Statement on Systemic Racism and Disasters 

from the 

North American Alliance of Hazards and Disaster Research Institutes

We have mobilized as an academic research community in response to many other large-scale disasters in the past. As that work continues, we have also turned our focus to the global COVID-19 pandemic that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives while disproportionately affecting the elderly, medically fragile people, the poor, and communities of color. Now, following several high profile killings of unarmed Black citizens, the United States has been convulsed by a wave of mass protests, rioting, state sanctioned violence, and civil unrest. The country is being forced to confront the slowest and perhaps most deadly disaster of all, that of deeply embedded, systemic racism. 

The North American Alliance of Hazards and Disaster Research Institutes stands together in our condemnation of violence and racism in all its forms, as we also commit to the following:

1. We will bring available resources to bear to ensure that our Black students and colleagues, as well as our team members from other marginalized groups, receive the support and care that they need during this time of national and global trauma.
2. We will not tolerate racism, discrimination, harassment, or bias in our institutes, centers, or labs. We will act fairly, swiftly, and with moral courage in the face of any such incidents, as we also strive to root out insidious forms of structural inequality.
3. We will work to ensure that our institutes, centers, and labs are reflective of the communities that we study and serve. We commit to recruiting and retaining a demographically and functionally diverse workforce and encouraging the participation of historically underrepresented groups. Research shows that diverse teams function more effectively. This is also the right thing to do.
4. We will conduct and share rigorous research that carefully considers the historical legacies and contemporary effects of systemic racism, economic and gender inequality, and other forms of oppression and injustice. Slavery, genocide, colonialism, and laws that have enforced racial segregation have systematically disadvantaged entire groups of people throughout North America, leaving communities of color at risk to hazards and with fewer resources available to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters. We commit to ensuring that our research accounts for these historical legacies and the contemporary effects of ongoing social and economic inequalities. We will learn from, fund, and otherwise advance the efforts of a racially diverse cadre of scholars in this field to ensure that a wide range of perspectives are supported.
5. We will promote evidence-informed policies and practices that ameliorate pre-existing inequalities rather than amplify them. Research has shown that color-blind mitigation and recovery policies may leave African American, Latino, Indigenous, Asian, and other communities of color more at risk and with fewer resources available to defend against future disasters. We will strive to ensure that policy makers, practitioners, planners, students, journalists, and others are aware of this research so that we can help educate, inform, and ultimately improve the status of our society.

We realize that we alone cannot create systemic change; it requires collective commitment. But we also recognize that as the leaders of academic research units, we have a scientific and moral obligation to do all we can with what we have during this historic moment of upheaval and global catastrophe. We hope you will join us in this commitment to advancing justice and equity for all people during this time of planetary peril.

