Meet OPDR’s Research Assistant: Adams Bernhardt

Adams AJ-Bernhardt OPDR Oregon Partnership for Disaster Resilience

Alias: A.J.

Where were you born and where do you call home? I was born in Los Angeles and consider it home to this day.

Name three things that make you happy.  Family, friends, and coffee

Favorite word? Lovely

What’s on your fashion shopping list? A fresh looking suit.

In which graduate program are you enrolled? I’m in the MCRP program with a concentration in transportation and economic development.

What Community Service Center program(s) are you working with? I’m helping the OPDR complete a few projects lingering from the previous term. I’ll be assisting Josh Bruce with the Eugene-Springfield Climate and Energy Vulnerability Assessment (CVA). The assessment provides a way for communities to evaluate the impacts of climate change and natural hazards across a variety of key community systems (food, transportation, water, etc.) and services (health, housing, etc.).

What are some of the outcomes are you hoping to gain when your project ends? Working with the OPDR gives me some exposure to the world of disaster and mitigation planning. With little experience in this field, I hope these projects will shed light on the severity of issues surrounding resource deprivation, climate change, and natural hazards.

If you could plan the perfect holiday, what would it be? Every Monday should be a holiday…

How does your involvement with the Community Service Center relate to or inform your education? Working with the CSC is the perfect compliment to my MCRP program. These projects provide an opportunity to apply what I’ve learned over the past year and a half. It helps develop professionalism and creativity, tools I can use when applying for jobs in the coming months.

What did you get for your birthday? I coerced my entire family to come up from Los Angeles for the weekend. We stayed in Bend for two nights enjoying Mt. Bachelor, some golf, and the local breweries.

What advice would you give to your younger self just beginning the CSC program? Be open-minded to the diversity of projects available.

Where can we ‘cyber-stalk’ you? I’m un-stalkable at the moment!

ready. . . set. . . SNOW!

Top Story on the News Tonight: Snow

Just about every community in the state of Oregon is hunkering down for snow, snow and even more snow. Levels range from 1 to 3 inches along the south coast to 7 to 10 inches in areas east of the Cascade Range. The National Weather Service says the cold weather will last through the weekend and transition to milder and wetter conditions (a.k.a. rain) by the middle of next week.  With that in mind, the Resource Assistance for Rural Environments-RARE AmeriCorps participants took a moment to share photos of their community’s first winter wonderland conditions before the rain washes it all away.

Resource Assistance for Rural Environments - University of OregonThe mission of the RARE Program is to increase the capacity of rural communities to improve their economic, social, and environmental conditions, through the assistance of trained graduate-level participants, from across the US.  These RARE AmeriCorps participants live in and serve 25 rural Oregon communities assisting in the development and implementation of projects for achieving a sustainable natural resource base and improving rural economic conditions. The markers on the map represents the 25 RARE placements throughout Oregon for 2013-14.


Special thank you to Andrew Barbier, Aubrey Erwin, Jeremy Goldsmith, Laura Goodrich, Maggie Hanna, Julie Havens, Katherine Hayes, Blake Helm, Gabby Pauling, Maddie Phillips, Rebecca and Jason Sergeant, Saira Siddiqui, and Titus Tomlinson for sharing their photos with us.