September is Preparedness Month. As part of the month’s activities, the Northwest Center for Evidence-Based Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response (NWPHEPR) – which is housed in the Center for Disaster Resilient Communities – will be holding a two-day in-person conference on the University of Washington’s Seattle Campus. The NWPHEPR regional conference will feature speakers and sessions based on regional public health preparedness topics, including workforce and communications. Conference participants will have opportunities to share and learn from peers across…
Center updates
May 20 event: What Washington can learn from California’s wildfires
In January 2025, wildfires broke out in several neighborhoods across Los Angeles. The fires burned for almost a month, killing 30 people and devastating the city. Now, disaster preparedness experts in California and around the country are dissecting what went wrong, and what we can do to help prevent and mitigate future disasters. The University of Washington Center for Health and the Global Environment and the Center for Disaster Resilient Communities are hosting a hybrid event at 12 p.m. on…
Engineering researchers at the UW seek to mitigate impact of wildfires
The Western United States often faces severe wildfire seasons. Each year, wildfires destroy homes, displace communities and envelop millions in hazardous smoke. In response, University of Washington engineering researchers are creating innovative solutions to better predict, manage and mitigate the often devastating impacts of wildfires. Karen Leung of the UW’s Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics is leading a team that is developing drones that can map fires in real-time, offering crucial guidance and information for wildland firefighters. Separately, a team…
Research assesses implementation of disaster risk management strategies at Public Housing Authorities
Disasters destroy and damage large amounts of housing, with subsidized housing renters experiencing disproportionate impacts as a result of the lack of disaster risk management (DRM) planning from Public Housing Authorities (PHAs). Despite federal initiatives providing PHAs more flexibility to create local DRM plans, a gap in research remains on the influence of these initiatives in implementing DRM strategies. UW researchers collaborated with the National Low Income Housing Coalition and Stony Brook University to conduct key informant (KI) interviews with…
UW student leads pilot project aimed at building climate resilience in Seattle’s Duwamish Valley
Maja Jeranko, a postdoctoral scholar with the National Science Foundation’s Cascadia Coastlines and Peoples Hazards Research Hub (Cascadia CoPes Hub) and the University of Washington Center for Disaster Resilient Communities, helped initiate a UW Population Health Initiative-funded project titled, “Living with Water: Co-developing strategies to protect health while adapting to sea level rise in the Duwamish Valley.” The project began August 1, 2024, and addresses three aims: to identify potential flood adaptation strategies for the Duwamish Valley and evaluate their…
Participate in a Community of Practice for the Northwest Center for Evidence-Based Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response
CDC’s Office of Readiness and Response has selected the University of Washington Center for Disaster Resilient Communities, in partnership with Northwest Center for Public Health Practice, to create a new Northwest Center for Evidence-Based Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response serving Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and the 272 Tribal Nations in Region 10. This Center is one of 10 across the nation with a focus on improving the uptake of evidence-based strategies and interventions in public health emergency preparedness and…
UW research finds Tribal governments lack sufficient inclusion from FEMA
A group of University of Washington researchers recently published findings that indicate the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has taken minimal action to include Tribal governments in their holistic approach towards disaster resilience and recovery. The findings were published in the PLOS Climate journal and involved analyzing policy documents derived from the Hazard Mitigation Assistance grant program to assess whether FEMA has taken steps to include Tribal governments in its “Whole Community approach.” American Indians and Alaska Native communities are…
UW researchers assist in discovery of segmented Cascadia Subduction Zone map
New research from the University of Washington in Science Advances provided a detailed map of the Cascadia Subduction Zone, finding the megathrust fault to be divided into four segments and its future movement to be potentially insulated against the movements of other segments. UW researchers played a significant role in this multi-institutional effort, with co-authors Harold Tobin and Madeleine Lucas contributing to the study’s findings. The research team collected data offshore with a team of researchers in a 41-day cruise…
CDRC launches the Northwest Center for Evidence-Based Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response
The Center for Disaster Resilient Communities, in partnership with the University of Washington’s Northwest Center for Public Health Practice, was awarded funding to launch the new Northwest Center for Evidence-Based Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The award, which includes $978,000 in funding for the first year of work, will serve Alaska, Idaho, Washington and Oregon as part of a national network of 10 regional centers designed to help communities prepare…
UW RAPID Center receives $1.5 million NIH grant, enables greater research on disaster relief
The University of Washington Natural Hazard and Disaster Reconnaissance Facility (RAPID) received an annual $1.5 million grant by the National Institutes of Health that allows for an expansion of staffing, equipment upgrades and greater research on the long-term health outcomes for communities affected by natural disasters. Joseph Wartman, UW Civil & Environmental Engineering professor and the director of RAPID, expressed great enthusiasm about the grant and emphasized its ability to shift our understanding of the impacts of natural disasters on…