More than 100 representatives from states, Tribes and local health jurisdictions shared expertise in a two-day conference in Seattle On September 9th and 10, 2025, the Northwest Center for Evidence-Based Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response (NWPHEPR) and the Center for Disaster Resilient Communities (CDRC) hosted the inaugural Northwest Preparedness and Resilience Conference. The event brought together public health practitioners from across the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Region 10 — which is made up of Oregon, Washington,…
Center updates
New research seeks to reduce the risk of soil liquefaction during earthquakes
Liquefaction of soil is a major risk during earthquakes, responsible for significant damage to buildings and other infrastructure. A team from the University of Washington’s Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering is developing biocementation – a newer, sustainable alternative to traditional soil stabilization methods. This new approach utilizes bacteria to help soils strengthen against earthquake liquefaction. Unlike conventional cement-based soil treatments, biocementation is much less invasive, with a simple nutrient solution being injected into the soil. This solution enables bacteria…
UW researchers design a new emergency preparedness tool
University of Washington researchers from the Center for Disaster Resilient Communities have developed a new digital tool to standardize emergency preparedness assessments for Washington’s 35 local health jurisdictions. The Health and Hazards Risk Decision Support Tool (H2azaRDS) aims to assist counties in assessing their readiness for natural disasters such as earthquakes, wildfires and tsunamis. Led by Nicole Errett, an associate professor in the University of Washington’s Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences, the team created the tool at the…
Regional medical surge partners convene to innovate new approaches to longstanding gaps
The University of Washington Center for Disaster Resilient Communities, in partnership with the National Center for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, convened a meeting of military, healthcare, public health and emergency management partners on June 10, 2025, to address gaps in preparedness for a sustained medical surge event. The goal was to generate innovative, research-informed ideas to bridge those gaps. Over the past several months, the CDRC has reviewed regional plans, after-action reports and other relevant documents, and conducted interviews…
Migration and housing quality identified as risk factors for earthquake deaths
New University of Washington research spotlights an often overlooked factor in earthquake fatality research: migration. The research team, led by Tzu-Hsin Karen Chen, an assistant professor in both the University of Washington’s Department of Urban Design and Planning and the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences, found that deaths in major earthquakes were often concentrated in suburban areas as opposed to city centers. The research team included many collaborators across Taiwan as well, using the country’s Chi-Chi Earthquake (1999)…
Join Region 10 colleagues at the NWPHEPR inaugural conference on September 9 and 10
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…
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…