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: 7
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
![An Interdisciplinary Approach to Modeling Multiple Stakeholder Decision Making to Reduce Regional Natural Disaster Risk image](https://sites.udel.edu/drc/files/2022/09/circle-ud-background.jpg)
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
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.
![NSF HAZARD SEES TYPE 2: Next Generation, Resilient Warning Systems For Tornados And Flash Floods image](https://sites.udel.edu/drc/files/2022/09/circle-ud-background.jpg)
NSF HAZARD SEES TYPE 2: Next Generation, Resilient Warning Systems For Tornados And Flash Floods
RESEARCHERS: Joseph Trainor
ADDITIONAL INVESTIGATOR: Brenda Philips, Umass Amherst)
FUNDING: National Science Foundation
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
On this project, researchers are working as part of a collaborative, multi-disciplinary team to explore the basic science to support the next generation of warning systems for rapid-onset hazards such as tornadoes and flash floods. In particular, we are working to better understand how to predict and disseminate warnings in shorter time windows and with smaller warning spaces. In order to do this, the project combines new radar and mobile phone technology with an improved understanding of human responses to warnings in order to better meet the goal of keeping people and property safe. DRC researchers are using focus groups, surveys, and short questionnaires on a cell phone app to better understand how people decide if specific weather is threatening or not. In addition to other factors, we are specifically focused on how different times and places people find themselves in when they receive warnings might change how they respond to them. We are also exploring how warnings delivered on mobile phones differ from other types of dissemination methods. For example, we are examining the ability of apps to deliver individualized storm warning information to people and whether people give their attention differently to warnings received through their phones than they might to more traditional methods of warning delivery.
![NSF LEAP HI: Embedding Regional Hurricane Risk Management in the Life of a Community: A Computational Framework image](https://sites.udel.edu/drc/files/2022/09/circle-ud-background.jpg)
NSF LEAP HI: Embedding Regional Hurricane Risk Management in the Life of a Community: A Computational Framework
DURATION: September 1, 2018 – August 31, 2023
RESEARCHERS: Rachel Davidson, Joseph Trainor
FUNDING: Cornell University, East Carolina University, National Science Foundation
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
A breakthrough in disaster risk reduction will require an approach that views disasters not as abnormal events but as a regular part of a community’s evolution, and disaster risk management as inextricably interwoven with the normal activities of everyday life. In this project, a novel computational modeling framework will be developed using this approach to improve understanding of the underlying dynamics that lead to escalating regional natural disaster risk, and to support design and analysis of public policy interventions to address them. In a system-wide analysis, the Multistakeholder Disaster Risk Management (MDRM) framework will explicitly consider perspectives of and interactions among multiple key stakeholders (government, primary insurers, and homeowners), multiple diverse interventions (e.g., home strengthening, insurance, land use planning), and not just actions that are explicitly risk-focused but “risk-influential” actions as well. The MDRM computational framework will include seven interacting mathematical models representing physically-based simulation of damage, losses, and ways to strengthen homes; decision-making by each main stakeholder type including oligopolistic competition among insurers; and the changing building inventory and regional economy that provide the context. It will be developed with a full-scale application for hurricanes in North Carolina. This project promises improved understanding of the creation and management of regional natural disaster risk by, for the first time, uniting the conceptualization of disasters as part of the normal life of a community with the power of quantitative, dynamic engineering modeling of risk, decision-making, and economics. Principal Investigators: Linda Nozick, Cornell University, and Jamie Kruse, East Carolina University
![NSF: Multi-Perspective Evacuation Performance image](https://sites.udel.edu/drc/files/2022/09/circle-ud-background.jpg)
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)
![Understanding the Relationship Between Household Decisions and Infrastructure Investment in Disaster Recovery: Superstorm Sandy image](https://sites.udel.edu/drc/files/2022/09/circle-ud-background.jpg)
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.
![Using Information at Different Spatial Scales to Estimate Demand to Support Asset Management Decision Making image](https://sites.udel.edu/drc/files/2022/09/circle-ud-background.jpg)
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.
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 image](https://sites.udel.edu/drc/files/2022/09/circle-ud-background.jpg)
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 image](https://sites.udel.edu/drc/files/2022/09/circle-ud-background.jpg)
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 image](https://sites.udel.edu/drc/files/2022/09/circle-ud-background.jpg)
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 image](https://sites.udel.edu/drc/files/2022/09/circle-ud-background.jpg)
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 image](https://sites.udel.edu/drc/files/2022/09/circle-ud-background.jpg)
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 image](https://sites.udel.edu/drc/files/2022/09/circle-ud-background.jpg)
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.