The Disaster Research Center at the University of Delaware:: The World's First Center for the Social Scientific Study of Disaster

Zachary Cox; James Kendra; Tricia Wachtendorf; Valerie Marlowe

doi:10.32481/djph.2019.10.011

The Disaster Research Center at the University of Delaware:: The World's First Center for the Social Scientific Study of Disaster

Dela J Public Health. 2019 Oct 28;5(4):44-48. doi: 10.32481/djph.2019.10.011. eCollection 2019 Oct.

Authors

Zachary Cox¹, James Kendra², Tricia Wachtendorf³, Valerie Marlowe⁴

Affiliations

¹ Disaster Science and Management, Biden School of Public Policy and Administration, University of Delaware.
² Director, Disaster Research Center; Professor, Biden School of Public Policy and Administration; University of Delaware.
³ Director, Disaster Research Center; Professor, Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, University of Delaware.
⁴ Assistant Director, Archives and Collections, Disaster Research Center, University of Delaware.

Abstract

The Disaster Research Center (DRC) was founded in 1963 to help American government decision makers understand how citizens would respond in times of crisis. Since then, DRC personnel have embarked upon some 700 quick-response deployments to better understand the social and physical aspects of disaster mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. This research has taken DRC faculty and students around the world, from New York City, conducting research that explored and documented the city's response to and recovery from 9/11, to the Kathmandu Valley to better understand mothering during disaster evacuation after the 2015 Nepal Earthquake. Relevant to the academy, practitioners, and the public, DRC is available to lend its expertise to answer the most pressing questions in disaster science.

Keywords: Delaware; Disaster Research Center; Disaster Science Education.