IMPROVING THE ECONOMIC RESILIENCY OF RURAL COMMUNITIES UNDER NATURAL DISASTER AND ENVIRONMENTAL RISK

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: OTHER GRANTS
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 0227776
• Grant No.: 2012-38420-30202
• Cumulative Award Amt.: $238,500.00
• Proposal No.: 2011-03867
• Project Start Date: Feb 1, 2012
• Project End Date: Jan 31, 2017
• Grant Year: 2012
• Program Code: [KK]- National Needs Graduate Fellowships Program

Recipient Organization
LOUSIANA STATE UNIVERSITY AGRRICULTURAL CENTER
PO BOX 25071
BATON ROUGE,LA 70894

Performing Department
Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness

Non Technical Summary
Rural and coastal communities, businesses, farmers, fisheries, and local governments across the Gulf Coast and Louisiana Delta regions have struggled to recover financially from hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Ike, the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the 2011 flooding of the Mississippi River, and the tornadoes of April and May 2011. Although the final influences of these disaster events in 2010 and 2011 are not yet known, they are already negatively influencing the economic viability of many rural communities throughout Louisiana. These events have hastened and heightened the need for qualified PhDs who are trained address these needs. PhD Fellows in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness at LSU will have the opportunity to work with faculty in two established centers of national prominence: the Center for Natural Resource and Policy Economics and the Louisiana Center for Rural Initiatives, which provide unique learning and professional opportunities that could not be found at any other academic institution. Participation in the activities of these centers will enhance the student's professional expertise and provide them the opportunities to interact with faculty in a variety of academic disciplines. In addittion to the aforementioned opportunities, the Fellows will have the opportunity to work with highly recognized faculty and be given a tailored program of study that ensures they will be well prepared to enter careers that address economic issues of rural communities dealing with natural disaster and environmental risk. The outputs from the Fellows' research will be made available to faculty, disaster agencies, rural agribusinesses, farmers, and governmental agencies to improve the resiliency and economic viability of rural communities that are susceptible to natural disasters and environmental risks.

Animal Health Component

34%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

33%

Applied

34%

Developmental

33%

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
605	6110	3010	34%
608	6110	3010	33%
805	6050	3010	33%

Knowledge Area
805 - Community Institutions, Health, and Social Services; 605 - Natural Resource and Environmental Economics; 608 - Community Resource Planning and Development;

Subject Of Investigation
6110 - Economy of the United States and sectors thereof; 6050 - Communities, areas, and regions;

Field Of Science
3010 - Economics;

Keywords

resource economics, disaster resiliency, economic and rural

development

Goals / Objectives
The goal of the program is to produce trained and capable economists who use their knowledge and skill set to improve the resiliency and ultimately the economic viability of rural communities and agricultural stakeholders who reside in these communities. The outputs from the Fellows' research will be used and made available to a variety of stakeholders such as agribusinesses, farmers, government agencies (at the local, state, and federal levels), disaster agencies, extension and research faculty to formulate and develop best management practices as they relate to the resiliency of rural communities.

