Timothy Fraser

PhD Alumnus in Political Science

Graduated in 2022

Tim received his PhD from Northeastern University in 2022. His research focuses on how cities adapt to climate change, through renewable energy, evacuation, and disaster recovery. He is a PhD Candidate in Political Science, and his research has been funded by a 2020 Japan Foundation doctoral fellowship at Tokyo University and 2016 Fulbright Fellowship at Kyushu University. He has published 16 peer-reviewed studies on disaster resilience and energy policy in the US and Japan. He uses mixed methods, including social network analysis, GIS, statistical modeling in R, surveying, interviewing, and fieldwork. He has taught on topics related to Public Policy, Comparative Politics, and Research Methods, and regularly conducts research with undergraduates and masters students.

Related Schools & Departments

Political Science

Research Interests
Tim’s primary research agenda focuses on how social networks help or hinder cities ability to adapt to climate change. His dissertation, titled Communities in Crisis: How Cities Adapt to Climate Change in the US and Japan, compares how certain policy toolkits invigorate social networks to enable renewable energy adoption, disaster evacuation, and disaster recovery. For this research, Tim surveyed or interviewed city officials in over 100 cities across Japan and created several novel datasets on renewable energy. Secondary research areas include the COVID-19 pandemic, nuclear power policy, and social network analysis methods.

See more on ResearchGate

Prior Work
Prior to enrolling in the PhD program, he researched Japanese energy policy on a 2016 Fulbright Fellowship at Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan. Researching in Andrew Chapman’s lab at the International Institute for Carbon Neutral Energy Research, he examined why some cities benefit from introducing renewable energy more than others.

Biography
Timothy received his BA in International and Global Studies from Middlebury College in Vermont, and his MA in Political Science from Northeastern University. He spent five years training in Japanese language and nearly two years in the field interviewing Japanese citizens, activists, and policymakers about controversial energy projects in their community. In his spare time, he enjoys data visualization, foreign languages, and exploring the great outdoors in Massachusetts.

Publications
Fraser, T. (2020). Does Social Capital Boost or Block Renewable Energy Siting? South African Solar Politics in Comparison. Energy Research & Social Science (accepted).

Fraser, T., Cunningham, L., Bancroft, M., Hunt, A., Lee, E., Nasongo, A. (2020). “Climate Crisis at City Hall: How Japanese communities mobilize to eliminate emissions.” Environmental Innovations and Societal Transitions 37, 361-380.

Fraser, T., Aldrich, D.P. (2020). “The Fukushima effect at home: The changing role of domestic actors in Japanese energy policy.” WIREs Climate Change 11, e655.

Fraser, T., Cunningham, L., Nasongo, A. (2020). “Build back better? Effects of crisis on climate change adaptation in Japan and the US.” Global Environmental Politics (accepted).

Fraser, T., Aldrich, D.P., Small, A., Littlejohn, A. (2020). “In the Hands of a Few: Disaster Recovery Committee Networks.” Journal of Environmental Management (accepted).

Fraser, T. Chapman, A.J. (2020). “Drivers of social equity in renewable energy at the municipal level: The case of local Japanese energy policy and preferences.” Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning 22(3), 397-412.

Fraser, T. (2020). “Japan’s Resilient, Renewable Cities: How Socioeconomics and Local Policy drive Japan’s Renewable Energy Transition.” Environmental Politics 29(3), 500-523.

Fraser, T. (2019). “How Governance and Disasters shape Renewable Energy Transitions: The case of Japanese mega-solar.” Social Science Quarterly 100(3), 975-990.

Chapman, A.J., Fraser, T., Dennis, M. (2019). “Investigating Ties between Energy Policy and Social Equity Research: A Citation Network Analysis.” Social Sciences 8(5), 135.

Fraser, T., Aldrich, D.P. (2019). “East Asia’s Nuclear Policies: Fukushima Effect or a Nuclear Renaissance?” Georgetown Journal of Asian Affairs.

Lee, J., Fraser, T. (2019). “How do disasters affect individuals’ social ties? The impacts of disaster experiences and the perceived risks of disasters on participation in voluntary associations.” International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 34, 108-115.

Chapman, A.J., Fraser, T. (2019). “Japan’s Mega Solar Boom: Quantifying Social Equity Expectations and Realities at the Local Scale.” Sustainability Science 14, 355–374.

Fraser, T., Chapman, A. (2018). “Social Equity Impacts in Japan’s Mega Solar Siting Process.” Energy for Sustainable Development 42, 136-151.

Aldrich, D.P., Fraser, T. (2017). “All Politics is Local: Judicial and Electoral Institutions’ Role in Japan’s Nuclear Restarts.” Pacific Affairs 90(3), 433-457.

Chapman, A.J., Fraser, T., Itaoka, K. (2017). “Hydrogen Import Pathway Comparison Framework incorporating Cost and Social Preference: Case studies from Australia to Japan.” International Journal of Energy Research 41(14), 2374-2391.

Articles Under Review
Fraser, T. “The Road More Traveled: Evacuation Networks from 10 disasters in the US and Japan.”

Fraser, T. “Japanese Social Capital and Social Vulnerability Indices: Measuring Drivers of Community Resilience 2000-2017.”

Fraser, T., Aldrich, D.P. “The Dual Effect of Social Ties on COVID-19 spread in Japan.”

