Tom Birkland
Thomas A. Birkland is the William T. Kretzer Professor of Public Policy in the School of Public and International Affairs at North Carolina State University, as well as the Associate Dean for Research, Extension, Engagement and Economic Development in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. He has studied the politics and policy dimensions of natural hazards and technological accidents for more than 19 years.
Before joining North Carolina State, Birkland was an associate professor of public administration and the director of the Center for Policy Research in the Nelson A. Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy at the State University of New York at Albany. In 2006, Birkland was the program director for the Infrastructure Management and Hazard Response Program at the National Science Foundation in Washington, D.C.
Birkland is the author of two books and several articles on the political and public policy aspects of natural disasters. His most recent book is Lessons of Disaster (Georgetown University Press 2006). It is a follow-up to his study, After Disaster (1997).
His current research interests are the policy aspects of long-term recovery and policy failure and learning following major disasters. He recently led the third iteration of the National Science Foundation-funded project Enabling the Next Generation of Hazards and Disasters Researchers, a program designed to attract young and enthusiastic scholars to disasters and hazards research.