Project Methods
First, the Department seeks to serve society by expanding the knowledge and application of economic and business science to a wide range of problems in agriculture, policy, natural resource use, agribusiness, and rural development. According to the National Research Council's Data Based Assessment of the Research Doctorate Programs in the US, the program at LSU, especially in the South Central region of the US (Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana), is among the stronger agricultural economics programs (2nd in research activity, 2nd in student support outcomes, and 2nd in diversity). The last formal CSREES review of the Department noted that the Department is poised to make significant new and additional contributions in the future. Many of the enhancements envisioned by that review team are currently coming to fruition, including quantitative and qualitative growth in the graduate program, increased productivity from research programs (both in terms of quantity and quality), and increasing amounts of state, regional, and national recognition for the research program. Second, one of the Department's strategic goals has been to strengthen the competitive position of the graduate program both quantitatively and qualitatively, with a focus on enhancing the basic and applied economic research that is generated to assist the rural citizens, producer groups, agribusiness, and communities of Louisiana, the Gulf Coast Region, and the Delta Region. To accomplish this goal, Fellows will have the opportunity to work closely with faculty and other graduate students in two established centers of excellence in the LSU system: the Center for Natural Resource and Policy Economics (CNREP) and the Louisiana Center for Rural Initiatives (LCRI) both of which are directed by members of the Department. The centers provide unique learning and professional opportunities that will enhance the Fellow's professional expertise and skill set. The Fellows will have the opportunity to take an active role in a Department that is becoming increasingly more visible on regional and national level because of its programs designed to assist rural communities and agricultural industries in addressing resource economic issues. The recent grant activities of the PD and Co-PDs in the areas of disaster resiliency, resource economics, rural and economic development, and farm prosperity serves as an indication that their research is well respected and valued by their peers and will serve to augment the Graduate Fellows experience and will give them a comparative advantage over their peers studying at other institutions. The commitment by the LSU System to strengthen and grow the Department, the quality of the Department's faculty and their grant activity, and the need for analysis and prescriptive remedies that will allow the rural communities and their associated agricultural industries across the Gulf Coast and Delta Regions to successfully emerge from past, current, and future natural and environmental disasters, makes LSU the perfect place for Fellows in resource economics.

Progress 02/01/16 to 01/31/17

Outputs
Target Audience:Presentations were targeted primarily to academic audience stakeholders and professional conference meeting atendees. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Fellows had the opportunity to present research at a variety of professional and discipline appropriate conferences. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results of the research have been disseminated via professional conferences (both academic and policy/practitioner-focused). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Fellows were able to evaluate both the financial vulnerability of local governments to natural disasters as well as understand the net present value of disaster vulnerability and the marginal value that wetlands have on mitigating that future vulnerability.

Publications

• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2016 Citation: Boutwell, J.L., J.V. Westra, R. Caffey. Using the Expected Damage Function Approach to Valuing Wetlands as Storm Buffers in Louisiana. CNREP 2016: Challenges of Natural Resource Economics and Policy: The Fifth National Forum on Socioeconomic Research in Coastal Systems. New Orleans, La. March, 2016.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2016 Citation: Boutwell, J.L., J.V. Westra, R. Caffey. Analyzing Economic Vulnerability along a Rapidly Changing Coast: The Cost of Wetland Loss. Workshop. Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association 2016 Workshop on Economics of Changing Coastal Resources: the Nexus of Food, Energy, and Water Systems. Bar Harbor, Me. June, 2016.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2016 Citation: Boutwell, J.L. Valuing Ecosystem Services from Coastal Natural Infrastrucure. Session Panelist. A Community on Ecosystem Services 2016 Conference. Jacksonville, Fl. December, 2016.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Boutwell, J.L. and J.V. Westra, 2016. The Role of Wetlands for Mitigating Economic Damage from Hurricanes. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 52(6), pp.1472-1481.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2016 Citation: Boutwell, J. L. The Economics of Ecosystem Services Provided by Wetlands on Agricultural Landscapes in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley. Environments. In Review.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2016 Citation: Boutwell, J. L., J.V. Westra, R. Caffey. Assessing the Cost of Wetland Loss in Louisiana. Society and Natural Resources. In Review.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2016 Citation: Biswas, Trina, J. Matthew Fannin, Deborah Williams, and Vikash Dangal. 2016. Developing a Clustering Approach for Regional Identification Using Multiple Functions. Selected Paper Presented at the 55th Annual Meetings of the Southern Regional Science Association. March 31st-April 2nd, Washington, DC.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2016 Citation: Williams, Deborah and J. Matthew Fannin. 2016. Unpaving Paradise: Modeling Who Gets to Enjoy and When. Poster Presented at Center for Natural Resource Economics and Policy Challenges of Natural Resource Economics and Policy Fifth National Forum on Socioeconomic Research in Coastal Systems, March 2122, 2016, New Orleans, LA.

