Eric Lindquist
Visiting Assistant Professor, and Associate Director and Associate Research Scientist of the Institute for Science, Technology, and Public Policy
Dr. Lindquist's research interests are in public policy and decision processes, agenda setting, problem/solution definition studies, and the impact of focusing events on public policy. In addition to serving as principal investigator (PI), co-principal investigator, or research scientist on Institute research projects, Dr. Lindquist provides conceptual and theoretical leadership for interdisciplinary research teams. His most recent projects are in the area of climate change, the use of climate science in intergovernmental decision making, the public understanding of science in regard to global climate change, and nanotechnology. He has been co-principal investigator on major grants from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency focusing on the utilization and understanding of climate variability and climate change science. Prior to joining the Institute for Science, Technology, and Public Policy (ISTPP) full time, Dr. Lindquist held a joint appointment with ISTPP and the Texas Transportation Institute, where he worked for ten years in the areas of transportation planning and policy. His recently completed work includes a joint U.S. Department of Transportation and U.S. Geological Survey project examining the impact of climate change on transportation infrastructure along the U.S. Gulf Coast, and a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant focusing on nanotechnology and problem definition. The USDOT report, "Impacts of Climate Change and Variability on Transportation Systems and Infrastructure: Gulf Coast Study," can be found here: http://www.climatescience.gov/Library/sap/sap4-7/final-report/.
The NSF nanotechnology project summary can be found here: Project Summary [PDF].
Dr. Lindquist has taught undergraduate policy and planning courses for Texas A&M University and capstone courses for the Bush School. He regularly teaches PSAA 671: Science and Technology Policy and Politics. For the 2009-2010 school year, he will be teaching PSAA 671 (fall semester) and a capstone course for the Bush School (spring 2010).
Current research projects:
Climate Change and Transportation. In addition to the recent USDOT Gulf Coast study, Dr. Lindquist has been working on several other climate change adaptation projects for the Southwest University Transportation Center and the University Transportation Center for Mobility, both at TTI. The 2008-09 capstone course was a study of regional climate change adaptation for the Houston-Galveston Area Council.
Urban Flooding as a Focusing Event. His current interest is in the area of focusing events, or how natural or manmade disasters and crises result in abrupt policy change. He has been working with Dr. Ron Hagelman (hazard geography at Texas State University) on developing a research agenda, papers, and proposals. They co-convened a session at the 2009 European Geosciences Union General Assembly on the topic of integrating social science into natural hazards research and will develop a follow up panel for the 2010 EGU assembly. More information about the EGU meeting can be found here: http://meetings.copernicus.org/egu2010/index.html.
Comparative Urban Flooding Research. Dr. Lindquist is a recent recipient of a Scowcroft Faculty Research Grant in support of international collaboration and will be conducting research on governance structures for flood risk management in collaboration with colleagues in the United Kingdom and the European Union.
SHIELD: A Framework for the Detection of Smuggled High Enriched Uranium. Dr. Lindquist is part of the social science research team working on integrating social science and policy factors into detection system parameter research being conducted at Texas A&M University. The project website can be found here: http://shield.tamu.edu/.
