East Carolina University : Research and Creative Achievement Week 2012
Jaime Brown Kruse, PhD, Professor, Department of Economics, Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences “Economics and Natural Hazards” Dr. Jamie Kruse is recognized for her research in economics and decision making under uncertainty, especially as it relates to natural hazards. She completed her doctoral work at University of Arizona under dissertation advisor, Vernon Smith (2002 Nobel Laureate). Dr. Kruse has published over fifty refereed journal articles in addition to proceedings, abstracts and reports. Her work has appeared in Econometrica, RAND Journal of Economics, Southern Economic Journal, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Economic Inquiry, Natural Hazards Review, Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics, Environmetrics, Weather and Forecasting, Journal of Risk and Insurance and others. She has held faculty positions at the University of Colorado, Texas Tech University, East Carolina University and a visiting position at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. During her tenure at ECU, Dr. Kruse has been the founding director of the Center for Natural Hazards Research within the Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences and served as director of the RENCI Center for Coastal Systems Informatics and Modeling for its first two years of operation. Her funded research has been supported by National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Niagara Mohawk, State of Texas and the State of North Carolina. She has been PI or Co-I of research projects totaling almost $20 million. During 2010, Dr. Kruse completed a one-year intergovernmental personnel assignment as the chief economist at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The incumbent of this senior executive service (SES) position serves as senior advisor for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for all aspects of NOAA’s economics and social science efforts in support of the Department of Commerce goals of a climate responsive nation, sustainable coastal communities and ecosystems, a weather-ready nation and sustainable and resilient fisheries. Dr. Kruse represented NOAA in interagency committees that included membership on the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Subcommittee on Social, Behavioral and Economic Science; OSTP Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology Policy (SOST); and co-chairmanship of the OSTP-SOST Interagency Working Group on Ocean Social Science. On April 20, an explosion of the drilling rig known as the Deepwater Horizon triggered a response from NOAA that involved all line offices. Dr. Kruse was lead in the social science thematic area for the NOAA Deepwater Horizon Science Team and served on the National Incident Command Economic Solutions Team. Dr. Kruse’s responsibilities within NOAA included membership on the NOAA Research Council and chair of the Research Council Social Science Committee. She was co-chair of the ad hoc committee for Scientific Integrity. The main body of work by the committee was to write NOAA’s draft policy on Scientific Integrity (NAO 202-735) which was released to NOAA’s more than twelve thousand employees for review and comment followed by a 60 day public comment period. NOAA is now in the process of finalizing the policy and handbook for public release. Dr. Jane Lubchenco referenced the policy drafted by the ad hoc committee in comments to the Union of Concerned Scientists on February 8, 2011. Dr. Lubchenco’s comments can be found at the following link: http://tinyurl.com/7ykveer Following the May 2011 tornado outbreak that caused widespread damage to homes and businesses in Joplin, Missouri and other communities in the Midwest and South, Dr. Kruse was quoted in a page one article of the New York Times titled “Reconstruction Lifts Economy After Disasters.”
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