Progress 02/01/12 to 01/31/17

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience of this research grant were both academics and as well as decision support personnel including state and local government decision makers and prviate sector practiioners. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Multiple professional development opportunities were provided for Fellows during the project duration. Fellows participated in regional and national disciplinary conferences presenting multiple poster and paper presentations in front of academic peers. In addition, the Fellows participated on two occassions (2013 and 2016) in helping the department organize two National Conference Forums on Socioeconomic Research in Coastal Systems. They moderated and presented in session on topics of coastal resilience. Further, Fellows participated in organizing and facilitating "train-the-trainer" workshops focused on financial resilience of local governments to natural disaster risk. Fellows were further involved in developing train-the-trainer curriculum taking university research and developing a guide for facilitating local community stakeholders in providing information for making optimal local government financial planning for future tropical natural disasters. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Fellows delivered research to manypolicy and practitioner audiences. In particular, Fellows facilitated advisory panel meetings of local municipal stakeholders and presented materials that helped a municipal government identify the optimal levels of liquidity to hold for a future hurricane disaster event in order to finance debris removal and emergency operation expenses. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Three Ph.D. students (Fellows)received graduate education that focused their coursework, research and outreach on agricultural and rural community economic and disaster resilience with a geographic target ofthe Gulf Coast region of the United States. One Fellow obtained a doctoral degree in Agricultural Economics duing the duration of this project while a second student has finished graduate education and is completing her dissertation.

