Carson MacPherson-Krutsky

Carson MacPherson-Krutsky is a research associate at the Natural Hazards Center and at Boise State University sharing her positions equally. She is also the co-founder of the Boise State Hazard and Climate Resilience Institute whose mission is to connect researchers, students, and community partners to collaboratively address community resilience research and practical needs. In addition, MacPherson-Krutsky is the co-owner of HazardReady, LLC, a company that provides personalized risk and preparedness information via easy to use websites. She holds a bachelor’s from Western Washington University, a master’s from University of Montana, and a PhD from Boise State University.

Her research incorporates social science methods to investigate what motivates people to take protective actions and to assess which types of risk communication styles are most effective at motivating people to prepare. MacPherson-Krutsky is also interested in creating multimedia products (e.g., infographics, websites, videos, workshops) that convey complex or technical information in engaging and user-friendly ways. During her graduate studies, she worked closely with local emergency managers to develop materials and test them. MacPherson-Krutsky is passionate about making connections across disciplines, sectors, and with community members to ensure that the science we do can help support real world decision-making in communities of all shapes, sizes, and backgrounds.

MacPherson-Krutsky joined the Natural Hazards Center in the fall of 2021. Her work involves developing interactive trainings for practitioners that focus on risk communication best practices with specific emphasis on socially vulnerable populations. This work is in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and builds upon existing Natural Hazard Center resources. 

MacPherson-Krutsky served on the Flood Mitigation Library Steering Committee to provide guidance on the user experience and content for a website that provides accessible flood mitigation information. This site was developed by the Association of Floodplain Managers (launching summer 2022). She is also serving on the NOAA-NIDIS Flash Drought Working Group to explore current gaps related to drought monitoring, prediction, and response.