Mallory Kennedy

Mal Kennedy is currently pursuing a master’s degree in public health from the University of Washington. She also works as a researcher in the public health department of a non-partisan research institution. Kennedy's master’s thesis uses Hurricane Harvey as a case study to examine the extent to which local health departments are working across sectors to incorporate public health considerations and resilience-building activities into disaster recovery. Outside of her studies, Kennedy has worked on a variety of disaster-related projects, including drafting a disaster recovery plan for a local health department, identifying public health practice-based research needs related to emergency preparedness, and assessing barriers and facilitators to the implementation of preparedness-related evidence-based practices. Broadly, her research interests include building resilience through recovery, incorporating the perspectives of at-risk and marginalized populations into planning for all phases of the disaster cycle, interdisciplinary approaches to disaster management, and public health systems. Kennedy holds a bachelor’s in political science from Davidson College.