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: 36
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.
An Interdisciplinary Approach to Modeling Multiple Stakeholder Decision Making to Reduce Regional Natural Disaster Risk
RESEARCHERS: Rachel Davidson, Joseph Trainor
FUNDING: Department of Homeland Security, National Science Foundation
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
The project will result in a new framework of interacting mathematical models that can be used to better understand, design, and evaluate government natural disaster risk management policies, such as providing funds to help homeowners strengthen their homes or requiring homeowners to buy natural disaster insurance. By supporting improved design and evaluation of public policies, the project will help the country better manage its risk. By considering the individual, sometimes competing stakeholder points-of-view up front, as an integral part of the analysis, the new framework will make it easier to identify those win-win system-wide solutions that are most likely to be put into action and to be effective. Engaging representatives of the relevant government agencies, and insurance and home building industries as partners at the beginning of the project will help ensure that the research offers usable results that can be put into practice as quickly and effectively as possible.
Co-Principal Investigators: Jamie Kruse, East Carolina University; Linda Nozick, Cornell University
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
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.
COLLABORATIVE CDI-TYPE II: Cyber Enabled Discovery System for Advanced Multidisciplinary Study of Humanitarian Logistics for Disaster Response
RESEARCHERS: Tricia Wachtendorf
FUNDING: National Science Foundation
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
This project seeks to better understand how donations are collected and distributed. Using observational work conducted during recent disasters and interviews with individuals from organizations and agencies involved in formal and informal relief efforts, this study examines the organizational aspects of material convergence and subjective motivations for contributing donations to disaster relief, with particular emphasis on unsolicited donations. Drawing on the mathematical and social sciences, and on transportation, industrial and computer engineering, it aims to develop new models of the flow of goods to the disaster site based on analysis of media data (e.g., news, websites, social networks), and on responses to previous disasters. The project qualitatively and quantitatively examines the relationship between media framing of needs and material convergence, improving understanding of what and how donations are collected and shared, and it suggests response strategies to better react to or influence media-driven material convergence.
Compounded Social Vulnerability: Parole Supervision and Disasters
RESEARCHERS: Tricia Wachtendorf, Felicia Henry
FUNDING: Unidel Award (Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice)
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Henry with Wachtendorf is using an exploratory case study method and documentary analysis to review parole policies in Texas, Louisiana, and Florida. We find that parole policies in each state fail to address how parolees should respond during disasters and the implications for compliance failure. Conditions of parole and parole policies and procedures (or lack thereof) can make it extremely difficult for individuals on parole to successfully and simultaneously navigate disasters. Without proper guidance from the agencies responsible for parole in each state, individuals may be caught further on the web of correctional control. Our findings lead us to make several recommendations for justice agencies, as well as state and local governments.
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.
Floodplain Management in the United States: Where, why, and how policies have shaped floodplain development
DURATION: September 1, 2021 –
RESEARCHERS: AR Siders, Logan Gerber-Chavez, Salvesila Tamima, Miyuki Hino
ADDITIONAL INVESTIGATOR: Katharine Mach, University of Miami
FUNDING: National Science Foundation
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Managing infrastructure and housing development in hazardous areas is fundamental to limiting damages from extreme weather events.
But construction in hazardous places continues. This project, a collaboration between the University of Delaware, University of Miami, and University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, investigates how and why some communities are able to grow without developing housing and infrastructure in floodplains. We are generating lessons for broader climate risk management efforts. The project will (a) measure floodplain development by creating a systematic, national measurement of municipal floodplain development, (b) analyze patterns of contextual factors and floodplain development outcomes, and (c) use comparative case studies, interviews, and legal analysis to explore how local regulations have shaped floodplain outcomes. Our floodplain development measurements will be open access, so researchers, local officials, and citizen advocates can use and adapt the data for their own needs and provide feedback to refine the indices. Ongoing work with practitioners is supporting a peer-to-peer learning network to improve floodplain development management.
DRC RESEARCH PROJECTS: 36
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
UD GUR: Infant Feeding in Emergencies: Measuring Changes During Natural Hazards in the United States
DURATION: June 1, 2020 – May 31, 2022
RESEARCHERS: Sarah DeYoung
FUNDING: UD General University Research (GUR)
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
The research aim for this project is to identify the ways in which hazards and disasters impact infant feeding. Specifically, while pre- and post-data from previous work indicates that disaster evacuations reduce rates of breastfeeding (DeYoung, Chase, & Pensa-Branco, 2018) and may increase use of infant formula, additional research is needed to clarify the mechanisms for this change, and whether the reduction in breastfeeding occurs in multiple hazards contexts, and to what extent these findings are generalizable to the broader populations impacted by disasters. Specifically, the DeYoung et al., 2018 study was conducted among a non-random sample of evacuees from the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire. Caregivers indicated challenges with access to adequate infant feeding supplies for breastfeeding, bottle-feeding, and mixed feeding. Additionally, qualitative data after the Nepal earthquake (DeYoung, Suji, & Southall, 2018) suggests that choices about infant feeding among families displaced by the earthquake were influenced by breastmilk substitutes distributed by nongovernmental groups (NGO’s). However, additional research is needed to clarify the effect of disasters on infant feeding. Identifying inhibiting factors for sustained breastfeeding and safe artificial feeding during and after disasters can inform new interventions and policies used in mass care and evacuation scenarios. This research will employ a mixed-methods approach to identifying the key variables for bolstering safe infant feeding in emergencies.
