DRC Research
DRC projects have been supported by diverse sources, including: National Science Foundation (NSF), U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. Department of Transportation (DoT), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Sea Grant Program, Social Science Research Council (SSRC), and Public Entity Risk Institute (PERI).
Coastal Hazards, Equity, Economic Prosperity and Resilience (CHEER)
DURATION: September 1, 2022 –
RESEARCHERS: Rachel Davidson, Sarah DeYoung, Joseph Trainor, A.R. Siders[/if 449]
FUNDING: National Science Foundation
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
The UD-led hub — Coastal Hazards, Equity, Economic prosperity and Resilience (CHEER) — is one of five NSF-funded projects announced recently as part of the agency’s Coastlines and People program, which is concentrating its research efforts to protect the natural, social and economic resources of U.S. coasts, and to help create more resilient coastal communities.
This five-year project will be led by Rachel Davidson, a core DRC faculty member and UD professor of civil and environmental engineering. Co-principal investigators include Sarah DeYoung, core DRC faculty member and associate professor of sociology and criminal justice at UD; Linda Nozick, professor and director of civil and environmental engineering at Cornell University; Brian Colle, professor and division head of atmospheric sciences at Stony Brook University; and Meghan Millea, professor of economics at East Carolina University.
COVID-19: Community Impacts and Adaptation To Crisis: Delawareans Living With HIV/Aids
RESEARCHERS: Tricia Wachtendorf
FUNDING: Internally Funded, Delaware HIV Consortium
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
The crisis surrounding COVID-19 impacted communities across the globe. Appreciating that disasters have differential impacts on those affected, this study examined the impact the crisis had on Delawareans living with HIV/AIDS. The study explored issues of preparedness, response, adaptation, and decision-making, among other social consequences, as well as challenges related to health, housing, finances, and support. Over 50 interviews were conducted with clients of the Delaware HIV Consortium to better understand their experiences and needs over the course of the pandemic.
DRC RESEARCH PROJECTS: 15
FILTER BY RESEARCH AREA:
4 Climate Change | 5 Humanitarian Assistance | 6 Infrastructure Risk Management | 12 Protective Actions | 14 Public Health | 15 Response | 3 Social Vulnerability | 4 Warning and Risk Perception | CLEAR ALL
FILTER BY CLASSIFICATION:
11 Active Research | 19 Past Research | 5 Student Research | CLEAR ALL
NSF HDBE: Collaborative Research: Leveraging Massive Smartphone Location Data to Improve Understanding and Prediction of Behavior in Hurricanes
DURATION: September 1, 2020 – August 31, 2023
RESEARCHERS: Rachel Davidson, Tricia Wachtendorf, Sarah DeYoung
FUNDING: National Science Foundation
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
In this project, newly available anonymous smartphone location data will be used to dramatically improve understanding of how people behave during hurricanes (e.g., how many people will evacuate, when, how, from where, and to where). In this project, we will promote the progress of science by capitalizing on the availability of a new type of data—anonymous location information from smartphones—to make a leap forward in understanding and predicting the behavior of the population during hurricane evacuations. The project will advance national welfare and benefit society by substantially improving the ability to manage future evacuations. During a hurricane, officials make many highly consequential decisions, including issuing official evacuation orders, messaging the public, opening shelters, staging materials, and staff, implementing special traffic plans, executing support for vehicle-less populations, and preparing to undertake rescues. All of these depend directly on how many people are expected to evacuate, when, how, from where, and to where. By providing a more accurate and nuanced prediction of population behavior during hurricanes, this project will enable officials to make those decisions in a more informed and effective way. Our practitioner partners from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Florida and North Carolina state emergency management agencies will also help us share findings with the larger emergency management community. Combining the power of the new data with domain expertise based on traditional survey and interview data will advance the science.
