Carolina Velasquez Calderon

Awarded to a Biden School graduate student for demonstrating consistently superior performance in the field of urban affairs and public policy, particularly in the área of political economy. Over the years, there has been increased evidence that some communities are exposed to greater risks due to social or economic inequalities. My doctoral research on the water crisis in San Andrés exposed this situation. I began in 2016 with an exploratory study of the crisis; subsequently, in 2018, fieldwork was carried out to identify new insights and delve into injustice issues related to the crisis response and recovery. It employs a constructivist perspective, studying various stakeholders’ understandings of the water crisis, crisis response, and water justice. Findings show that the crisis produced uneven impacts due to pre-existing social inequities in water quantity and distribution. Public officials framed the crisis response as a mainly supply-side issue that became the dominant narrative, in which the crisis could only be resolved by desalination expansion and with no considerations about safety, costs, or socio-economic, political, and environmental problems. This research revealed the critical overlap and convergence among water scarcity, technology, inequality, and climate change (Velásquez, 2015; Velásquez, 2018; Velásquez, 2020). My dissertation research received the Mark Haskell award, an honor given to a graduate student who has demonstrated consistent, superior performance in urban affairs and public policy, particularly in the political economy.

Throughout my master’s in Caribbean studies at National University of Colombia, I studied vulnerability factors for indigenous family farmers after hurricane Beta, that resulted in a lack of capacity to adapt and resist effectively when a future hurricane strikes. In my master’s thesis, “Risk in agricultural production systems: Effects of Hurricane Beta over the islands of Providencia and Santa Catalina,” I collected 180 surveys and used a global vulnerability framework analysis. Results showed that socioeconomic indicators of a high degree of vulnerability were: lack of community organization, lack of financial incentives, and low incomes. Also, it revealed low levels of hurricane risk perception among farmers related to low priority in daily life and infrequency of occurrence; therefore, low implementation of self-protection measures was applied on farms. Despite the problems of these farmers, research revealed prioritization of tourism over agriculture in disaster response, this made that three years after the hurricane struck, farmers had been unable to recover (Velásquez, 2009; Santos-Martinez & Velásquez, 2010b; Velásquez, 2010; Velásquez, 2011). My research received meritorious recognition.

University of Delaware, Office of Graduate and Professional Education, Professional Development Award. Grant to support travel to present at the Third Northern European Conference on Emergency and Disaster Studies in Uppsala, Sweden. (Awarded: May 2019)

University of Delaware, Disaster Research Center. Fellowship to participate, as a presenter, in the ISA World Congress of Sociology- Research Committee on Disasters in Toronto, Canada. (Awarded: 2018)

University of Colorado Natural Hazards Center Quick Response Grant Program funded by National Science Foundation. Grant number CMMI1030670 (Awarded: July 2016) Velásquez, C. 2015. Community Perceptions of Water Access and Availability: San Andrés Island, Colombian Caribbean. Natural Hazards Center Quick Response Grant Report Series, 264. Boulder, CO: Natural Hazards Center, University of Colorado Boulder. Available at: https://hazards.colorado.edu/quick-response-report/community-perceptions-of-water-access-and-availability-san-andres-island-colombian-caribbean

University of Delaware, Disaster Research Center. Russel Dynes Fellowship to support travel to present at the 41st Annual Natural Hazard Research and Applications Workshop (Awarded: June 2016)

Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Caribbean Headquarters, Grant to develop Master’s thesis research (Awarded: 2008)

Universidad Autonoma de Occidente. Grant to develop bachelor’s thesis research (Awarded: 2001)

The Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation of Colombia (MINCIENCIAS). Ph.D. Scholarship “Doctorados en el Exterior, number 646.” (Awarded: 2015-2019)