Dear friends,

GCRI has recently put out an open call for participants in our 2022 Advising and Collaboration Program. The Program helps people get more involved in work on global catastrophic risk and focus their activities in more successful directions. We welcome people at all career points, from all geographic locations, and with any interest across the many aspects of global catastrophic risk. No significant time commitment is required; participation can range from a one-time call to get advice on how to get more involved to extended collaboration with GCRI team members and/or colleagues in our professional networks. 

Please consider participating and/or sharing the open call with others who may be interested.

Sincerely,
Seth Baum
Executive Director

Pandemic Refuges: Lessons from Two Years of COVID-19

GCRI Executive Director Seth D. Baum and University of Tasmania Professor Vanessa Adams recently studied two jurisdictions with especially low spread of COVID-19, namely China and Western Australia, as part of the paper Pandemic Refuges: Lessons from Two Years of COVID-19. The paper offers a nuanced understanding of the types of jurisdictions that can succeed as refuges for pandemics and perhaps also for other global catastrophe scenarios. The paper was recently covered in VICE, the South China Morning Post, and other publications. 

Book Review: The Precipice

GCRI Executive Director Seth D. Baum recently wrote a review of Toby Ord’s new book The Precipice. He found the book to be an excellent contribution to literature on global catastrophic risk but that it erred in its emphasis on only the most extreme global catastrophe scenarios, its strong belief in the resilience of civilization, and its use of quantitative risk analysis.

The Borders of Astrobiology

Research Associate Andrea Owe recently answered questions about space governance and astrobiology for AstrobiologyOU at the Open University in the article The Borders of Astrobiology.