how to remain informed on the on-going work and how to join the industry advisory boards to help shape future research.

The focus of this webinar will be on the Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research Center (WIRC), joining experts at San Jose State University with those at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and on the Center for Weather Innovation, Smart Energy and Resilience (WISER), a partnership between the State University of New York, Albany and the University of Connecticut.

WIRC’s mission is to conduct high-impact wildfire research to provide new predictive tools and informed strategies to communities and industry stakeholders. To advance this mission, WIRC focuses on five areas of research:

• Fire weather and fire-atmosphere modeling and forecasting;
• Fire behavior monitoring and modeling;
• Wildfire-related tools and strategies;
• Climate change and wildfire risk; and
• Fire ecology assessments, for improving home hardening and informing stakeholders and communities how to better prepare for wildfires of the future. 

WISER is developing long-term sustainable solutions for power generation and grid resiliency to advance and transform the energy sector in the face of extreme weather and the transition to clean energy.  WISER’s focuses on five core research thrusts: Grid Resilience; Outage Management; Renewable Energy; and Climate Change Impacts.

MODERATOR

Becky Sheppard, MAAA, FSA
Vice Chairperson, Research Committee, American Academy of Actuaries

SPEAKERS

Barbara Ransom
National Science Foundation

Allison Crimmins
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Craig Clements
San Jose State University, Professor and Chairperson of the Department of Meteorology and Climate Science

Christopher Thorncroft
SUNY, Albany, Director, Atmospheric Sciences Research Center and Professor

REGISTRATION

Registration for this webinar is limited to the first 1,000 registrants. Visit our webinar FAQs to learn more about our webinar policies, including group registration.

For more information about this webinar, contact education@actuary.org.

Event Pricing

• Members: $55
• Nonmembers: $110
• Group Registration for Academy Members: $500

Complimentary registration is available to the following cohorts of Academy members. Contact education@actuary.org to request a discount code to register.

• Government regulators
• Academy volunteers who meet both
  • “active” members of an Academy committee, board, subcommittee, task force, or work group; and
  • qualified for either a partial or full dues waiver during 2026.

Contact education@actuary.org to request a discount code to register

CONTINUING EDUCATION

The American Academy of Actuaries believes in good faith that attendance at this live webinar constitutes an organized activity as defined under the current Qualification Standards for Actuaries Issuing Statements of Actuarial Opinion in the United States, and that attendees may earn up to 1.8 organized continuing education (CE) credits for attending this live webinar. 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Registration for this webinar is limited to the first 1,000 registrants. Visit our webinar FAQs to learn more about our webinar policies, including group registration. For more information about this webinar, contact education@actuary.org.