Our Curriculum Vitae (2021)

Culture & Disaster Action Network (CADAN)

A brief introduction to CADAN:

The Culture and Disaster Action Network is a group of social scientists, both academics and practitioners, working to build and integrate cultural comprehension into the work of disaster risk management. We are trained at applying anthropological and other social science methods to help identify and explain cultural differences in local communities that are likely to be critical for success in disaster risk reduction, preparedness, response, and recovery. We also consider how organizational cultures of external groups can be understood to help smooth the work of mitigation, preparedness, and/or recovery in local settings.   

CADAN provides disaster professionals in government, NGOs, non-profits, and the private sector a way to connect with researchers and educators from academic institutions, work on innovative ideas, identify collaborators, and create partnerships. The network is made up of senior experts in policy development, recovery planning, social services, housing, environment / natural resource management, economic development, public administration, inter-governmental relations, disaster philanthropy, and non-profit management. CADAN team members are skilled in the application of social science tools in disaster management contexts, such as post-disaster needs identification, social impact assessment, and assessment of social vulnerability and community risk.

 Below, please see the following three sections that present work by our network members:

1. Policy and Practitioner Experience

2. Disaster Research Publications 

3. Presentations and Products

1.     POLICY AND PRACTITIONER PROJECT EXPERIENCE

Consultancy, Applied Research, Reports, Program Reengineering – clients: D.C. Fire & EMS, FEMA, American Red Cross, Army Corps of Engineers, Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, Business-Community Synergies, D.C. Dept. of Health, Veteran’s Administration, United Way, Greater New Orleans Disaster Recovery Partnership, Association of Small Foundations, United Nations Development Programme.

U.S. Federal emergency management Agency (FEMA) JULY 2021 - virtual

• 90-minute presentation for the Higher Education Research and Innovation Forum entitled: “COVID, Anthropology, and Research in the Field: A Conversation with Kate Browne.” Virtual meeting, July 28-30, 2021.

U.S. Federal emergency management Agency (FEMA) June-August 2021 - Pueblo, Colorado

• FEMA Higher Education Funding for Vaccine Hesitancy Research Project and Report. Coordinated with and Supported by Region VIII. (Browne, Bauer, Azadegan with Rivera-Gonzalez, Maldonado, Maxwell, Olson)

U.S. Federal emergency management Agency (FEMA) OCTOBER 2020 - virtual

• FEMA Region VIII Diversity Speaker. Invited 90-minute Presentation: “Diversity as Resilience.” (Browne)

U.S. Federal emergency management Agency (FEMA) DECEMBER 2019 - Denver, Colorado

• FEMA Region VIII Annual Conference. Presentation: “From Awareness to Action: Influencing Public Awareness into a Culture of Preparedness. 90 minutes. FEMA Region VIII’s National Preparedness Division. December 10-12, 2019. Denver Colorado. (Browne)

U.S. Federal emergency management Agency (FEMA), 2018/2019 - Washington, DC

Higher Education Program / National Disaster Recovery System

• 2018 FEMA Workshop – 5 CADAN members co-organized, designed content and facilitated a Two-Day Workshop, bringing together disaster scholars and practitioner experts in disaster management to assist in the development of a conceptual framework for ‘Building Cultures of Preparedness’ in the face of future natural hazard and human-made events, a critical component of FEMA’s new Strategic Plan (2018-2022).

• 2019 Report on Signature Policy Initiative for FEMA – 5 CADAN members authored summary report and webinar detailing innovative approaches to FEMA’s new strategic goal, and exploring separately the notions of culture, preparedness, and building culture, will be disseminated widely throughout the emergency management & homeland security academic and practitioner community to support intended changes to policy and doctrine.

• 2018 Webinar – Design and delivery of a webinar on Building Cultures of Preparedness for FEMA leadership and the academic community. Completed September 20, 2018.

• ·Subsequent Webinars based on the 2019 Report for FEMA Higher Ed (noted above):

  • US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), National Silver Jackets Program. (Marino, Olson, Maxwell, Maldonado, Browne).

  • FEMA Region VIII Webinar, 2019. (Six state partners): “Local cultural knowledge in preparedness success.” (Olson, Browne).

COLORADO DIVISION OF HOMELAND SECURITY AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT (DHSEM), 2019. “Getting it Right: Emergency Management Access and Functional Needs Conference” Luncheon presentation, Nov 5 (Colorado Springs) and Nov 7 (Montrose). 2019. (Browne). YouTube video, pre-recorded presentation. https://youtu.be/iRGoghKFVxE 

GLOBAL PLATFORM ON DISASTER RISK REDUCTION, 2017. Cancun, Mexico

United Nations International Strategy on Disaster Reduction (UNISDR)                                                        

• National Science Foundation-funded Participation –a group of 5 CADAN scholars and practitioners were funded to attend the week-long event, prepare and deliver an on-stage presentation to introduce an approach we call “Culture-based DRR,” (see two-page handout), and to develop a methodology for conducting a series of rapid qualitative interviews with a sample of attendees. (Faas, Marino, Koons, Olson, Browne)

• Rapid Ethnographic Study – The CADAN team conducted 40 in-depth interviews with practitioners from a wide range of international NGO’s organizations. Goal was to learn how current disaster aid, DRR policies and policy implementation strategies recognize cultural diversity and the extent to which cultural considerations play a role in their work.

