By Pacific Institute Staff

The Pacific Institute lends its technical expertise through targeted assistance to organizations doing work consistent with our values and mission. Institute staff are leading professionals in diverse fields including engineering, environmental health, hydrology, economics, geography, and policy and planning. Types of technical assistance range from quantitative and qualitative data analysis and design and production of maps and spatial analysis, to review and critique of technical reports, to development of research instruments like surveys and indicators.

Our approach to technical assistance is to align technical expertise with the Institute’s values of equity and sustainability, which often requires expanded and innovative methodologies. For instance, in 2012 we developed a methodology for assessing social vulnerability to coastal flooding in the San Francisco Bay Area. The tool combines social and physical data on local hazards and resources and is being distributed by the Bay Conservation and Development Commission to local planners and stakeholders involved in climate adaptation efforts. In another example, we produced GIS maps identifying homes in close proxim­ity to pesticide applications for a community survey and health promotion project lead by the National Latino Research Council.