Research and News

"We need to stop burning fossil fuels and we know when we need to do it," says Sarah Pralle, associate professor of political science.

The Northeast Residential Energy Use Pilot Study is an interdisciplinary project between students and faculty in the Maxwell School, SU College of Law, SU’s iSchool, and the SU College of Engineering and Computer Science. The study will employ high resolution metering for long-term monitoring of electricity usage of individual households.

“Codifying Data Analytics for Public Policy as an area of study will allow us to deepen and expand our relationships with top employers in this area and ensure that Maxwell remains at the leading edge of this rapidly evolving field,” said Chair and Professor of Public Administration and International Affairs Robert Bifulco about Maxwell's new area of study in Data Analytics for Public Policy.

Illustrated with case studies of historic and contemporary water injustices and contestations around the world, the book lays new ground for challenging current water governance forms and unequal power structures and provides inspiration for building alternative water realities. With contributions from renowned scholars, this is an indispensable book for students, researchers and policymakers interested in water governance, environmental policy and law, and political geography.

Sarah Pralle, associate professor of political science, found that the unpleasant surprise of the new insurance costs often causes political pressure that can ultimately lead to map revisions that underestimate flood exposure.

Peter Wilcoxen, professor of public administration and international affairs, will serve as the inaugural Ajello Professor in Energy and Environmental Policy. The professorship was created from a $250,000 gift from Maxwell School alumnus James Ajello ’76 M.P.A.

"One problem is the [flood] maps are based on historical data, they're static maps," says Sarah Pralle, associate professor of political science. "They don't take into account future development scenarios and future weather-related scenarios having to do with climate change."

"Officials are concerned about the financial burden on individual property owners, but also worry about decreased property values and increased restrictions on development," Sarah Pralle, associate professor of political science.

Sarah Pralle, associate professor of political science, talks about why Federal Emergency Management Agency flood maps don’t tell the true story of where floods are happening now and in the future.

"Here’s the big lesson from Hurricane Harvey: The U.S. government’s flood zone designation, and the maps based on it, may not predict future flood risks accurately, particularly as climate change alters sea levels and weather patterns," writes Sarah Pralle, associate professor of political science. 

“This is a tremendously costly endeavor, and that’s why we haven’t done it already,” says Pete Wilcoxen, director of the Center for Environmental Policy and Administration, about revising the EPA's model for evaluating the broad economic costs and benefits of air pollution regulations.

"In response to the climate crisis we face, our leaders must not continue to merely say 'no' to climate policies proposed by others, or to hope, as we have for decades, for an unforeseeable technological breakthrough that will render fossil fuels uneconomical," write eleven scientists and professors from SUNY ESF and Syracuse University.