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Society For Risk Analysis Annual Meeting 2008
Risk Analysis: the Science and the Art
Session Schedule & Abstracts
* Disclaimer: All presentations represent the views of the authors, and not the organizations that support their research. Please apply the standard disclaimer that any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations in abstracts, posters, and presentations at the meeting are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other organization or agency. Meeting attendees and authors should be aware that this disclaimer is intended to apply to all abstracts contained in this document. Authors who wish to emphasize this disclaimer should do so in their presentation or poster. In an effort to make the abstracts as concise as possible and easy for meeting participants to read, the abstracts have been formatted such that they exclude references to papers, affiliations, and/or funding sources. Authors who wish to provide attendees with this information should do so in their presentation or poster.
Common abbreviations
RT1 |
| Chair(s): Martin Clauberg |
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RT1.1 Collection and development of an SRA online risk tutorial resource. Clauberg M*, Louis G, Hassenzahl DM; University of Tennessee, Knoxville & Dr. Clauberg--Consulting; Univ. Virginia; UNLV claubergm@mindspring.com Abstract: Among the goals of the SRA Education Committee (EduComm) is the provision of resources to individuals who teach risk analysis and promoting opportunities for individuals who want to learn risk analysis. Both of these goals are reflected in the EduComm initiative to collect, categorize, and synoptically describe freely accessible online tutorials dealing with relevant issues of risk analysis / risk management. A broad collection and structuring of the available online tutorials on risk, which has previously not been available, will serve both user groups of educators seeking teaching resources and students or newcomers to risk wishing to be introduced to basic risk analysis concepts and to perhaps learn more. However, these two user group have very different needs profiles and require a differentiated solution for selecting the appropriate tutorials. Furthermore, online risk analysis tutorials have been developed for a diverse range of fields, from environmental health risk to business organizational risk to financial risk and for different expertise levels. Overlaps in the scope of a given tutorial make categorization into specific topic fields challenging. Although no overall judgment is sought to be made, a set of criteria is applied to evaluate the usefulness of the characteristics of the tutorial. The identification of specific and general deficits will be used to assess whether development of an SRA-branded set of risk tutorials is warranted. Plans for expansion of the collection and for dissemination will be discussed. |
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RT1.2 Experience in teaching the concepts of variability and uncertainty in environmental risk analysis. Oberg T*; University of Kalmar tomas.oberg@hik.se Abstract: Variability and uncertainty are key concepts in all quantitative risk assessments. Here, we will describe and discuss how these concepts can be introduced with practical examples and problem solving, in university teaching of environmental risk analysis. Our discussion will particularly focus on the methods found in two popular calculation and simulation software – Crystal Ball® and Risk Calc™ – that are used in our master’s program at the University of Kalmar, Sweden. Multimedia models for exposure assessment are easy to implement with both software, although the separation of variability and uncertainty can be realized with fundamentally different approaches. Likewise, dependency assumptions and incomplete information is often treated differently. We have found it very useful for students in the advanced classes to experiment with these different approaches to model the same or similar problems. These exercises bring further insight into statistics, probabilities, modeling, and the many assumptions involved in probabilistic exposure models. Additionally, the different approaches to treat uncertainty – intervals, probability distributions, and ‘p-boxes’ – raise interesting questions regarding the boundaries of knowledge. |
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RT1.3 Challenges for institutional education of risk communication for organizations in Germany. Wiedemann P*, Clauberg M, Schuetz H; Research Centre Juelich p.wiedemann@fz-juelich.de Abstract: In order for organizations to effectively manage their risk communication challenges, they must also identify and address their educational needs for this knowledge area. Companies or organizations that ignore or are not vigilant in their institutional education as part of an integral risk communication strategy do so at their own peril. Not only are there legal requirements in Germany for specific companies to have the capability to engage in risk communication with various stakeholders, but there are also compelling economic reasons for businesses to avoid risk communication failures that can lead to real crises for the company. Consequently, many organizations in Germany, from insurance companies to regulatory agencies, have recognized the need to engage in institutional education efforts of risk communication. We present a multi-step risk communication concept that has been developed and employed to assist organizations to self-evaluate their overall and issue-specific risk communication and education needs. A special challenge is that many organizations do not have dedicated risk communication departments or specialists on staff, but rather typically assign professionals with other, perhaps closely-related, specialty backgrounds or even managerial professionals to perform the organization’s risk communication. |
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RT1.4 Synopsis of informal collection of risk analysis academic syllabi and curricula. Hassenzahl DM*; University of Nevada Las Vegas david.hassenzahl@unlv.edu Abstract: Risk analysis courses are taught in an increasing number of institutions of higher learning, and an increasingly diverse set of programs within those institutions. In this presenation, I update information reported at SRA in 2005, using a content analysis of risk course syllabi to assess topical coverage, objectives and institutional home of risk courses. |
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RT1.5 Group / panel discussion of the SRA Education Committee. Louis G*, Hassenzahl DM, Clauberg M, Oeberg T, Watt J, Corr L, Thran B; U Virginia, UNLV, UT Knoxville, U Kalmar, Middlesex U, UN Reno clauberg@utk.edu Abstract: This group / panel discussion will allow the audience to pose questions as well as provide the panel an opportunity to interact with each other and the audience. A set of challenge questions will be prepared in advance to stimulate and structure the discussion as needed, but preference will be given to audience questions. |
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