The Double Exposure Framework

Dr. Robin Leichenko is an Associate Professor at Rutgers University. Her research intersects the fields of economic geography and human dimensions of global environmental change. Her work examines how and why processes of global economic and environmental change differentially affect cities, regions, and sectors, and the implications of these processes for questions of vulnerability, equity, and sustainability. Her book, Environmental Change and Globalization: Double Exposures (with Karen O'Brien, Oxford University Press, 2008), was awarded the 2009 Meridian Book Award for Outstanding Scholarly Work in Geography from the Association of American Geographers. The book presents a generalizable approach for analysis of many types of interactions between global environmental change and globalization. Current funded projects explore three interrelated issues: economic vulnerability and resilience to climate change; economic and social equity implications of climate change impacts and adaptation; and the interplay between global change processes and urban spatial development. These projects are focused on coastal zones in New Jersey, New York, and the Caribbean.