TY - JOUR
T1 - University Population and Wildfire Risk
T2 - An Analysis of Perception-Based Variables and Geospatial Differences
AU - Wuerzer, Thomas
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 Applied Geography Conferences.
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - This research presents a novel perspective on university students, staff, and faculty and their perception of risk concerning wildfires in the fire-prone US State of Idaho. Past studies have conducted resident surveys in high-risk communities to investigate what factors make homeowners more likely to engage in mitigation activities, increasing communities’ resiliency. Research on a population without property ownership and using the wildland-urban interface (WUI) as activity and recreation spaces is limited. The main hypothesis is that a university population will have different perception and awareness levels in perception-based variables when comparing students to staff/faculty in a traditional survey and geospatial analysis. This study investigates Boise State University’s population’s risk perception using an online survey and interactive spatial assessment to examine differences between associated and geographically allocated risk spaces. Findings from perception mapping, binomial regression, and geostatistical analysis contrast current literature with traditional residents’ surveys. The explorative geostatistical analysis reveals distinct allocation patterns of perceived risk not captured in survey questions. Overall, findings promote a better understanding of where risk and awareness are apparent and suggest that wildfire communication efforts should reach out to all users of the WUI.
AB - This research presents a novel perspective on university students, staff, and faculty and their perception of risk concerning wildfires in the fire-prone US State of Idaho. Past studies have conducted resident surveys in high-risk communities to investigate what factors make homeowners more likely to engage in mitigation activities, increasing communities’ resiliency. Research on a population without property ownership and using the wildland-urban interface (WUI) as activity and recreation spaces is limited. The main hypothesis is that a university population will have different perception and awareness levels in perception-based variables when comparing students to staff/faculty in a traditional survey and geospatial analysis. This study investigates Boise State University’s population’s risk perception using an online survey and interactive spatial assessment to examine differences between associated and geographically allocated risk spaces. Findings from perception mapping, binomial regression, and geostatistical analysis contrast current literature with traditional residents’ surveys. The explorative geostatistical analysis reveals distinct allocation patterns of perceived risk not captured in survey questions. Overall, findings promote a better understanding of where risk and awareness are apparent and suggest that wildfire communication efforts should reach out to all users of the WUI.
KW - GIS Optimized Hot Spot Analysis
KW - risk perception
KW - university population
KW - Wildfire
KW - wildland urban interface
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U2 - 10.1080/23754931.2024.2397374
DO - 10.1080/23754931.2024.2397374
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85202797835
SN - 2375-4931
JO - Papers in Applied Geography
JF - Papers in Applied Geography
ER -