UP NEXT:
Nicole Marks, University of Kentucky
February 13th, 2026, 11:00am
How can relationships with place—both natural landscapes and built environments—help strengthen community resilience?
How can academic partnerships help alleviate disaster challenges and foster resiliency?
Join us for: Anthropological Aspects of Quantifying Community Resilience, led by Nicole Marks, MEP, CEM (University of Kentucky) and CLIMBS Project 6.
The description: Appalachia’s unique landscape and social fabric—shaped by mountainous terrain, close-knit communities, traditions of mutual aid, and grassroots recovery efforts—create meaningful opportunities to strengthen community-led resilience and collaboration across neighboring counties. Project 6, Quantifying Community Resilience, focuses on how residents understand and experience disasters such as flooding, landslides, and climate change. Drawing on a range of anthropological methods, this work is grounded in trust, relationships, and long-term engagement with communities in Eastern Kentucky. This discussion shares early insights from Nicole’s summer fieldwork, highlights emerging patterns, and opens the door for conversation about future collaborative research within and beyond CLIMBS.
Come learn, connect, and help shape what resilience looks like moving forward.
Email karin.pekarchik@uky.edu if you’d like to attend!
What is a nanoCollider?
nanoColliders are seasonal virtual meetings that provide progress reports on strategic goals and other relevant updates of interest from each CLIMBS institution or group.
KY NSF EPSCoR nanoColliders allow for participants to more broadly identify opportunities to enhance existing cross-institutional collaborations or establish new connections for potential partnerships.
What happens at a nanoCollider?
1) Increased information flow regarding research thrusts, broader impacts, education/training of students, and strategic plan alignment.
2) Promotion and support for each institution’s contribution to KY NSF EPSCoR’s CLIMBS project and strategic plan.
3) Celebration and sharing of best practices from existing cross-institutional collaborations, and promotion of future collaboration opportunities.
4) Addresses feedback from participants and NSF recommending increased efforts to promote opportunities, strategic updates, and best practices from CLIMBS’ non-lead institutions.