Collaborative Research: A Pre/Post Disaster Investigation of the Effect of Network Capacities on Disaster Response

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This research project investigates what can be done before an event to improve inter-agency communication and coordination during a disaster. Due to a number of social, economic, developmental, physical and environmental factors, natural disasters like floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and wildfires are anticipated to increase. Consequently, we need to have a better understanding of how communities can respond to and better prepare for disasters. This project is unique in two ways. First, it will examine whether factors like attachment to community, inter-organizational relationships, and network leadership are associated with better community preparedness. Second, the research will measure these factors in communities ahead of a disaster to see if they lead to better communication and coordination when an actual disaster happens. Wildfires, because they are one of the most commonly occurring natural disasters in the United States, are the focal events of this research. The results from the research will help improve disaster management by providing information that can inform how the many agencies, organizations, and groups involved in disaster preparedness and response can better organize themselves to create more disaster resilient communities. These lessons for better disaster management will be communicated directly to partner agencies and organizations, such as the U.S Forest Service Fire and Aviation Management, National Incident Management Organization and various state and local wildfire response organizations. The investigators will also share this work more broadly with the interested public, as well as professional and academic audiences. Conducting the research will provide opportunities for student training, as well as expand research partnerships with leaders in key agencies interested in disaster scholarship.