Publications

• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2013 Citation: Boutwell, J.L. Identifying Stakeholders and Distinguishing Environmental Commodities for Wetland Ecosystem Services: Challenges for Economic Modeling. LSU Wetland Symposium. Baton Rouge, La. February, 2013.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Boutwell, J.L., J.V. Westra. Economic Risk, Tropical Storm Intensity and Coastal Wetlands: A Factor Analysis. Oral presentation. SAEA Annual Meeting. Dallas, Tx. February, 2014.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Boutwell, J.L., J.V. Westra. Factor Analysis: A Novel Approach for Exploring the Relationship between Disturbances, Communities and the Natural Environment. Oral presentation. NOAA Social Coast Forum. Charleston, SC. February, 2014.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Boutwell, J.L., J.V. Westra. Managing Coastal Ecosystems to Maximize Resilience to Disasters. Oral presentation. NOAA Social Coast Forum. Charleston, SC. February, 2014.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Boutwell, J.L., J.V. Westra. Wetlands as Storm Buffers: Case Studies from Louisiana. Oral presentation. Agricultural and Applied Economics Association 2014 Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, Minnesota. July, 2014.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Boutwell, J.L. The Economics of Wetland Restoration and Coastal Risk Management. Oral presentation. Louisiana State University Coastal Ecology Coffee Talk. School of Energy, Coast and the Environment, Baton Rouge, La. September, 2014.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Boutwell, J.L., J.V. Westra, R. Caffey. Considering the Influence of Storm Intensity, Population Size and Wetland Abundance on the Value of Wetlands as Storm Buffers. Oral presentation. Gulf Estuarine Research Society Biennial Meeting. Port Aransas, Tx. October, 2014.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Boutwell, J.L., J.V. Westra. Context-Dependent Values of Wetlands for Protection against Coastal Storms. Poster. Restore Americas Estuaries and The Coastal Society Seventh National Summit on Coastal and Estuarine Restoration. Washington, DC. November, 2014.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Boutwell, J.L. Economics of Coastal Systems for Hurricane Risk Reduction. Oral presentation. U.S.-China International Workshop on Key Processes and Regulation of Wetland Ecosystems. Baton Rouge, La. November, 2014.
• Type: Other Status: Accepted Year Published: 2015 Citation: Boutwell, J.L. Economics of Natural Systems for Hurricane Risk Reduction. Oral presentation. W-3133 Federal Workshop on Benefits and Costs of Natural Resources Policies Affecting Ecosystem Services on Public and Private Lands. Pensacola, Fl. February, 2015.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2015 Citation: Boutwell, J.L., J.V. Westra. The Economic Value of Wetlands as Storm Buffers. Oral presentation. Southern Agricultural Economics Association Annual Meeting. Atlanta, Ga. February, 2015.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2015 Citation: Boutwell, J.L., J.V. Westra. Interactions between Wetlands, Economies and Hurricanes in a Changing Climate. Oral presentation. American Water Resources Association Conference on Climate Change Adaptation. New Orleans, La. June, 2015.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2015 Citation: Boutwell, J.L. The True Cost of Wetland Loss in Louisiana: Toward the Tipping Point. Award acceptance presentation. American Shore and Beach Preservation Association Conference. New Orleans, La. October, 2015.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Boutwell, J.L., J.V. Westra. Evidence of Diminishing Marginal Product of Wetlands for Damage Mitigation. Natural Resources. 2015, 6, 48-55. Online at http://file.scirp.org/pdf/NR_2015012617093585.pdf.
• Type: Other Status: Accepted Year Published: 2015 Citation: Boutwell, J.L. New Research on Wetland Loss in Louisiana. Coastal Voice. Invited column, ASBPA periodical. November, 2015.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2015 Citation: Fannin, J. Matthew, Deborah Williams, Samson Akinfenwa, and Joshua Detre. 2015. Measuring Fiscal Stress of County Governments in the United States. Selected Poster Presented at the 47th Annual Meetings of the Southern Agricultural Economics Association, Feb 14, Atlanta, GA.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2016 Citation: Boutwell, J.L., J.V. Westra, R. Caffey. Using the Expected Damage Function Approach to Valuing Wetlands as Storm Buffers in Louisiana. CNREP 2016: Challenges of Natural Resource Economics and Policy: The Fifth National Forum on Socioeconomic Research in Coastal Systems. New Orleans, La. March, 2016.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2016 Citation: Boutwell, J.L., J.V. Westra, R. Caffey. Analyzing Economic Vulnerability along a Rapidly Changing Coast: The Cost ofWetland Loss. Workshop. Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association 2016 Workshop on Economics of Changing Coastal Resources: the Nexus of Food, Energy, and Water Systems. Bar Harbor, Me. June, 2016.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2016 Citation: Boutwell, J.L. Valuing Ecosystem Services from Coastal Natural Infrastructure. Session Panelist. A Community on Ecosystem Services 2016 Conference. Jacksonville, Fl. December, 2016.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Boutwell, J.L. and J.V. Westra, 2016. The Role of Wetlands for Mitigating Economic Damage from Hurricanes. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 52(6), pp.1472-1481.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2016 Citation: Boutwell, J. L. The Economics of Ecosystem Services Provided by Wetlands on Agricultural Landscapes in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley. Environments. In Review.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2016 Citation: Boutwell, J. L., J.V. Westra, R. Caffey. Assessing the Cost of Wetland Loss in Louisiana. Society and Natural Resources. In Review.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2016 Citation: Biswas, Trina, J. Matthew Fannin, Deborah Williams, and Vikash Dangal. 2016. Developing a Clustering Approach for Regional Identification Using Multiple Functions. Selected Paper Presented at the 55th Annual Meetings of the Southern Regional Science Association. March 31st-April 2nd, Washington, DC.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2016 Citation: Williams, Deborah and J. Matthew Fannin. 2016. Unpaving Paradise: Modeling Who Gets to Enjoy and When. Poster Presented at Center for Natural Resource Economics and Policy Challenges of Natural Resource Economics and Policy Fifth National Forum on Socioeconomic Research in Coastal Systems, March 2122, 2016, New Orleans, LA.
• Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Boutwell, J.L. The Vulnerability of Louisiana to Hurricane Damage and the Value of Wetlands for Hurricane Risk Reduction. Unpublished PhD Dissertation. Louisiana State University.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2013 Citation: Salassi, Michael E., Kayla Brown, Brian M. Hilbun, Michael A. Deliberto, Kenneth A. Gravois, Tyler B. Mark, and Lawrence L. Falconer. "Farm-Scale Cost of Producing Perennial Energy Cane as a Biofuel Feedstock." BioEnergy Research (2013): 1-11
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2013 Citation: Brown, Kayla, Samjhauta Wagle, and James M. Fannin, Introduction to Representative Storm Modeling, presented as part of the project Measuring the Relative Financial Vulnerability of Municipal Governments to Tropical Natural Disaster Risk, Foley, AL, June 18, 2013.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2013 Citation: Brown, Kayla, James M. Fannin, and Joshua D. Detre, Fiscal Health Revisited: Evaluating County Government Finances as Local Government Vulnerabilities Increase, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, AAEA & CAES Joint Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., August 46, 2013.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2013 Citation: Boutwell, J.L., J.V. Westra. Wetlands as protective buffers: relationships between storms, stakeholders and the environment. Oral presentation. American Water Resources Association Summer Meeting. Harford, Connecticut. June, 2013.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2013 Citation: Brown, Kayla, Michael Salassi, and Paul Darby, Energy Cane Biofuel Feedstock Production Cost Estimates Under Alternative Yield and Crop Cycle Length Specifications, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, 2013 Annual Meeting, February 2  February 6, 2013, Orlando, Florida.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2013 Citation: Boutwell, J.L., J.V. Westra. A Factor Analysis of Economic Damages from Coastal Storms in Louisiana. Oral presentation. Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Annual Meeting. Ithaca, New York. June, 2013.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2013 Citation: Boutwell, J.L., J.V. Westra. An Estimate of Economic Losses to Producers of Row Crops in Louisiana Resulting from the 2011 Mississippi River Flood. Oral Presentation. Delta States Farm Management Meeting. Mississippi. May, 2013.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2013 Citation: Boutwell, J.L., J.V. Westra. Estimated Economic Loss to Producers of Row Crops in Louisiana Resulting from the 2011 Mississippi River Flood. Poster Presentation. Louisiana Remote Sensing and GIS Workshop. Lafayette, La. April, 2013.