NSF: Multi-Perspective Evacuation Performance
DURATION: September 1, 2015 – August 31, 2020
RESEARCHERS: Joseph Trainor
FUNDING: National Science Foundation
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
This project combines sociological, engineering, and economics approaches to explore the question of what makes an evacuation a success or a failure. This question is explored from two perspectives: that of the transportation agencies charged with managing an evacuation, and that of the individual households who participate in the evacuation. Through focus groups, a survey, and simulations, this project is exploring how these two groups experience evacuations, and by what criteria they deem an evacuation “good” or “bad”. The project will attempt to quantify these criteria into measurable variables, which can be used to form models to evaluate how much of a success or failure an evacuation is, according to these two perspectives. These models could be used to evaluate the impact of different evacuation strategies, in order to enable authorities to conduct evacuations that are more successful, both for the agencies that manage them and the households that participate in them. Project Status as of January 2018: The design phase of the project has been concluded, and the design of data collection instruments is complete. IRB approval on design and data collection methodology and instruments has been obtained, and the project has entered the data collection phase. Additional Principal Investigators: Pamela Murray-Tuite (Virginia Tech), Praveen Edara (University of Missouri), Konstantinos Triantis (Virginia Tech)
Promoting Community Resilience In New York City After Hurricane Sandy: A Model-Based Approach
RESEARCHERS: James Kendra
FUNDING: Johns Hopkins University, New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene Office, US Department of Health and Human Services
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
This project is a collaborative effort between the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), the Disaster Research Center at the University of Delaware, and the Center for Public Health Preparedness at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. A sample of 2,087 households were randomly sampled using random digit dialing to cell phones and landlines in NYC between September 2014 and May 2015. The project aims to identify factors that influence community resistance, resilience, and recovery in NYC; develop a predictive model of resilience; and, identify possible candidate interventions in order to promote disaster resilience and recovery strategies in NYC. Principal Investigators: Jonathan M. Links, Johns Hopkins Center for Public Health Preparedness, and Sarah Sisco, New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene Office of Emergency Preparedness and Response.
The Emergency Medical Services Delivery in Mass Gathering Events: A Case Study Of The Hajj
RESEARCHERS: Abdulhadi Al Ruwaithi
FUNDING: Umm al-Qura University
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Mass gatherings occur more frequently in today’s world, and they have increased in size and magnitude. They can be organized/regular events or non-organized/irregular events, local or international, and peaceful or aggressive. One of the best well-known of these international mass-gathering events is the Hajj (or pilgrimage to Mecca), which occurs annually when over three million people come to a defined area within a very well-known schedule to perform a set of specific Islamic rituals. Over its long history, the Hajj has been prone to many documented risks -either security-related risks, health-related, or others- which are attributed to factors such as transportation, human mistakes, and diverse international attendance. Several instances happened in the past when those risks materialized. It is in this context that studying the response of public health and emergency organizations in these mass-gathering events can generate knowledge for improving the safety of those attending these events. This dissertation project focuses on investigating the emergency medical services delivery system in the Hajj sites, to reveal the factors associated with the EMS systems’ successes and failures during both regular times and emergencies. The project aims to understand factors that impact the EMS process within the Hajj mass gathering context. A mixed-methods approach is utilized by which the patients’ presentation statistics are analyzed and a stratified sample of EMS ambulance crews are interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide. The quantitative approach is used to evaluate the EMS response time and inform the sample stratification process. The qualitative approach (interview data) is used to evaluate the intra- and inter-organizational coordination between the ambulance operators and other agencies in the Hajj.
TNC: Legal Tools for Floodplain Management
RESEARCHERS: A.R. Siders
FUNDING: The Nature Conservancy
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Climate change and development are exacerbating flood-risk across the United States. Numerous legal tools exist to help local governments minimize flood risk, and this project seeks to understand and address challenges that limit the ability of local governments to use these tools or shape the outcomes they are able to achieve. The team developed communication tools to facilitate conversations about managed retreat with government officials and members of the public. Interviews with officials who have administered floodplain property acquisition programs explore how federal policy shapes local decisions and how variations in local administration affect participant outcomes. Case studies of municipalities that have adopted progressive development regulations explore what factors enable the adoption and enforcement of progressive laws.