Fraser, T., Aldrich, D.P., Page-Tan, C. “Bowling Alone or Masking Together? The Role of Social Capital in Excess Death Rates from COVID19.”

Fraser, T., Aldrich, D.P., Small, A. “Connecting Social Capital and Vulnerability: A Citation Network Analysis of Disaster Studies.”

Fraser, T., Aldrich, D.P., Morikawa, L. “Do All Roads Lead to Sapporo? The Role of Linking and Bridging Ties in Evacuation Decisions.”

Other Selected Publications
Fraser, T., Page-Tan, C. Aldrich, D.P. Forthcoming. “Social Network Analysis for Disasters.” In Jason Rivera, ed. Research Methods of Disaster and Emergency Management: Social Science Approaches in Application.

Fraser, T., Chapman, A.J. (2020). “Social Sustainability in Cities: Urban Energy.” In Alvarez-Risco, A., Rosen, M., Del-Aguila-Arcentales, S, & Marinova, D. Building sustainable cities: Social, Economic and Environmental Factors, Springer-Nature.

Aldrich, D.P., Page-Tan, C., Fraser, T. (2018). “A Janus Faced Resource: Social Capital and Resilience Trade-offs.” International Risk Governance Council Resource Guide, vol 2, pp. 1-8.

Research Interests: Environmental Politics, Disaster Recovery, Japanese Politics, Civil Society

Contact info:
960A Renaissance Park
fraser.ti@northeastern.edu
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Timothy_Fraser2
https://www.timothyfraser.com
Curriculum Vitae

More Student Paths

Charles T. Wallace-Thomas IV

Charles took "Sustainable Renewable Energy Development in the Global South" with Professor Shalanda Baker, which pushed him to further question systems as they exist, no matter their entrenched in society.
He did community service as part of the Ujima Global Leaders Program through the John D. O’Bryant African American Institute. He worked on the Timebank team, helping give back to local communities.
Charles split his time for his first co-op between the Center for Economic Democracy and the Boston Ujima Project, where he analyzed studies on community needs, including infrastructure and childcare.
He was one of the co-creators of the #BlackAtNU campaign and advocated for racial literacy courses and a restorative and transformative justice center on campus.
Charles made his own research project- a macroeconomic index to measure democratic participation in municipal economies, partnering with NU, the Columbus Foundation and the Center for Economic Democracy.
He worked at the Participatory Budgeting Project as a Program Associate, helping city systems and other organizations actively decide how to invest money across different spaces.
Charles graduated in 2022. ..

Casey Greenleaf

Casey took Global Markets and Local Cultures. After traveling, she better saw how the coursework mirrored real life, and knew her education was preparing her for the world.
She went on a DOC to Argentina and Uruguay, and become highly proficient while living in Buenos Aires and visiting the glaciers of the Patagonia region.
Casey completed her first co-op at the Museum of Fine Arts as a community arts program assistant. She gained valuable hands-on experience assisting in arts classes for local communities.
She joined the Sociology & Anthropology Student Association during her third year. It allowed her to get to know her fellow students and mirrored the small school experience she loved.
Casey studied abroad in Nepal for her capstone thesis. She lived alone for a month while she researched and wrote about the lived experience of climate change in the lower Himalayas.
She worked for the Environmental Data and Governance Initiative, founded by Professor Sarah Wylie. She produced promotional videos, developed a virtual research event, wrote event programming, and more.
Casey graduated in 2020. ..

Sunita Pfitzner

Sunita took Revolution, Civil War, and Insurrection, taught by Professor Risa Kitagawa. The course invited students to question the motives behind acts of violence against governments.
She traveled on a Dialogue of Civilizations to Jordan and Egypt; while there she grew interested in Middle East politics and the Arabic language.
Sunita worked at the Institute for Economics and Peace in Sydney, Australia, where she analyzed data on the corruption of police forces in Mexico.
Sunita was a member of the International Relations Council and traveled abroad with the club to compete in Model Arab League, Model NATO, and Model UN conferences.
Sunita conducted research with Berna Turam, developing a greater understanding of the Mediterranean migrant crisis. She also researched the feminist response to Covid-19 with Val Moghadam.
She graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2022.
..

Yasser Aponte

Yasser was in the Foundation Year program at Northeastern. The program was a rigorous deep dive into core subject classes that helped Yasser bridge the gap between his high school and college experiences.
He took Issues in Cities and Suburbs with Professor Erin Graves in Fall 2018. As someone deeply invested in urban life, he found the course was an enlightened look at the problems endemic to cities.
Yasser joined the Boston Beer Company as a Program Operations and Event Assistant for his first co-op. He worked on inventory, public relations, brewery events, and workspace organization.
He implemented community gardens all over Boston on deserted plots of land during his time as the Northeastern Campus Director for the campus’ United Nations Millennium Fellowship.
Yasser maintained a farm in Dorchester for The Food Project. He harvested crops, distributed produce through donations and food markets, and worked on overall logistics.
In 2020, Yasser won the Community Service Leadership award, given to students who show exemplary community engagement. He was recognized for his work at The Food Project, Northeastern Crossing, and more.
He graduated 2022 with his Bachelor’s in International Affairs and Religious Studies and his Master’s in Security and Resilience Studies, through Northeastern’s PlusOne program...