Progress 02/01/15 to 01/31/16

Outputs
Target Audience:Presentations were targeted primarily to academic audience stakeholders and professional conference meetings. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Fellows had the opportunity to present research at a variety of professional and discipline appropriate conferences. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results of the research have been disseminated via professional conferences. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Fellows will submitting papers, posters, and presentations. Fellows will also accompany PIs to extension meetings to learn how to take academic research and make it applicable to the general public. Finally students will be encouraged to participate in grant writing activities related to disaster resiliency.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Fellows were able to evaluate both the financial vulnerability of local governments to natural disasters as well as understand the net present value of disaster vulnerability and the marginal value that wetlands have on mitigating that future vulnerability.

Publications

• Type: Other Status: Accepted Year Published: 2015 Citation: Boutwell, J.L. Economics of Natural Systems for Hurricane Risk Reduction. Oral presentation. W-3133 Federal Workshop on Benefits and Costs of Natural Resources Policies Affecting Ecosystem Services on Public and Private Lands. Pensacola, Fl. February, 2015.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2015 Citation: Boutwell, J.L., J.V. Westra. The Economic Value of Wetlands as Storm Buffers. Oral presentation. Southern Agricultural Economics Association Annual Meeting. Atlanta, Ga. February, 2015.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2015 Citation: Boutwell, J.L., J.V. Westra. Interactions between Wetlands, Economies and Hurricanes in a Changing Climate. Oral presentation. American Water Resources Association Conference on Climate Change Adaptation. New Orleans, La. June, 2015.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2015 Citation: Boutwell, J.L. The True Cost of Wetland Loss in Louisiana: Toward the Tipping Point. Award acceptance presentation. American Shore and Beach Preservation Association Conference. New Orleans, La. October, 2015.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Boutwell, J.L., J.V. Westra. Evidence of Diminishing Marginal Product of Wetlands for Damage Mitigation. Natural Resources. 2015, 6, 48-55. Online at http://file.scirp.org/pdf/NR_2015012617093585.pdf.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Boutwell, J.L. New Research on Wetland Loss in Louisiana. Coastal Voice. Invited column, ASBPA periodical. November, 2015.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2015 Citation: Fannin, J. Matthew, Deborah Williams, Samson Akinfenwa, and Joshua Detre. 2015. Measuring Fiscal Stress of County Governments in the United States. Selected Poster Presented at the 47th Annual Meetings of the Southern Agricultural Economics Association, Feb 14, Atlanta, GA.

