Focus Areas

Disaster Policy Reform

U.S. disaster policy needs an overhaul. I collaborate to explore how disaster funding is spent, whether allocations are fair or effective, and how the system could be improved

Managed Retreat

People will move as a result of climate change: how can this be supported, fair, & help communities thrive? Here are some suggestions for buyouts reform from EESI climate briefing.  Also see a book & special issue in JESS. 

Fair Adaptation

What does just or equitable adaptation look like? What is a just transition for adaptation? Using theory and empirical data to understand how people make adaptation decisions and think about what's fair.

Climate Narratives

What role do heritage, art, fiction, and video games play in climate change adaptation? I'm interested in how narratives influence climate adaptation imaginaries and values. 

Current Projects

Floodplain Management Tools

Collaborating with Dr. Miyuki Hino and Dr. Katharine Mach, funded by NSF HDBE, to investigate how and why some communities are able to grow without developing new housing in the floodplain. We are creating a national index to compare relative rates of floodplain development, and we'll look at local laws and regulations through comparative case studies. See more at our project website

Adaptation Synthesis

Lea Berrang Ford lead a global initiative to synthesize thousands of academic studies providing evidence of the state of climate adaptation practice. I developed tools to automate coding reconciliation and protocols for synthesis. See main paper in Nature Climate Change. A series of projects are leveraging this dataset to explore heat, equity, policy tools, ocean ecosystems, and human mobility. I also synthesize information as a contributing author to the 6th IPCC Assessment WG2 and the 5th US National Climate Assessment

Property Acquisitions (Buyouts)

Buyouts are one of the main policy tools used to reduce residential flood risk in the US, but improvements are needed to promote equity and well-being. Current projects include identifying practitioner tips, assessing a long-term rural buyout program, exploring media narratives, and understanding how stakeholders think about "fair" buyouts. See an edited volume of global studies with Dr. Jola Ajibade and a special issue in the Journal of Environmental Sciences & Studies

Collaborations

Dr. Liz Koslov, Dr. Andrew Dannenberg, Erica Bower, Lauren Sancken, Managed Retreat Media

Dr. Tess Doeffinger, coastal adaptation pathways 

Dr. Allison Reilly, Dr. Deb Niemeier, US disaster spending

Publications

Books

I.J. Ajibade, A.R. Siders (eds.). 2021. Global views on climate relocation and social justice (Routledge)

Journal articles

2022

A.R. Siders, “Navigating the middle space - Just transitions for U.S. coastal adaptation," Shore & Beach (Fall). 

P. Dineva*, C. McGranaghan, K.D. Messer, L. Palm-Forester, L.A. Paul, A.R. Siders, “Promoting spatial coordination in flood buyouts in the United States: Four strategies and four challenges from the economics of land preservation literature,” Natural Hazards Review.

A.R. Siders, “The administrator’s dilemma: Closing the gap between climate adaptation justice in theory and practice,” Environmental Science and Policy.

N. Ulibarri, I. Ajibade, E. Galappaththi, E. Joe, A. Lesnikowski, K. Mach, J. Musah-Surugu, G. Nagle Alverio, A. Segnon, A.R. Siders … Z. Zommers [32 co-authors], “A global assessment of policy tools to support climate adaptation,” Climate Policy.

N. Simpson, P. Williams, K. Mach, L. Berrang-Ford, R. Biesbroek, M. Haasnoot, A. Segnon, D. Campbell, J. Musah-Surugu, E. Joe, A. Nunbogu, S. Sabour, T. Andrews, C. Singh, A.R. Siders, J. Lawrence, M. van Aalst, C. Trisos, “Adaptation to compound climate events: A systematic global stocktake,” iScience (Special issue on compounding hazards).

U. Gangwal*, A.R. Siders, J. Horney, H. Michael, S. Dong, “Critical facility accessibility and road criticality assessment considering flood-induced partial failure,” Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure.

2021

K.J. Mach, A.R. Siders, “Reframing strategic, managed retreat for transformative climate adaptation,” Science, 372: 1294-1299. 

L. Berrang-Ford, A.R. Siders et al. “A systematic global stocktake of evidence on human adaptation to climate change,Nature Climate Change, 11: 989-1000. 

A.R. Siders, A.L. Pierce, “Deciding how to make climate change adaptation decisions,” Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 52: 1-8.

N. Ulibarri et al., “A global assessment of policy tools to support climate adaptation,” Climate Policy, 22: 77-96.

A.R. Siders, I.J. Ajibade, “Introduction: Managed retreat and environmental justice in a changing climate,” Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences (Special Issue Editors). 

C. Kraan, J. Niemann, M. Hino, A.R. Siders, K. Mach, “Evaluating and promoting equity in retreat through voluntary property buyouts,” Journal of Environmental Sciences & Studies.

A.R. Siders, I.J. Ajibade, D. Casagrande, “Transformative potential of managed retreat as climate adaptation,Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 50: 272-280.

