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Jambo DisasterTechies,
Do you know Awesome lists? These curated lists compile links, tools, organizations, tutorials, and other resources on a range of topics including TechForGood, learning to give talks, ClimateTech, and many more. There's even an Awesome List for Awesome Lists: https://github.com/sindresorhus/awesome
We want to create a similar list to make resources on the DisasterTech field easily searchable, free and extensible for everyone via GitHub. This is where you come in—which resources and topics are essential to such a list? Share them with us by email (crew@disaster-tech.org) or in our Slack community.
Until next time, stay safe and sound.
Björn, Jesse & Niklas
PS: Jambo is Ugandan.
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📚 3 stories to read this week
New Data Exposes Greater Flood Risk
The maps that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issues to advise homeowners, builders, banks, insurers and government officials on the physical and financial risks of flood appear to dangerously underrepresent potentially affected areas. The New York Times reports that "in Chicago alone, 75,000 properties have a previously undisclosed flood risk". Maintaining these maps is costly, labour intensive and increasingly complicated by climate change, but the current maps fail to account for flooding caused by intense rainfall, which has drawn criticism.
New calculations—which account for sea-level rise, rainfall and flooding along smaller creeks—estimate that 14.6 million properties are at risk from a 100-year flood. In contrast, current data estimates only 8.7 million properties would be affected. These new numbers are likely to have a dramatic effect on how the U.S. federal government guides homeowners on where and how to build and whether or not to purchase flood insurance. But for many in Black communities or those in low-income brackets, this is unlikely to matter as they are already more exposed to flooding because their homes are often built on cheaper, higher risk land. It will be up to local governments to respond with new resilience measures that acknowledge this inequality:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/06/29/climate/hidden-flood-risk-maps.html
Mitigating Meltdowns
A nuclear reactor is most effective when its core operates at extremely high temperatures; however, if it becomes too hot, the core is prone to meltdown, which leads to an environmental catastrophe like that following the Fukushima Daiichi event. But thanks to a fuel made from a mixture of low enriched uranium and oxygen, and surrounded by three alternating layers of graphite and silicon carbide, the new generation of reactors may be meltdown-proof:
https://www.wired.com/story/nuclear-power-balls-triso-fuel/
CRISPR for rapid COVID-19 Diagnosis
A new diagnostic tool that employs enzymatic molecular scissors—an underlying principle of CRISPR Cas9—to identify the presence of the novel coronavirus by its RNA could produce results in as little as 20 minutes. Now the company responsible for the technology, Sherlock Biosciences, is partnering with binx to bring the solution to market, making it the first point-of-care application of CRISPR:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/johncumbers/2020/07/01/a-new-20-minute-covid-19-test-will-use-crispr-gene-editing-technology-to-deliver-results-at-the-doctors-office-supermarket-or-workplace
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👩🏽💻 Jobs & Opportunities
Head of Community – Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (Remote)
Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) is a US-based NGO and global community of thousands of volunteers working together to use maps and open data for humanitarian response and the Sustainable Development Goal. As the world’s preeminent participatory mapping NGO, HOT has fostered a global mapping community composed of more 230,000 people with ground operations in six countries. When major disaster strikes anywhere in the world, HOT rallies this global network to create the maps and data that enable responders to reach those in need.
Apply here: https://reliefweb.int/job/3649625/head-community
E-learning and blended approaches for capacity development – UN (Remote)
With emergence of information and communication technologies, e-learning platforms have been increasingly used across the United Nations. The new reality conditioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, with its travel and meeting restrictions, is further redefining the ways the United Nations operates and delivers its services to the Member States. These recent developments, which precipitated a shift in the Development Account’s approach to capacity development, provide an opportunity for the United Nations to reflect on its capacity development delivery models and design new delivery models using e-learning or blended methods.
Apply here: https://reliefweb.int/job/3649409/e-learning-and-blended-approaches-capacity-development
Regional Information Management Officer – International Organization for Migration (Remote)
Under the overall guidance of the Regional Emergency and Post Crisis Specialist, the direct supervision of the Regional COVID Task Force Coordinator, and technical oversight of the Migration Health Special and in coordination with other relevant Units of the Regional Office (RO) for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) in Bangkok, Thailand, the successful candidate will support the COVID-19 related programmes in the region, and maintain an overview of and carry out specific work relating to donor reporting, information and knowledge management.
Apply here: https://reliefweb.int/job/3649479/regional-information-management-officer
Is there a specific sector or job type that you'd like to see featured here? Have a look at our new #jobs channel—here you can share your offers as well as find new opportunities!
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