Progress 02/01/14 to 01/31/15

Outputs
Target Audience:Presentations were targeted primarily to academic audience stakeholders and professional conference meetings. Changes/Problems:During the reporting year, one dissertation fellow left the degree program. A new dissertation fellow replaced the individual that left and picked up on research projects in progress left by the departed Fellow. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Students had the opportunity to present research at a variety of professional and discipline appropriate conferences. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results of the research have been disseminated via professional conferences, webinar, and non-academic conferences for rural community and local government leaders, and via an extension handbook. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Students will submitting papers, posters, and presentations. Fellows will also accompany PIs to extension meetings to learn how to take academic research and make it applicable to the general public. Finally students will be encourage to participate in grant writing activities related to disaster resiliency.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The Fellows assisted the Co-PI, Dr. Fannin, in finalzing a revision to an extension handbook on financial disaster resiliency. In addition, fellows assisted Dr. Fannin in materials delivered as extension material via four presentations on hazard mitigation and financial disaster resilience.

Publications

• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Boutwell, J.L., J.V. Westra. Economic Risk, Tropical Storm Intensity and Coastal Wetlands: A Factor Analysis. Oral presentation. SAEA Annual Meeting. Dallas, Tx. February, 2014.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Boutwell, J.L., J.V. Westra. Factor Analysis: A Novel Approach for Exploring the Relationship between Disturbances, Communities and the Natural Environment. Oral presentation. NOAA Social Coast Forum. Charleston, SC. February, 2014.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Boutwell, J.L., J.V. Westra. Managing Coastal Ecosystems to Maximize Resilience to Disasters. Oral presentation. NOAA Social Coast Forum. Charleston, SC. February, 2014.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Boutwell, J.L., J.V. Westra. Wetlands as Storm Buffers: Case Studies from Louisiana. Oral presentation. Agricultural and Applied Economics Association 2014 Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, Minnesota. July, 2014.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Boutwell, J.L. The Economics of Wetland Restoration and Coastal Risk Management. Oral presentation. Louisiana State University Coastal Ecology Coffee Talk. School of Energy, Coast and the Environment, Baton Rouge, La. September, 2014.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Boutwell, J.L., J.V. Westra, R. Caffey. Considering the Influence of Storm Intensity, Population Size and Wetland Abundance on the Value of Wetlands as Storm Buffers. Oral presentation. Gulf Estuarine Research Society Biennial Meeting. Port Aransas, Tx. October, 2014.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Boutwell, J.L., J.V. Westra. Context-Dependent Values of Wetlands for Protection against Coastal Storms. Poster. Restore Americas Estuaries and The Coastal Society Seventh National Summit on Coastal and Estuarine Restoration. Washington, DC. November, 2014.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Boutwell, J.L. Economics of Coastal Systems for Hurricane Risk Reduction. Oral presentation. U.S.-China International Workshop on Key Processes and Regulation of Wetland Ecosystems. Baton Rouge, La. November, 2014.

Progress 02/01/13 to 01/31/14

Outputs
Target Audience: Several presentations were delivered tovariety of stakeholders including academics, county extension agents, community members, on the effects of environmental, natural, and manmade disastersto economic resiliency. Emails,letters, andthe LSU's Office of Equity, Diversity & Community Outreach were used to contact and attract potential students for the fellowship. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Students had the opportunity to present research at a variety of professional and discipline appropriate conferences. In addition, monthly meetings were held withFellows, PIs, and faculty/staff discussingresearch and extension activities related to disaster resiliency. These meetings servedto allowactivities to becritiqued and improve the quality of work and programs. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? The results of the research have been disseminated via professional conferences,webinar, and non-academic conferences for rural community and local government leaders, and via an extension handbook. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Students will submitting papers, posters, and presentations.Fellows will also accompany PI's to extension meetings to learn how to takeacademic research and make it applicable to the general public. Finally students will be encourage to participate in grant writing activities related to disaster resiliency.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? A female student was offered and accepted a National Needs Fellowship. She starts the program in January of 2014. Current students are in the process of generating researchwhich will positivily impact rural communities affected by natural disasters. The Fellowsassisted theCo-PI, Dr. Fannin, inrevisingthe extension handbook on financial disaster resiliency. In addition, Dr. Fannindelivered the extension material via two presentations and one webinar.

