The Community Flooding Social Science Liaison serves as a bridge between flood mapping experts, emergency management professionals, and Maryland communities. Using research in social and behavioral sciences, this position ensures flood mapping tools are accessible, relevant, and useful. It strengthens local networks and communication pathways, enhances understanding of local flood risks, and shares lessons learned with partners across the state, region, and federal agencies—including the National Weather Service.

Importantly, this role offers flexibility and space for the individual hired to apply their unique expertise, skills, and creativity in shaping program development, community engagement, and research activities to best meet project goals and evolving needs.

The position is housed within the University of Maryland Extension, working in the Maryland Sea Grant Extension Program. The contractor reports directly to the FIMS Principal Investigator on the approved NOAA grant and will collaborate closely with colleagues and project partners to execute the work.

Key Responsibilities

  • Provide project-wide leadership to ensure grantee expectations are met in a timely fashion.
  • Incorporate work completed to date into project scoping, planning, and execution
  • Connect and engage with established funders, project partners, and pre-identified audiences and community members in selected geographic areas
  • Familiarization with NOAA’s Flood Inundation Mapping (FIMs) tools and the rollout process

PROJECT OVERVIEW: Operationalizing Flood Inundation Mapping (FIMs) in Maryland Through a Social Science Approach

This project is closely aligned with the rollout of NOAA’s Flood Inundation Mapping (FIMs) tools, providing a unique opportunity to ensure these tools are informed by and responsive to the needs of both emergency professionals and the communities they serve.

This project aims to evaluate how emergency management professionals access and utilize flooding-related information and tools, and how this information informs their planning and response strategies. It also seeks to assess how flood information is communicated to community members, identify their needs across the preparedness, response, and recovery phases, and explore opportunities to improve communication methods and incorporate community knowledge into emergency response planning to strengthen local flood resilience.

The ultimate goal is to integrate NOAA’s flood mapping tools, emergency preparedness strategies, and local knowledge to strengthen emergency response efforts and foster more resilient, well-informed communities across Maryland.

For more information and to apply, visit UMD’s hiring site.