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION (NSF) CONVERGE program: Award for COVID-19 Working Group: Cumulative Effects of Successive Disasters. April 2020.

Ten CADAN Working Group Members including disaster anthropologists and practitioners. The product involved generating a COVID-19 Question Bank and Research Protocols posted on the CADAN website for open access to researchers worldwide. The questions and protocols offer a well-considered path for investigating individuals’ experiences with the pandemic in relation to their experiences with prior disasters.

ANNUAL NATURAL HAZARDS WORKSHOP, 2020 - virtual meeting

Panel of CADAN members, organized around conference theme of “Active Hope.”

Five presenters in session titled “Hope and Collective Action as Counteragents to Environmental Risk and Adversity.”  (Maxwell, Yoder Faas, Browne) 

ANNUAL NATURAL HAZARDS WORKSHOP, 2019 - Boulder, Colorado

Panel on 2019 FEMA Report, authored by 5 CADAN members.

• Invited Session to Introduce New Release of 2019 FEMA Report-- CADAN members discussed research indicating the lack of US preparedness and resilience, the lack of local knowledge and participation, and the lack of culture-based approaches to disaster. Presentation of guiding principles as developed in FEMA report, but with new graphics, cartoons, and scripts. 

ANNUAL NATURAL HAZARDS WORKSHOP, 2017 - Boulder, Colorado

Cultural Training Exercise conceived and presented by CADAN members                       

• Interactive Session to Introduce Role of Culture in Successful Recovery– A team of 5 CADAN members composed of practitioners and academics collaborated to prepare and deliver an interactive training program for audience of practitioners and academics. Hazards Center director reported very high impact of this session as indicated in conference attendee survey forms. CADAN network now developing curriculum unit for advancing disaster research and application. (Maldonado, Dietrich, O’Connell, Maxwell, Browne)

INSTITUTE FOR TRIBAL ENVIRONMENTAL PROFESSIONALS WEBINAR, 2019. (Maldonado presentation) March 7, 2019.

Arlington County OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT - Arlington County, Virginia

Spontaneous Volunteer & Donations Management in Disasters     

• Emergency Planning – authored Standard Operations Procedures (SOP) & Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) for Spontaneous Volunteer & Donations Management / disaster go-kits

• Preparedness Training - designed curriculum & trained local Volunteer Emergency Support Team.

• Exercise Planning - designed and executed Full-Scale Pandemic Flu Exercise for Dept. of Human Services, Dept. of Public Health, and Office of Emergency Preparedness.

Greater new orleans Disaster recovery partnership (GNODRP) - New Orleans, Louisiana

Monitoring, Performance Evaluation, and System Improvement, 2005-2007 (Olson)      

• Social Vulnerability – introduced Best Practices and Lessons Learned from academia and international humanitarian practice and authored flagship report on social vulnerability in Southeast Louisiana and its implications the delivery of non-profit disaster assistance.

• Preparedness/Prevention/Mitigation – design/evaluation of mass casualty field exercises / tabletop exercises, early warning system studies, post-Katrina coastal reconstruction & disaster risk reduction projects.

ADA County OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT - Boise, Idaho

Multi-Agency Resource Center (MARC) Tabletop Exercise and Training Workshop (Olson)  

• Tabletop Exercise Design & Training Workshop – Spring flooding scenario created for a training workshop to prepare Idaho VOAD to implement a Multi-Agency Resource Center after disasters.

• After Action Report – following HSEEP protocol, authored an AAR evaluation the Tabletop Exercise & Training Workshop

• Standard Operations Procedures (SOP) – created a MARC Plan and Standard Operations Procedures (SOP) for Idaho VOAD and Ada County Office of Emergency Management.

ANNUAL HOMELAND DEFENSE & SECURITY EDUCATION SUMMIT, 2018. “The relevance of culture in building preparedness” and “The role of Culture Brokers in operationalizing our guiding principles” for session, “Building Cultures of Preparedness.” (Olson, Browne) Presented by Zoom link video. October 11-13, 2018.

OTHER CONSULTING/ADVISING WORK 2018-2020:

• EPA Flooded Homes project—CADAN members invited to assess early scripts and drafts of short videos to reach underserved populations following flooding disasters. (Maxwell, Dietrich, Browne).

• Church World Services project --The project consisted of assisting Church World Services with the creation of an interactive map to allow them to better identify unmet needs and concentrations of vulnerability among their partners and their constituency. (Jerolleman, Faas,)

• Community Planning & Capacity-Building –production and management of technical reports, recovery interventions, institutional capacity-building models, community needs assessment processes, and participatory processes that transfer leadership of recovery to local actors – empowering local vision and goals in culturally unique / diverse communities.