M. Araos et al., “Equity in adaptation: A systematic global review,One Earth, 4: 1454-1467. 

L. Turek-Hankins, E. Coughlan de Perez, G. Scarpa, P. Shwerdtle, E. Joe, E. Galappaththi, E. French, S. Austin, C. Singh, M. Sina, A.R. Siders, M. van Aalst, S. Templeman, A. Nunbogu, L. Berrang-Ford, T. Agrawal, K. Mach, “Climate change adaptation to extreme heat: A global systematic review of implemented action,” Oxford Open Climate Change.

2020

M. Scott, M. Lennon, D. Tubridy, P. Marchman, A.R. Siders, K. Leilani Main, V. Herrmann, D. Butler, K. Frank, K. Bosomworth, R. Blanchi, C. Johnson. 2020. "Climate disruption and planning: Resistance or retreat?" Planning Theory & Practice, 21(1): 125-154, DOI: 10.1080/14649357.2020.1704130

2019 

A.R. Siders. 2019. "Managed retreat in the United States." One Earth, 1: 216-225, DOI: 10.1016/j.oneear.2019.09.008

A.R. Siders and J.M. Keenan. 2019. "Variables shaping coastal adaptation decisions to armor, nourish, and retreat in North Carolina." Ocean & Coastal Management, 183: 105023, DOI: 10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2019.105023 

A.R. Siders, M. Hino, K.J. Mach. 2019. "The case for strategic and managed climate retreat." Science, 365(6455): 761-763, DOI: 10.1126/science.aax8346 (Full Text available here)

K.J. Mach, C.M. Kraan, M. Hino, A.R. Siders, E.M. Johnston, C. Field. 2019. "Managed retreat through voluntary buyouts of flood-prone properties." Science Advances, 5(10): eaax8995 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aax8995 

A.R. Siders and C. Hulet. 2019. "Climigration and the Private Sector." Community Development Innovation Review (Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco) 14(1): 79-86. 

A.R. Siders. 2019.Adaptive capacity to climate change: A synthesis of concepts, methods, and findings in a fragmented field.” WIREs Climate Change, e573 DOI: 10.1002/wcc.573 

2018 

A.R. Siders. 2018. "Social justice implications of US managed retreat buyout programs." Climatic Change, 152: 239-257. DOI: 10.1007/s10584-018-2272-5 

2017 

A.R. Siders. 2017. "A role for strategies in urban climate change adaptation planning: Lessons from London." Regional Environmental Change, 17(6): 1801-10 DOI: 10.1007/s10113-017-1153-1

2016 

E. Grubert & A.R. Siders. 2016. "Benefits and applications of interdisciplinary digital tools for environmental meta-reviews and analyses." Environmental Research Letters, 11(9): 093001 DOI: 0.1088/1748-9326/11/9/093001

A.R. Siders, R. Stanley, K.M. Lewis. 2016. "A dynamic ocean management proposal for the Bering Strait region." Marine Policy, 74: 177-185 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpol.2016.09.028 


Book Chapters

Forthcoming 

L. Duckert, A.R. Siders, “Crisis and Quietus: Climate change and emotional turmoil in Harvestella,” in Playing to Save the World: Environmental Humanities and the Video Game (Aliano, ed.) 

2022

K. Mach, M. Hino, A.R. Siders, S. Koller, C. Kraan, J. Niemann, B. Sanders, “From flood control to flood adaptation: Managing changing risks and promoting just well-being,” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Environmental Science (Water Resources Management and Policy volume).

O'Neill, B., M. van Aalst, Z. Zaiton Ibrahim, L. Berrang Ford, S. Bhadwal, H. Buhaug, …. A.R. Siders … Z. Zhang [114 authors], “Key Risks Across Sectors and Regions.” In: Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press.

2021

A.R. Siders, B. Ristroph, “Adaptation – Federal Law,” in Law of Environmental Protection (C. Harris, ed., Environmental Law Institute, Reuters).

A.R. Siders, M. Rockman, “Navigating the Complexity and Creativity of Cultural Heritage in Climate Adaptation,” in Preservation, Sustainability and Equity (E. Avrami, ed., Columbia Books on Architecture and the City).

A.R. Siders, L. Gerber-Chavez*, “Resilience for whom? Insights from COVID-19 for social equity in resilience,” in COVID-19: Systemic Risk and Resilience (I. Linkov, J. Keenan, B. Trump, eds., Springer).

2016

A.R. Siders. 2016. “Incoherent Resilience -- Towards a common language for Climate Change Adaptation, Disaster Risk Reduction, and Sustainable Development.” In The Role of International Environmental Law in Disaster Risk Reduction, edited by Jacqueline Peel and David Fisher. Brill. 

2012 

Michael Gerrard and A.R. Siders. 2012. “Mexico's General Climate Change Law.” In What are the next steps? Legal perspectives on Mexico's General Law on Climate Change. Mexico-US Climate Law Network. 

