November 30, 2012
The Los Angeles Times featured research by USC Price Research Professor Adam Rose and colleagues, finding that an earthquake shutting down water delivery from Northern California could devastate L.A.'s economy. "There are a couple of different ways to deal with this," Rose said, stressing the need to protect the California Aqueduct at its source and to invest in alternative water supply sources, storage and desalination.
The Los Angeles Times featured research by USC Price Research Professor Adam Rose and colleagues, finding that an earthquake shutting down water delivery from Northern California could devastate L.A.'s economy. "There are a couple of different ways to deal with this," Rose said, stressing the need to protect the California Aqueduct at its source and to invest in alternative water supply sources, storage and desalination.
Over the summer, dozens of students from the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy went the extra mile through internships and international lab experiences across the globe. Price students took part in
International labs in Brazil and China; worked with key organizations like the Chinese Academy of Urban Planning and Design, Hong Kong-America Center, Shanghai Center for Sustainability; and interned at the U.S. State Department in Armenia.
A contingent of professors, researchers and alumni from the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy visited Sao Paulo in August to participate in a two-day workshop on metropolitan development. The group from USC Price shared experiences and research regarding land use, transportation planning, housing, economic development and infrastructure with local academics and officials from the state government. The workshop was an outgrowth of Dean Jack H. Knott's visit to Brazil in December, when he met with Edson Aparecido, secretary of metropolitan development for the State of San Paulo.
The USC Sol Price School of Public Policy's first two social innovation interns blurred the lines between local and global arenas by serving refugees and other residents of San Diego's City Heights neighborhood. The internships were organized and funded by the Sol Price Center for Social Innovation, which promotes sustainable community development in City Heights and underserved urban areas.
Laurie Nijaki, 26, earned her Ph.D. in policy, planning and development from the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy in May. But already, she's made significant contributions in the field of sustainability -- and has plans to do more. This September, Nijaki will begin a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan's Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise, widely considered the most prestigious postdoctoral opportunity in sustainability in the United States.
Three USC Sol Price School of Public Policy MPP graduates will spend their upcoming year working toward a healthier future for people and the planet thanks to the Clinton-Orfalea Fellowships. Allison Kwan will apply her talents to the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, which aims to eliminate childhood obesity and promote healthy habits. Kerem Yilmaz will work for the Clinton Climate Initiative, which is currently partnering with the C40 Climate Leadership Group to help large cities reduce their carbon emissions. And, Kathryn Urquhart will also work for the Clinton Climate Initiative.
Faculty at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy hosted a delegation from the Chinese Academy of Governance (CAG) between May 29 and June 1 to share their research on how to develop technically feasible, politically viable and cost-effective climate strategies. The event was coordinated by USC Price Assistant Research Professor Dan Wei and USC Price Research Professor Adam Rose in conjunction with the Center for Climate Strategies. CAG is a training center for people in public service who are in mid- and high-level civil service positions at the national, provincial, and municipal levels in China.
With more than half of the world's population now living in cities, the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy believed it was time to address the challenges of urbanization. To that end, USC Price dean Jack H. Knott moderated the discussion "Cities of the Future: Community, Creativity, Culture and Technology" on April 23. The panel featured Michael Antonovich, Los Angeles County supervisor; Hilda Blanco, USC Price research professor and interim director of the Center for Sustainable Cities; Hsi-Wei Chou, former governor of Taipei County, Taiwan; and Elizabeth Currid-Halkett, USC Price associate professor.
USC's Center for Sustainable Cities commemorated Earth Day with a forum to discuss the progress and challenges in meeting California's Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS), key legislation that set an aggressive target of increasing renewable energy resources to 33 percent of total procurement by 2020. Energy company representatives joined academic researchers on April 25 for two panel discussions on how electric service providers will reach the state's ambitious requirement.
The USC Sol Price School of Public Policy was well represented at the American Planning Association's national planning conference at the Los Angeles Convention Center on April 14-17. To coincide with the conference, David Sloane, professor and director of undergraduate programs for USC Price, edited the book Planning Los Angeles, published by the American Planning Association, using contributions from many USC Price faculty and alumni to catalog the history and trends that impact planning in the city.
Rapid urbanization has created a need for sustainable funding and financial strategy for infrastructure renewal in China, said Richard Little, a senior fellow at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, in a seminar offered on March 7 by USC Price and the METRANS Transportation Center. In 1980, China's population was just 20 percent urbanized. Today, that number has reached about 50 percent. To support this unprecedented growth, the country has invested enormous sums to provide transportation, power, communications, sanitation and other basic infrastructure.
The USC Sol Price School of Public Policy advanced its work of "shaping the world" during Dean Jack H. Knott's recent trip to Israel. Knott traveled in the company of USC leaders, including President C. L. Max Nikias. During the trip, Knott forged relationships with policymakers, as well as representatives from top educational institutions, to create new opportunities for collaboration. He signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, Israel's first private college.
The USC Sol Price School of Public Policy was among several USC schools and programs that ascended in the latest national rankings released by U.S. News & World Report . The Price School climbed to sixth place (from seventh in 2008) in the newest edition of "America's Best Graduate Schools" for public affairs.
USC Sol Price School of Public Policy professor Peter Gordon formally began his one-year term as president of the Western Regional Science Association last month during the association's 51st annual meeting in Kauai, Hawaii. Founded in 1961, the WRSA is an international multidisciplinary group of university scholars and government and private-sector practitioners dedicated to the scientific analysis of regions. At the annual banquet luncheon, Gordon delivered his presidential address titled "Thinking About Economic Growth."
Genevieve Giuliano, professor and transportation researcher at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, has been chosen to receive the Distinguished Researcher Award, an honor that includes two Nobel Prize winners among its past recipients, from the Transportation Research Forum. Giuliano, senior associate dean of research and technology at USC Price, is the first woman to receive the award in its 35-year history.
Nuclear power produces about 20 percent of the electricity in the United States, and it's an increasingly important part of the overall energy supply mix. Still, the 2012 presidential candidates aren't likely to mention it during their campaigns, according to Detlof von Winterfeldt, professor at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, who recently completed a three-year appointment as director of Austria's International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, which explores issues of nuclear power.
City planners long have debated how to get people on their feet and cars off the road. But encouraging urban dwellers to go pedestrian could require different strategies depending on their attitudes toward walking, according to USC Sol Price School of Public Policy professor Marlon Boarnet. The research comes at a time when scholars from multiple disciplines tout the value of walking for health and environmental benefits as much as to alleviate congestion.
The USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development brought its international expertise to the table at the 2011 USC Global Conference, held Oct. 13-15 in Hong Kong. SPPD faculty joined business experts to discuss issues of worldwide significance at the three-day event. "Most of the issues we deal with -- from health care to urban development to the environment -- don't occur just in the United States but around the world," said SPPD Jack Knott. "We incorporate that global perspective as an integral fabric into everything we do at the school."
The USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development (SPPD) has a mission to "shape the world," and more than 60 students spent their summers putting these words into action in Brazil, China, Bolivia and Australia.
From the 9/11 terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina to this year's devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the last decade has shown that disasters -- whether natural or man-made -- are inevitable and that the next one is coming soon. USC hosted the second annual International Society for Integrated Disaster Risk Management (IDRiM) conference, "Reframing Disasters and Reflecting on Risk Governance Deficits," which was co-sponsored by the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development and CREATE Homeland Security Center.
More than a decade ago, when sustainability issues were still a specialized curiosity, USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development professor Daniel Mazmanian turned his attention to the emergence of locally-based environmental policies in several communities and regions across the nation.