DRC RESEARCH PROJECTS: 15
FILTER BY RESEARCH AREA:
4 Climate Change | 5 Humanitarian Assistance | 6 Infrastructure Risk Management | 12 Protective Actions | 14 Public Health | 15 Response | 3 Social Vulnerability | 4 Warning and Risk Perception | CLEAR ALL
FILTER BY CLASSIFICATION:
11 Active Research | 19 Past Research | 5 Student Research | CLEAR ALL
Addressing the Holy Grail of Emergency Management: A Study Of Faith-Based Organizational Coordination Following Hurricane Florence
ADDITIONAL INVESTIGATOR: Lauren Clay, MPH at D’Youville College
FUNDING: Self-Funded, The National Academies of Sciences, The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, & Medicine Gulf Research Program, Early-Career Research Fellowship
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
This research explores the interorganizational coordination of faith-based organizations responding to disaster-impacted communities. During disasters, faith-based organizations play an integral role by providing extensive human, physical, and monetary resources to address the needs of the impacted community. This research buildings on the existing literature by studying how resources, norms, and environment enable or constrain the coordination of faith-based organizations. This study is a qualitative inquiry exploring the interorganizational coordination of faith-based organizations which responded to 2018 Hurricane Florence in the community of New Bern, North Carolina. Findings from this study will address gaps in the existing literature and inform emergency management practitioners on better coordination practices for faith-based and other community-based organizations in disasters.
Approaches to Coastal Adaptation in the United States
RESEARCHERS: A.R. Sider, Tess Doeffinger
FUNDING: National Science Foundation
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Sustainable development along the United States’ coast is challenging for several reasons, including continual weathering and climatic shocks. These risks are expected to be exacerbated due to climate change. There are currently a wide range of coastal adaptation responses being employed across the United States. The purpose of this research is to develop a fundamental understanding of the variation in adaptation responses that directly impact households, how these responses were chosen, and also to determine whether the most vulnerable members of communities are benefiting from these responses. The knowledge gained from this research offers the ability to identify gaps in adaptation, track progress, and aid in future decision making.
Business Continuity as Entrepreneurship
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Now into its second year, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt community life by forcing small organizations like businesses, non-profits, and neighborhood committees to adapt in ways that they never could have imagined. This study seeks to engage with the owners, managers, and employees of small organizations across two sets of interviews to understand how they’ve been updating their processes, products, and services to preserve their value and spur recovery.
Coastal Hazards, Equity, Economic Prosperity and Resilience (CHEER)
DURATION: September 1, 2022 –
RESEARCHERS: Rachel Davidson, Sarah DeYoung, Joseph Trainor, A.R. Siders[/if 449]
FUNDING: National Science Foundation
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
The UD-led hub — Coastal Hazards, Equity, Economic prosperity and Resilience (CHEER) — is one of five NSF-funded projects announced recently as part of the agency’s Coastlines and People program, which is concentrating its research efforts to protect the natural, social and economic resources of U.S. coasts, and to help create more resilient coastal communities.
This five-year project will be led by Rachel Davidson, a core DRC faculty member and UD professor of civil and environmental engineering. Co-principal investigators include Sarah DeYoung, core DRC faculty member and associate professor of sociology and criminal justice at UD; Linda Nozick, professor and director of civil and environmental engineering at Cornell University; Brian Colle, professor and division head of atmospheric sciences at Stony Brook University; and Meghan Millea, professor of economics at East Carolina University.
COVID-19: Community Impacts and Adaptation To Crisis: Delawareans Living With HIV/Aids
RESEARCHERS: Tricia Wachtendorf
FUNDING: Internally Funded, Delaware HIV Consortium
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
The crisis surrounding COVID-19 impacted communities across the globe. Appreciating that disasters have differential impacts on those affected, this study examined the impact the crisis had on Delawareans living with HIV/AIDS. The study explored issues of preparedness, response, adaptation, and decision-making, among other social consequences, as well as challenges related to health, housing, finances, and support. Over 50 interviews were conducted with clients of the Delaware HIV Consortium to better understand their experiences and needs over the course of the pandemic.
DRC COVID-19: Community Impacts and Adaptation to Crisis
RESEARCHERS: Tricia Wachtendorf, James Kendra
FUNDING: Internally Funded
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
The crisis surrounding COVID-19 impacted communities across the globe. This effort examined the impact of the crisis on community in the early stages of the pandemic, exploring issues of preparedness, response, adaptation, and decision-making, among other social consequences. A concentric approach to data collection began with the impact of the crisis on an institution of higher education – the University of Delaware and its population. The examination spanned outward to include others who have relationships with the institution (e.g. community members, businesses, faith-based organizations, agencies, among others). We then circle back to those involved with the community around the core institution, to examine in greater depth core questions around impact, decision-making, and adaptation under crisis. Several hundred in-depth interviews were conducted with people impacted by the crisis, with the potential to follow up with participants at a later date.