Policy Reports 

N. Shepherd, J. Cohen, W. Carmen, M. Chundu, C. Ernsten, O. Guevara, F. Haas, S. Hussain, F. Riede, A.R. Siders, C. Singh, P. Sithole, A. Troi, 2021. “’Solutions’ White Paper,” The role of cultural and natural heritage for climate action, International Co-Sponsored Meeting on Culture, Heritage, and Climate Change, IPCC and ICOMOS.

A.R. Siders, L. Gerber-Chavez. 2021. US floodplain buyouts: Common practices and lessons learned (The Nature Conservancy) (Disaster Research Center Report 63).

A.R. Siders, L. Gerber-Chavez, S. Adams, D. Richardson, K. Reece. 2021. Local Wetland and Watercourse Regulations: Potential Tools for Floodplain Management, Lessons from Three New York Towns (The Nature Conservancy) (Disaster Research Center Report 62). 

A. Reilly, A.R. Siders, D. Niemeier. 2021. Eliminate billion-dollar disasters: Equitable science-based US disaster policy for a resilient future (Day One Project).

F. Bendimerad, J. Declan, M. Padilla, A. Dalena, A.R. Siders, R. Crozier, V. Seva, R. Tanhueco. 2015. Naga City Case Studies: Risk Sensitive Land-Use Planning and Incentives for Disaster Risk Reduction (Asian Development Bank, EMI; Philippines).

S. Barley-Greenfield*, J. Huang*, J. Pullano*, R. Stanley*, M. Caldwell, J. Martinez, A.R. Siders. 2015. Local barriers to nature-based strategies for coastal hazard mitigation in California (Stanford Law School).

S. Barley-Greenfield*, J. Huang*, J. Pullano*, R. Stanley*, M. Caldwell, J. Martinez, A.R. Siders. 2015. Legal analysis of eligibility of nature-based flood mitigation strategies for FEMA Hazard Mitigation Funding (Stanford Law School).

A.R. Siders. 2013. Managed Coastal Retreat: A Handbook of Tools, Case Studies, and Lessons Learned. New York, NY: Center for Climate Change Law, Columbia Law School. 

Coding Tools and Protocols

L. Berrang-Ford, A. Lesnikowski, A.P. Fischer, A.R. Siders, et al. 2021. “The Global Adaptation Mapping Initiative (GAMI): Part 1 – Introduction and overview of methods,” Nature Protocol Exchange, 10.21203/rs.3.pex-1240/v1

A. Lesnikowski, L. Berrang-Ford, A.R. Siders, et al. 2021. “The Global Adaptation Mapping Initiative (GAMI): Part 3 – Coding protocol,” Nature Protocol Exchange, 10.21203/rs.3.pex-1242/v1

A.R. Siders. 2020. Coder reliability and intercoder reconciliation for qualitative meta-analyses and syntheses, GitHub repository (R Code); 10.5281/zenodo.4010763

A.R. Siders. 2017. R script for creating a cross-citation network, GitHub repository. 10.5281/zenodo.1422870

Other

A.E. Cravens, R. Nelson, A.R. Siders, N. Ulibarri, “Why four scientists spent a year say no,” Nature Careers. 10.1038/d41586-022-02325-3 

A.R. Siders, 2021. "Agenda for climate relocation research and practice." Proceedings of the Perry World House Global Shifts Symposium. 

A.R. Siders, C.M. Brooks, A.E. Cravens, R.L. Nelson, D.R. Reineman, N. Ulibarri. 2020. "How to beat isolation? Academic feedback groups fit the bill and promote growth as scholars and humans." Nature Careers. 10.1038/d41586-020-01432-3 

A.R. Siders. 2017. "Climate adaptation: Past US floods give lessons in retreat." Nature 548: 281

A.R. Siders. 2013. “Anatomy of a Buyout Program -- New York Post-Superstorm Sandy.” 16th Annual Conference on Litigating Takings Challenges to Land Use and Environmental Regulations. New York, NY: Vermont Law School. 

Public Writings 

A.R. Siders, K.J. Mach. 2021. "Managed retreat, done right, can reinvent cities so they're better for everyone - and avoid harm from flooding, heat, fires," The Conversation

K.J. Mach, A.R. Siders. 2021. "Is your town threatened by climate change? Consider a managed retreat," New York Times

A.R. Siders, A. Reilly, D. Niemeier. 2021. "After 22 billion-dollar disasters in 2020, it's time U.S. disaster policy was made equitable, effective, and climate ready: Here's how," The Conversation. 

A.R. Siders, 2018. “Government-funded buyouts after disasters are slow and inequitable – here’s how that could change,” The Conversation

A.R. Siders, 2017. “Art and science in the Watersnood Museum: Remembering the Netherlands’ deadliest flood,Europe Up Close.