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The Louisiana Social, Environmental, and Economic Resilience (LA-SEER) Center hosts LA-SEER Talk: From Risk to Resilience, a dynamic online talk series where experts, researchers, and leaders come together to illuminate pathways from risk to resilience.
Since its launch, LA-SEER Talk has served as a platform for interdisciplinary dialogue and knowledge sharing. The Spring 2025 season brought together prominent experts, changemakers, and industry leaders to explore how risk can be transformed into actionable resilience. Building on this momentum, the Fall 2025 series highlighted leading LSU researchers whose work is advancing multidisciplinary approaches to risk reduction and resilience building across Louisiana.
Continuing this successful trajectory, the Spring 2026 season kicked off on February 4, 2026, opening with a talk by Dr. Jill Trepanier, Professor and Chair of the Department of Geography & Anthropology at LSU. This season will feature distinguished speakers sharing cutting-edge research, tools, and insights that support science-driven resilience planning for Louisiana and beyond. The second session of LA-SEER Talk Spring 2026 season on February 19, 2026 will feature Dr. Kevin Smiley, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, LSU College of Humanities and Social Sciences. In this talk titled - "Attributing multi-hazard impacts of Hurricane Ida in south Louisiana to past, present, and future climates", he will examine emergent research that studies if, and to what extent, climate change makes hurricanes more severe. Using an extreme event attribution framework to study Hurricane Ida in south Louisiana, results will detail how climate change increased the intensity of the storm that had non-linear impacts to buildings from wind and storm surge damage.
Register for la-seer talk with dr. Kevin smiley
LA-SEER Talk: From Risk to Resilience - Fall 2025 Session
Dr. Margaret Reams, the Joseph D. Martinez Professor of Environmental Sciences and the Associate Director for Community Engagement at the Institute for Energy Innovation at Louisiana State University, spoke on “Enhancing Community Resilience: The Critical Role of Trust,” highlighting how trust serves as a foundational element in strengthening community preparedness, cohesion, and long-term recovery.
Dr. Md Adilur Rahim's talk highlighted how Agentic AI can translate complex risk science into community-friendly tools, enabling better understanding and decision-making at every level.
LA-SEER Talk: From Risk to Resilience - Spring 2025 Session
LA-SEER Talk Spring 2025 session kicked off with Mr. Stephen Swiber, Chief Resilience Officer for the State of Louisiana, who shared insight into the state’s ongoing efforts to manage risk and build resilience.
Dr. Ivis Garcia, PhD, AICP, Associate Professor at Texas A&M University, emphasized the power of community engagement in planning, housing, and development to create more resilient futures.
Mr. Jeffrey Carney, Associate Professor at the University of Florida and Director of the Florida Institute for Built Environment Resilience (FIBER), and Director of the Florida Resilient Cities program (FRC), took us into the future with the Florida Digital Twin—a transformative look at health, housing, and hazard planning.
In a thought-provoking session, Robert Jacobsen, PE, presented "Twenty Years After Katrina: Ten Fundamental Flood Ri$k Lessons We Must Finish Learning"—a deep dive into the intersection of risk, resilience, and sustainability.
LA-SEER Talk Spring 2025 series wrapped up with Katie Freer-Leonards and Eric D White from Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) of Louisiana, who discussed the Louisiana Coastal Master Plan Development Process—a cornerstone for Louisiana’s coastal future.