HAZARDS SEES TYPE 2: Dynamic Integration of Natural, Human, and Infrastructure Systems for Hurricane Evacuation and Sheltering
RESEARCHERS: Rachel Davidson, Tricia Wachtendorf
FUNDING: National Science Foundation
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
We are developing a new computational framework to support hurricane evacuation management. The framework, called the Integrated Scenario-based Evacuation (ISE), explicitly represents uncertainty in hurricane evolution and can be used to support robust, adaptive, and repeated decision-making. The hazard is represented with an ensemble of probabilistic hurricane scenarios, population behavior with a dynamic decision model, and traffic with a dynamic user equilibrium model. Components are integrated in a multi-stage stochastic program to provide a tree of evacuation order recommendations and an evaluation of the risk and travel time performance for that solution. The recommendations advance the state-of-the-art because: (1) they are based on an integrated hazard assessment that includes the effects of storm surge, wind waves, tides, river discharge, inland flooding, and wind; (2) explicitly balance competing objectives of minimizing risk and travel time; (3) offer a well-hedged solution robust under the range of hurricane evolutions; and (4) leverage the substantial value of decreasing uncertainty during an event. The first version has been developed and demonstrated in North Carolina. Additional PIs: R. Kolar, Oklahoma, B. Blanton, UNC Chapel Hill, L. Nozick, Cornell, and B.Colle Stony Brook
JHU/CDC: Composite of Post-Event Well-Being (Copewell)
DURATION: August 15, 2017 – August 14, 2020
RESEARCHERS: James Kendra
FUNDING: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Johns Hopkins University
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
COPEWELL is a systems dynamics model of community functioning and well-being during and after a disaster, designed to be used as a predictor, pre-event, of peri- and post-event resilience at the county level. Current project activities include initial sharing of the model, validation, stakeholder engagement, and evaluation. Principal Investigators: Jonathan M. Links, Johns Hopkins Center for Public Health Preparedness; Additional Co-PI: Tom Inglesby, MD, UPMC Center for Health Security
Mental Health Impacts of the Covid-19 Response on the Public Health Workforce in the U.S.
DURATION: January 1, 2020 – June 30, 2021
RESEARCHERS: Jennifer Horney
FUNDING: Natural Hazards Center Quick Response Research
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
The prolonged response to the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically impacted the mental health of the public health workforce. As we enter the ninth month of pandemic response with COVID-19 cases surging across the U.S., the pressures placed on the public health workforce are intensifying. Given unprecedented simultaneous challenges – the length, intensity, and politicization of the public health response, the potential for overlapping outbreaks of influenza, and the need to plan and implement a vaccination campaign – it is critical to identify protective factors that may mitigate the ongoing mental health impacts on a public health workforce already near its breaking point.
Mission First, Greyshirts Always: An Exploration into the Reintegration Experiences of Short-Term Volunteers Following Disaster Response Operations
RESEARCHERS: Roni Fraser
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Following a disaster, waves of helpers and voluntary organizations converge to the disaster area and provide immediate assistance and emotional support to survivors. This study sought to expand on previous research related to disaster volunteerism and reentry experiences to contribute to the gap in knowledge related to permanent disaster volunteer re-integration and resilience. Through primary data and qualitative interviews with 25 volunteers from Team Rubicon, a national disaster response nonprofit results found that volunteers engaged in additional volunteer activities and communicated with fellow volunteers as strategies for successful post-operation re-integration. Through a social capital approach, bonding and bridging capital was crucial in the development of resilience among volunteers. This study is critical to consider given the reliance on volunteers in the disaster response and recovery process and the need to ensure the mental well-being of disaster survivors and disaster volunteers. To best promote the resilience capacity among volunteers, organizations should focus on the volunteer experience related to billet conditions, diversity of membership and volunteer roles, development of organizational trust, and appreciation of volunteer service throughout the volunteer’s membership. Future research should expand on these findings by quantitatively exploring the volunteer reentry experience with a larger sample of NVOAD volunteers and the role that linking capital may have in influencing the volunteer reentry experience.