UDRF: Infant Feeding in Emergencies: Measuring Changes During Natural Hazards in the United States
DURATION: June 1, 2020 – May 31, 2022
RESEARCHERS: Sarah DeYoung
FUNDING: UD Research Foundation (UDRF)
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
The research aims for this project are to identify the ways in which hazards and disasters impact infant feeding in the United States and to identify key variables for bolstering safe infant feeding in emergencies. Specifically, while data from previous work indicates that disaster evacuations reduce rates of breastfeeding (DeYoung, Chase, & Pensa-Branco, 2018) and may increase use of infant formula, additional research is needed to clarify the mechanisms for this change, and whether the reduction in breastfeeding occurs in multiple hazards contexts, and to what extent these findings are generalizable to the broader populations impacted by disasters. Specifically, the DeYoung et al., 2018 study was conducted among a non-random sample of evacuees from the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire in Canada. Caregivers indicated challenges with access to adequate space for breastfeeding in emergency shelters and a lack of access to supplies for safe bottle-feeding. Additionally, findings from qualitative research after the Nepal (Gorkha) earthquake (DeYoung, Suji, & Southall, 2018) suggest that choices about infant feeding among families displaced by the earthquake were influenced by breastmilk substitutes distributed by nongovernmental groups (NGO’s). Additional research is needed to clarify the effect of disasters on infant feeding. Identifying inhibiting factors for sustained breastfeeding and safe artificial feeding during and after disasters can inform new interventions and policies used in mass care and evacuation scenarios
UM/NSF CRISP TYPE 2: Interdependencies in Community Resilience (ICOR): A Simulation Framework
DURATION: September 1, 2016 – August 31, 2021
RESEARCHERS: Ben Aguirre
FUNDING: National Science Foundation, University of Michigan
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Natural hazards engineering, and disaster science more broadly, have evolved into a multitude of highly specialized disciplines, each dedicated to handling a subset of the overall challenge of mitigating the effects of natural hazards. While progress in each discipline has varied by the historical size of its research community and amount of resources devoted to it, a common observation is that computational research is widespread in all fields. By exploiting this state of affairs and using computational modeling as a common language to link disparate disciplines, this project’s proposed computational platform will open the door for researchers to collaborate in new ways. Users will be able to connect their individual computational models (simulators) to the proposed integrative platform and simultaneously run them with simulators from other disciplines to explore the complex interactions that take place between the different systems of society during and after natural hazard disasters. The ability to seamlessly interface with other models with minimal effort will foster entirely new collaborations between researchers who do not traditionally work together, enabling as-of- yet unimagined studies within and contributions to the natural hazards engineering and disaster science fields. The new understanding that will result from this effort will shed light on the complex interactions that take place between policy, casualty rates and community resilience and clarify to what extent policy changes need to be implemented to significantly influence a community’s level of resilience to natural disasters. The work will also have a substantial impact on the development of human resources. By bridging civil engineering, social science and computer science, the students who will work on this project will attain a truly multi-disciplinary education at the intersection of these disciplines. Co-Principal Investigator: Sherif El-Tawil, Professor and Associate Chair, Dept. of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan
Understanding the Relationship Between Household Decisions and Infrastructure Investment in Disaster Recovery: Superstorm Sandy
RESEARCHERS: Sue McNeil, Joseph Trainor
FUNDING: US Department of Transportation through the Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation University Transportation Center at Rutgers
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
This study uses an exploratory, multiple case study methodology to explore the most influential factors associated with household decision making in two communities, Oakwood Beach in Staten Island, NY, and Sea Bright, NJ. Both communities suffered substantial losses from the hurricane. They are also both small, coastal communities. The population of Oakwood is 12,038 and the population of Sea Bright is 1,414. They also have key differences. Oakwood is the site of a pilot project that will give homeowners 100% of their pre-Sandy home value with an additional 5% if they choose to rebuild on Staten Island. Sea Bright, on the other hand, is rebuilding in the same location. Data collection for each case study community included a survey and semi-structured, in-depth interviews with adult members of households that sustained substantial damages from Hurricane Sandy. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of survey results and interviews was used to test hypotheses identified in the literature. These results were also connected to the impact of infrastructure disruptions.
USDA: Strengthening Local, Regional, and National Emergency Poultry Disease Response
DURATION: January 1, 2020 – December 31, 2020
RESEARCHERS: Jennifer Horney
FUNDING: U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
This project enhances local, regional, and national emergency poultry disease response. Timeliness is essential to control fast-moving diseases such as avian influenza or Newcastle disease. Local and regional responders can provide an initial capacity prior to mobilization of national level resources such as National Veterinary Stockpile equipment and contractors. On the Delmarva Peninsula, emergency poultry diseases are managed collaboratively between states and agencies and utilize a three-part model in which government, industry, and academia come together to save poultry. This project will strengthen response and enhance teamwork through mutual training in depopulation, epidemiology training on agriculturally important animal diseases; grower training on expectations and roles during an emergency; and grower and industry-oriented mass disposal training.
Using Information at Different Spatial Scales to Estimate Demand to Support Asset Management Decision Making
RESEARCHERS: Sue McNeil, Joseph Trainor
FUNDING: Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
The focus of this project is to understand how diverse, large data sets support asset management decision-making post disaster. In particular, the focus is on integrating sensor, survey, demographic, vulnerability and condition data related to the supporting infrastructure, the community, and households.
