Jason von Meding

Associate Professor University of Florida

  • Gainesville FL

Jason von Meding is an expert in how disaster affects people.

Contact

University of Florida

View more experts managed by University of Florida

Biography

Jason von Meding is an expert in how disasters affect people. For 20 years he has asked, “why do disasters really happen?” and questioned how the government, universities and corporations communicate with the public about disasters and risk. His research focuses on the injustices and inequalities that are foundational to our social system, and how disasters both unveil a society and show us how local collaborative work can affect change. He leads interdisciplinary research, pedagogy and practice around the world, centering the experiences, knowledges and strengths of affected communities in his work, and finding opportunities for community service and impact for scientists, students and practitioners.

Areas of Expertise

Disaster and Public Health Preparedness
Natural Disaster Assessment
Disaster Risk Reduction
Disaster Management
Sustainability

Media Appearances

Let Haiti Lead its Own Recovery

Barron's  online

2021-09-24

Colonization. Invasion and occupation. Brutal dictators receiving international support. Coups and political meddling. Ineffective aid. This is how outside power has been enforced on Haiti.

View More

Reframing Vulnerability as a Condition of Potential

The Arrow  online

2021-08-01

Scholars most often frame vulnerability as a condition with an implied likelihood of violence or other harm. They classify “the vulnerable” as people who lack resources, face hardships, are marginalized in society, and generally need help. Such vulnerable people are said to suffer disproportionately in disaster events.

View More

The idea of a ‘natural’ disaster is going up in flames

Grist  online

2020-09-16

Another factor: money. “There’s a lot more profit in focusing on fighting against nature than in fighting against social inequality,” said Jason von Meding, an associate professor at the University of Florida, and companies and research institutions take advantage of it. “More sea walls, better mapping or hazard monitoring isn’t going to solve those social problems,” he said, “and yet most of our funding is going to technological innovation.”

View More

Show All +

Social

Articles

Traditional water knowledge: challenges and opportunities to build resilience to urban floods

International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment

Rumana Asad, et al.

2022-01-07

Urban flooding in developing countries of the Global South is growing due to extreme rainfall and sea-level rise induced by climate change, as well as the proliferation of impervious, built-up areas resulting from unplanned urbanisation and development. Continuous loss of traditional knowledge related to local water management practices, and the de-valuing of such knowledge that goes hand-in-hand with globalised aspirations, is inhibiting flood resilience efforts.

View more

Climate change adaptation across businesses in Australia: interpretations, implementations, and interactions

Environment, Development and Sustainability

Giuseppe Forino and Jason von Meding

2021-04-29

Climate change and associated processes can increase the occurrence of some natural hazards and threaten business operations. Therefore, it is widely recommended businesses respond to climate change and implement climate change adaptation. Worldwide, businesses make efforts towards climate change adaptation, but investigation on such efforts is still required. To partially fill this research gap, the paper explores businesses adaptation efforts in the Hunter Valley, Australia.

View more

Flood risk assessment using deep learning integrated with multi-criteria decision analysis

Knowledge-Based Systems

Binh Thai Pham, et al.

2021-03-03

In this paper, we proposed a novel approach for flood risk assessment, which is a combination of a deep learning algorithm and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA). The framework of the flood risk assessment involves three main elements: hazard, exposure, and vulnerability. For this purpose, one of the flood-prone areas of Vietnam, namely Quang Nam province was selected as the study area.

View more

Show All +

Media