Volcanic hazards can cause huge disruptions to economy, infrastructure and society in general, not to mention the loss of lives. Currently, about 500 million people live on or close to an active volcano, a large number of which are in emerging and developing countries where there are generally fewer resources to be able to prepare for and mitigate the effects, and development is more likely to be hindered.
CARIBRISK is a NERC-funded interdisciplinary scoping study that began in December 2010 and aims to develop a network of research to increase the resilience to volcanic eruptions in the eastern Caribbean, Northern Andes and Central America.
This network has been established initially with the collaboration of our CARIBRISK partners overseas; from INGEOMINAS (Colombia), MVO (Montserrat), the Seismic Research Centre (University of the West Indies), INSEVUMEH (Guatemala) and Insituto Geofisico (Equador). Principle investigators from the UK include: Professor Steve Sparks (Director, UoB), Dr Jenni Barclay (UEA), Professor Mark Duffield (UoB), Dr Sue Loughlin (BGS), Dr Tom Mitchell (ODI), Professor David Pyle (University Oxford).
Through this collaboration we will establish what research is most important in assessing and improving resilience to volcanic hazards, investigating where our research can be improved and how it will be applied, especially in areas of preparedness, emergency response and recovery. It is hoped that CARIBRISK will lead into a larger project at a later date, in the greater Caribbean area.