Community Visualization, and Design Research
Lead: Peter Schaeffer
Members: Hodjat Ghadimi
 
Research Projects:
  1. Identifying indicators of resiliency, barriers to community engagement and the factors that commit a community to resiliency building and maintenance. (Communities as equal partners - achieve meaningful community engagement and behavior change)
  2. Understanding behaviors of diverse communities (intrinsic socioeconomic and personality factors) that influence community attitudes and the likelihood of community participation in and compliance with disaster plans. (Environmental Justice) (e.g., changes in climate)
  3. Identifying tools that are effective for helping communities change resiliency status.
  4. Evaluating a research-based approach to a technical assistance and outreach program for helping communities establish and maintain resiliency.
Expected Outcomes:
  1. A framework to help communities engage in resiliency-building that can also be used for guiding grant investments and policy by DHS S&T clients.
  2. A social sciences framework for applying technology transfer and Stages of Change principles to establishing and maintaining resilient rural and urban communities.
  3. Development of a robust and flexible data collection and analysis system to track and facilitate improvements for community resilience.
Modeling, Simulation, and Visualization
Lead: Ken Sochats
Members: Carey Balaban, Louis Luangkesorn
 
Research Projects:
  1. Understanding the specific hazards and vulnerabilities communities face. * Operations Research * Psychological and Humanistic Perspective
  2. Evaluate the relationship between a communities’ awareness of its vulnerabilities to its engagement in resiliency planning. * Awareness is Defined by the Congruence between Operations Research and Psychological and Humanistic Perspectives
  3. Identify, Develop, Assess, and Validate models for demonstrating community vulnerabilities and consequences.
Expected Outcomes:
  1. Knowledge of how to represent disaster vulnerability to communities.
  2. Guidance for disaster response planners and response organizations for effective planning guidance and risk communications with communities.
Hazards Mitigation, Infrastructure Resiliency and Loss Mitigation
Lead: Makola Abdullah
Members:
 
Research Project:
  1. Understanding the specific hazards and vulnerabilities communities face.
Expected Outcomes:
  1. A framework for relating hazards mitigation, infrastructure resiliency and loss mitigation to community leaders and infrastructure stakeholders.
  2. Guidance for disaster response planners and response organizations for planning and response.
  3. Guidance for grant investments and policy by DHS S&T clients and federal agencies.
Population Behavior /Disaster Response
Lead: Carey Balaban
Members:
 
Research Project:
  1. Understanding intrinsic socioeconomic and personality factors that influence community attitudes and the likelihood of community participation in and compliance with disaster plans.
Expected Outcomes:
  1. Provide a framework for predicting responses of different communities to disaster scenarios.
  2. Guidance for maintaining community continuity by preserving trusted, critical infrastructure.
  3. Guidance for planning effective community-based disaster plans (including relocation versus shelter in place).
Environmental Sciences & Services
Lead: Gerald R. Iwan
Members: Hodjat Ghadimi
 
Research Project:
  1. Evaluation relationship of knowledge of science associated with disaster events and community engagement in resiliency planning.
Expected Outcome:
  1. A framework for engaging community disaster planning, response, and assistance on the basis of community knowledge of the science behind the occurrence of disasters events, including environmental factors occurring due to specific disaster types.
Technology Transfer to Communities
Lead:
Members:
 
Research Projects:
Expected Outcomes: