Call 1: Public Health Disaster Research Webinar

Public Health Disaster Research in U.S. Territories

Date: Thursday, August 12, 2021
Time: 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. MDT

Webinar Description: The U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands are subject to various natural hazards threats and have experienced multiple disasters in recent years. Devastating hurricanes, flooding, earthquakes, drought, and landslides have caused widespread destruction and ongoing disruption, and the COVID-19 pandemic has further stretched healthcare and emergency response networks.

In light of the need for more social science and public health research in the U.S. territories, the Natural Hazards Center—with the support of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Science Foundation—issued a call for proposals. This webinar showcased the results from the 15 projects that were ultimately funded and highlighted the research teams' reports.

The first 20 minutes of the webinar was dedicated to an overview of the call for proposals and the funded research projects. Participants were then invited to join one of four breakout rooms where they could learn about the funded projects in greater depth. Breakout rooms will focused on:

  • Panel One: Disaster Response and Sheltering
  • Panel Two: Education and Displacement
  • Panel Three: Risk Communication and Collective Recovery
  • Panel Four: Social Vulnerability

A detailed schedule of events and speakers follows.

Webinar Schedule:

Time - All MDT Topic Speakers
11:00 a.m. Welcome and Webinar Overview Jennifer Tobin, Deputy Administrator, Natural Hazards Center
11:05 a.m. Research in U.S. Territories Program Overview and Comments on the Importance of Public Health Disaster Research Tracy Thomas, Senior Health Scientist, Office of Applied Research, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
11:15 a.m. Overview of Funded Projects and Final Reports
Participants transition to breakout rooms.
Jennifer Tobin, Deputy Administrator, Natural Hazards Center
11:20 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Panel One: Disaster Response and Sheltering Moderator: Haorui Wu, Dalhousie University
11:20 a.m Frontline Government Workers: Assessing Post-Disaster Burnout and Quality of Life Kula Francis, Nisha Clavier, and Kenny Hendrickson
11:33 a.m. Nonprofit Response to Concurrent Disaster Events in Puerto Rico Ivis Garcia, Divya Chandrasekhar, N. Emel Ganapati, Kevin Fagundo-Ojeda, Jose Velazquez-Diaz, Kaila Witkowski, and Pablo Jose Rivera Miranda
11:46 a.m. Co-Designing a Participatory Community Mapping Method for Informal Sheltering in Puerto Rico Jonathan Sury, Yiyuan Jasmine Qin, Robert Soden, Gabriela Quijano, and Yesenia Delgado Castillo
11:59 a.m. Compound Hazards, Evacuations, and Shelter Choices: Public Health Implications for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands Jennifer Collins, Amy Polen, Elizabeth Dunn, Leslie Maas, Erik Ackerson, Janis Valmond, Ernesto Morales, and Delián Colón-Burgos
12:13 to 12:30 p.m. Q&A and Wrap-Up Moderator, Panelists, and All Participants
11:20 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Panel Two: Education and Displacement Moderator: Jennifer Tobin, Natural Hazards Center
11:20 a.m. When Nobody Came to Help Me: Protective Factors for College Students during Disasters in Puerto Rico María de Lourdes Lara Hernández, Félix López Román, Elena Martínez Torres, and Sol C. Molina Parrilla
11:33 a.m. The Effect of School Services Disruptions on Educational Outcomes Following Consecutive Disasters in Puerto Rico Eileen Segarra-Alméstica, Yolanda Cordero-Nieves, Héctor Cordero-Guzmán, José Caballero-Cueto, Indira Luciano-Montalvo, Sylvia Martínez-Mejias, and Hilda Rivera-Rivera
11:46 a.m. Long-Term Impacts of Cascading Disasters in the U.S. Virgin Islands on Student and Teacher Mental Health Leonard Huggins and Ted Serrant
11:59 a.m. Real-Time Migration Tracking to Puerto after Natural Hazard Events Alejandro Arrieta, Shu-Ching Chen, Juan Pablo Sarmiento, and Richard Olson
12:13 to 12:30 p.m. Q&A and Wrap-Up Moderator, Panelists, and All Participants
11:20 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Panel Three: Risk Communication and Collective Recovery Moderator: Meghan Mordy, Natural Hazards Center
11:20 a.m. Risk Communication in Concurrent Disasters in Puerto Rico Jenniffer Santos-Hernandez, Sara McBride, Nnenia Campbell, Lorna Jaramillo Nieves, Alejandra Figueroa-Huertas, Leslie Martínez-Román, and Ashley Méndez-Heavilin
11:37 a.m. Sharing During Disasters: Learning from Island Residents Karl Kim, Jiwnath Ghimire, and Eric Yamashita
11:54 a.m. Photovoice and Cultural Competence in Disaster Recovery in St. Croix Monique Constance-Huggins and Alexis Sharpe
12:12 to 12:30 p.m. Q&A and Wrap-Up Moderator, Panelists, and All Participants
11:20 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Panel Four: Social Vulnerability Moderator: Heather Champeau, Natural Hazards Center
11:20 a.m. Hurricane Maria Mortality Study: Ascertaining the Excess Mortality and Associated Risk Factors Following Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico Kristen Cowan and Diego Zavala
11:33 a.m. Calculating the Social Vulnerability Index for Guam Yvette C. Paulino, Grazyna Badowski, Jade Chennaux, Monica Guerrero, Casierra Cruz, Romina King, and Sela Panapasa
11:46 a.m. Relationships Between Distributions of Disaster Aid, Poverty, and Health in Puerto Rico Alison Chopel, Antonio Fernós Sagebien, and Laura Gorbea
11:59 a.m. Cascading Disasters, Gender, and Vulnerabilities in Southwestern Puerto Rico Waleska Sanabria-León, Jane Henrici, M. Gabriela Torres, Alitza Cardona, Anna Fairbairn, and Elizabeth Eaton
12:13 to 12:30 p.m. Q&A and Wrap-Up Moderator, Panelists, and All Participants
12:30 p.m. End Webinar

Acknowledgements

The Public Health Disaster Research Award Program is based on work supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through supplemental funding to the National Science Foundation (NSF Award #1635593). Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CDC, NSF, or Natural Hazards Center.