2.  DISASTER RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS by CADAN Members Relevant to CADAN Work (Sampling)

• Public-Facing Works: below are a few articles that are written expressly for non-specialists and a broader public. There are also many academic articles and books that our members have authored and that are cited here: https://cultureanddisaster.org/resources/

• “Building Cultures of Preparedness: A forward-looking approach to community resilience” Crisis Response Journal article 2020 (Browne and Olson). (CRJ is the leading EM/disaster practitioner mag in Europe). 14 (4): 42-44.

• “A Community-based Model for Resettlement: Lessons from Coastal Louisiana.” 2018. (Maldonado and Peterson). The Routledge Handbook of Environmental Displacement and Migration. R McLeman and F Gemenne, eds. Routledge Press.

• “Culture, Barriers to Recovery, and the Question of Resilience.” 2016. (Dietrich, A). Culture, Community and Disaster, 10.

• “Disaster and Climate Change-related Displacements and Resettlements: Cultural and Political Ecologies of Space, Power, and Practice.” 2019. (Faas, Barrios, Marino, Maldonado) In The Angry Earth, 2nd edition. A Oliver-Smith and S Hoffman, eds. Routledge Press.

• “Engaged: Applying the Anthropology of Disaster to Practitioner Settings and Policy Creation” 2019. (Browne, Marino, Lazrus, Maxwell). In Disaster Upon Disaster: Exploring the Gap between Knowledge, Policy and Practice. Edited by Susanna M. Hoffman and Roberto E. Barrios.

• “Imagining a More Just World.” (Maldonado and Schuller) (2020) Annals of Anthropological Practice.

• “Journey through the Groan Zone with Academics and Practitioners: Conflict, Difference, and the Process of Bridging to Strengthen Disaster Risk and Recovery Work.” 2018. (Browne, O’Connell, Yoder). International Journal of Disaster Risk Science (IJDRS). September 2018, 9(3): 421-428.

• “PERSPECTIVE: Successful National Preparedness Requires a Radical New Approach” 2019. (Olson and Browne). Homeland Security Today.

• “Report: We’ve Failed Miserably at Preparedness” 2019. (interview with Browne and Olson) Emergency Management Magazine article (leading EM/disaster practitioner mag in US). March 2019. Jim McKay, reporter.

• “Roux and Resilience: Eleven Years after Hurricane Katrina.” 2016. (Browne) SAPIENS (a public anthropology magazine).August 2016.

• Seeking Justice in an Energy Sacrifice Zone: Standing on Vanishing Land in Coastal Louisiana. 2019. (Maldonado). London/New York: Routledge.

• Standing in the Need: Culture, Comfort, and Coming Home After Katrina. 2015. (Browne) University of Texas Press.

• “Standing in the Need: Communication Failures That Increased Suffering after Katrina.” 2013. (Browne). Anthropology Now (public anthropology journal of the General Anthropology Division, American Anthropological Association). 5(1): 54-66.

• Still Waiting: Life After Katrina, 2007-2015 (Browne and Martin) Documentary film broadcast on PBS stations in US and Canada.

• Tribes and Indigenous Peoples are Collective Rights Holders with a Unique Place at the Decision-Making Table. 2019. (Maldonado, Lazrus, Yazzie, Kane, Wiener). FEMA Higher Education Program Newsletter, August 2.

• “What Can We Learn from Practitioners’ Stories?” 2018. (Faas, Marino, Browne, Koons, Maldonado, and Olson). Anthropology News. June 7, 2018.

• “Who Lives Here: How Understanding Culture Reduces Suffering, Speeds Recovery, and Supports Resilience.” 2018. (Browne). Natural Hazards Center essay for Research Counts series. Published online October 23, 2017 and as printed paperback book, July 2018.

3.  CADAN PRESENTATIONS AND MATERIALS:

CADAN presentation at the UN Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in Cancun, May 2017.  Presenters Kate Browne and Adam Koons. Copyright © 2017 – CADAN:  https://youtu.be/4_QfwY_iQak

Culture-based DRR handout, Copyright © 2017 – CADAN (prepared for and distributed at the UN Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, Cancun Mexico, May 2017. http://cultureanddisaster.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/DDR_Cultur_Handout.pdf 

Culture and Recovery handout, Copyright © 2017 – CADAN (prepared for and distributed at Natural Hazards Center interactive session, July 2017. https://www.dropbox.com/s/0y2aw2i7ojgpuar/Culture-Based%20Disaster%20Recovery%20Handout%20copy.pdf?dl=0

Culture and Disaster Action Network (CADAN) See website for network mission, people involved, approach and case studies. https://cultureanddisaster.org/

CADAN publications:

2017     Marino, Koons, Olson, Browne, Faas, Maldonado. “A Helping Hand” The Mark News.

2017     Marino, Koons, Olson, Browne, Faas, Maldonado. “Local Resilience.” The Mark News.