Enabling Program
The Enabling Program Program is a National Science Foundation-supported initiative aimed at developing early career scholars to excel in their individual disciplines as well as in the broader hazards and disasters research community. The aims of the program are to:
- Foster the development of scholars with a career-long commitment to research on hazards, risk, and disasters
- Contribute to the nation’s future research capacity through expanding the community of scholars
- Add important original scientific knowledge to the areas of hazards, risk, and disasters
The Enabling Program is crucial to the advancement of knowledge in the interdisciplinary hazards, disasters, and risk field, which relies on a continuous influx of new scholars committed both to their own disciplines and to the theoretical and applied aspects of hazards, disasters, and risk. This is a unique combination. Through the mentoring process, the Enabling Program encourages a distinct form of scholarly development and builds commitment to the multi-disciplinary hazards and disaster field. It helps to develop and empower a cadre of researchers who can understand and address the complex interactions between the social, built, and natural environment associated with hazards. By explicitly encouraging multi- and interdisciplinary education and training concerning the study of hazards and disasters, the program assists early-career researchers in enhanced research quality and outputs.
The 2025-2027 round of the Enabling Program is led by Dr. Abdul-Akeem Sadiq at the University of Central Florida, Dr. Henry Burton at the University of California, Los Angeles, Dr. Michelle Meyer at Texas A&M University and Dr. Jill Trepanier at Louisiana State University.
Testamonials from Previous Participants
“If I hadn't participated in the Enabling Program, I wouldn't have been as engaged with the hazard and disaster community and would likely not have been the NSF program director for Humans, Disasters, and the Built Environment (HDBE) from 2017-2019.”
“The Enabling Project launched my career as a social scientist and as a disaster researcher. It also provided me with the opportunity to give back to this outstanding community. It helped me to find my colleagues and develop my network. It is one of the best things I did in my career.”
Contact Dr. Abdul-Akeem Sadiq at the University of Central Florida if you have any questions: abdul-akeem.sadiq@ucf.edu.