Publications

• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2013 Citation: Boutwell, J.L., J.V. Westra. Wetlands as protective buffers: relationships between storms, stakeholders and the environment. Oral presentation. American Water Resources Association Summer Meeting. Harford, Connecticut. June, 2013.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Salassi, Michael E., Kayla Brown, Brian M. Hilbun, Michael A. Deliberto, Kenneth A. Gravois, Tyler B. Mark, and Lawrence L. Falconer. "Farm-Scale Cost of Producing Perennial Energy Cane as a Biofuel Feedstock." BioEnergy Research (2013): 1-11
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2013 Citation: Brown, Kayla, Samjhauta Wagle, and James M. Fannin, Introduction to Representative Storm Modeling, presented as part of the project Measuring the Relative Financial Vulnerability of Municipal Governments to Tropical Natural Disaster Risk, Foley, AL, June 18, 2013.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2013 Citation: Boutwell, J.L., J.V. Westra. A Factor Analysis of Economic Damages from Coastal Storms in Louisiana. Oral presentation. Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Annual Meeting. Ithaca, New York. June, 2013.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2013 Citation: Boutwell, J.L., J.V. Westra. An Estimate of Economic Losses to Producers of Row Crops in Louisiana Resulting from the 2011 Mississippi River Flood. Oral Presentation. Delta States Farm Management Meeting. Mississippi. May, 2013.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2013 Citation: Boutwell, J.L., J.V. Westra. Estimated Economic Loss to Producers of Row Crops in Louisiana Resulting from the 2011 Mississippi River Flood. Poster Presentation. Louisiana Remote Sensing and GIS Workshop. Lafayette, La. April, 2013.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2013 Citation: Boutwell, J.L. Identifying Stakeholders and Distinguishing Environmental Commodities for Wetland Ecosystem Services: Challenges for Economic Modeling. LSU Wetland Symposium. Baton Rouge, La. February, 2013.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2013 Citation: Brown, Kayla, James M. Fannin, and Joshua D. Detre, Fiscal Health Revisited: Evaluating County Government Finances as Local Government Vulnerabilities Increase, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, AAEA & CAES Joint Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., August 46, 2013.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2013 Citation: Brown, Kayla, Michael Salassi, and Paul Darby, Energy Cane Biofuel Feedstock Production Cost Estimates Under Alternative Yield and Crop Cycle Length Specifications, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, 2013 Annual Meeting, February 2  February 6, 2013, Orlando, Florida.

Progress 02/01/12 to 01/31/13

Outputs
OUTPUTS: One fellowship, was awarded to a female, who will start the PhD program in January 2013. Among other applicants, two additional female students have been selected to visit LSU for on-campus interviews. PARTICIPANTS: Josh Detre, (PI); Ashok Mishra, Matt Fannin, Kurt Guidry, Wes Harrison, Rex Caffey, Jeff Gillespie, Richard Kazmierczak, LSU AgCenter. Collaborators include: The LSU The Office of Equity, Diversity & Community Outreach (EDCO), Agricultural & Applied Economics Association, Louisiana Sea Grant, and Center for Natural Resource Economics & Policy. TARGET AUDIENCES: The target audiences for this project research are domestic students who wished to obtain a PhD in agricultural economics, with a research emphasis on economic resiliency or rural communities, and in particular those communities that face natural disaster and environmental risk. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
To assist in national and regional recruiting efforts for these Fellowships, internet-based advertising was posted on the Department's web page as well as through the Department's Twitter account and Facebook page. Use of social media enhanced recruiting and provided a broader pool of applicants. In addition to the Department's own social media accounts, the fellowship announcements were distributed on relevant LSU Facebook Pages, and through the Facebook page of Academic Keys. In addition, emails were sent out to various discipline relevant list servs as part of the recruitment efforts and contained a direct link to the Department's Facebook page and the announcements of the fellowships. LSU's Office of Equity, Diversity & Community Outreach (EDCO) was also utilized in our recruitment efforts of underrepresented minorities for these Fellows. Finally faculty members recruited at various professional meetings.

Publications

• No publications reported this period