Signed, 

1. Lori Peek, Director, Natural Hazards Center and Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Colorado Boulder, USA
2. Jennifer Tobin, Deputy Administrator, Natural Hazards Center, University of Colorado Boulder, USA 
3. John van de Lindt, Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado State University and Co-Director, Center for Risk-Based Community Resilience Planning, USA 
4. Richard Olson, Director, Extreme Events Institute and International Hurricane Research Center, Professor, Department of Politics and International Relations, Florida International University, USA
5. David P. Eisenman, Director, UCLA Center for Public Health and Disasters, Professor-in-Residence, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA/UCLA Jonathan and Karin Fielding School of Public Health, USA
6. Karl Kim, Executive Director, National Disaster Preparedness Training Center, Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA 
7. Paul Kovacs, Executive Director, Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction, Western University, Canada 
8. Jamie Brown Kruse, Director, Center for Natural Hazards Research and Distinguished Professor of Economics, East Carolina University, USA 
9. Selwyn E. Mahon, Medical Director, Caribbean Center for Disaster Medicine, American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine, Director, International Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Fellowship, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Disaster Medicine Fellowship, USA
10. Melanie Gall, Co-Director, Center for Emergency Management and Homeland Security and Research Professor, School of Community Resources and Development, Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions, Arizona State University, USA
11. Robert Weiss, Director, Center for Coastal Studies and Professor of Natural Hazards, Virginia Tech, USA
12. Stephen Flynn, Founding Director, Global Resilience Institute and Professor of Political Science, Northeastern University, USA
13. Nicole Errett, Co-Director, Collaborative on Extreme Event Resilience, University of Washington School of Public Health, USA
14. Ali Asgary, Associate Director, Advanced Disaster, Emergency & Rapid Response Simulation (ADERSIM), York University, Canada
15. Brittany Brand, Director, Hazard and Climate Resilience Institute and Associate Professor, Department of Geoscience, Boise State University, USA
16. Michelle Meyer, Director, Hazard Reduction & Recovery Center and Associate Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning, Texas A&M University, USA
17. Philip Berke, Director, Center for Resilient Communities and the Environment and Research Professor, Department of City and Regional Planning, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA  
18. Adam Levine, Director, Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies, Brown University, USA
19. Monica Schoch-Spana, Senior Scholar, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA
20. Pedro Lomonaco, Director, O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory, Oregon State University, USA
21. William Siembieda, Founding Director, Resilient Communities Research Institute, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, USA 
22. David Smith, Coordinator, Institute for Sustainable Development and Director, Centre for Environmental Management, The University of the West Indies, Jamaica 
23. Joel Conte, Director, Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI) Shake Table Facility and Professor, Department of Structural Engineering, University of California San Diego, USA
24. Jane Kushma, Director, Center for Disaster and Community Resilience and Professor of Emergency Management, Jacksonville State University in Alabama, USA
25. Andrew Whittaker, Director, MCEER and Institute of Bridge Engineering and SUNY Distinguished Professor, Department of Civil,Structural, and Environmental Engineering, State University of New York, Buffalo, USA
26. Susan L. Cutter, Director, Hazards & Vulnerability Research Institute and Carolina Distinguished Professor of Geography, University of South Carolina, USA
27. Forrest J. Masters, Professor and Associate Dean for Research and Facilities, Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, University of Florida, USA
28. Youngjun Choe, Director, Disaster Data Science Laboratory and Assistant Professor, Industrial and Systems Engineering, University of Washington, USA
29. Ross W. Boulanger, Director, Center for Geotechnical Modeling and Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California at Davis, USA
30. J. Brian Houston, Director, Disaster and Community Crisis Center and Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Communication, University of Missouri, USA
31. John L. Renne, Director, Center for Urban and Environmental Solutions and Associate Professor, School of Urban and Regional Planning, Florida Atlantic University, USA
32. Rebekah Paci-Green, Director, Resilience Institute and Associate Professor, Environmental Studies, Western Washington University, USA
33. Paul Biddinger, Director, Center for Disaster Medicine and Endowed Chair in Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, USA
34. Irwin Redlener, Director, National Center for Disaster Preparedness, Columbia University  Earth Institute, USA
35. Jeff Schlegelmilch, Deputy Director, National Center for Disaster Preparedness, Columbia University Earth Institute, USA
36. Monica Farris, Director, University of New Orleans’ Center for Hazards, Assessment, Response & Technology (UNO-CHART), USA
37. Robert J. Johnston, Director, George Perkins Marsh Institute and Professor, Department of Economics, and Chair, Institutional Review Board, Clark University, USA
38. Julio A. Ramirez, Director, Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI) Network Coordination Office (NCO) and Karl H. Kettelhut Professor of Civil Engineering, Lyles School of Civil Engineering, Purdue University, USA
39. Joseph A. Barbera, Lead Professor for Crisis, Emergency, and Risk Management and Associate Professor of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering, George Washington University, USA
40. Kristy F. Tiampo, Director, Earth Science and Observation Center and Professor, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, USA
41. Kishor Mehta, Director, Wind Hazard and Infrastructure Performance (WHIP) Center, Horn Professor of Civil Engineering, Texas Tech University, USA
42. Stefan E. Schulenberg, Director, University of Mississippi Clinical-Disaster Research Center (UM-CDRC), Director, Disaster Sciences Interdisciplinary Minor at the University of Mississippi, Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Mississippi, USA
43. Victor A. Huerfano, Director, Puerto Rico Seismic Network, University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez, USA
44. Dan Wilson, Associate Director, Center for Geotechnical Modeling, University of California at Davis, USA
45. Jason Enia, Director, Center for the Study of Disasters & Emergency Management (CDEM), Sam Houston State University, USA
46. Sara Grineski. Co-Director, Center for Natural and Technological Hazards, Professor of Sociology, University of Utah, USA
47. Jamie D. Aten, Executive Director and Blanchard Chair of Humanitarian & Disaster Leadership, Humanitarian Disaster Institute, Wheaton College, USA
48. Tricia Wachtendorf, Director, Disaster Research Center and Professor, Sociology & Criminal Justice, University of Delaware, USA
49. James Kendra, Director, Disaster Research Center and Professor, Biden School of Public Policy and Administration, University of Delaware, USA
50. Adelle Thomas, Director, Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Research Centre, University of The Bahamas, The Bahamas
51. Tim Collins, Co-Director, Center for Natural and Technological Hazards, Professor, Department of Geography, University of Utah, USA
52. David Abramson, Director, Population Impact, Recovery, and Resilience Center (PiR2), New York University, USA
53. Bob Freitag, Co-Director and Senior Instructor, Institute for Hazards Mitigation Planning and Research, University of Washington, USA
54. Norman S. Levine, Director, The Lowcountry Hazards Center, Professor of Geology and Environmental Geosciences, University of Charleston, South Carolina, USA
55. Joseph Wartman, Director, Natural Hazards Reconnaissance Facility (RAPID), and H. R. Professor of Engineering, University of Washington, USA
56. Brian J. Gerber, Co-Director, Center for Emergency Management and Homeland Security, Arizona State University, USA
57. Kristina J. Peterson, Director, on behalf of all the Board Members, Lowlander Center, USA
58. Douglas R. Toomey, Director, Oregon Hazards Lab and Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oregon, USA
59. Kent Annan, Director of Humanitarian and Disaster Leadership, Wheaton College, USA
60. Anita Cicero, Deputy Director, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, USA
61. Sepi Yalda, Director, Center for Disaster Research and Education and Professor of Meteorology, Millersville University, USA
62. Jack Baker, Director, Stanford Urban Resilience Initiative and Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, USA
63. Fernando I. Rivera, Director, Puerto Rico Research Hub and Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Central Florida, USA
64. Gregory Deierlein, Director, Blume Center for Earthquake Engineering, Co-Director of the Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI) SimCenter, and Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, USA
65. Bruce R. Ellingwood, Co-Director, Center for Risk-based Community Resilience Planning and Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado State University, USA
66. Sanjay Govindjee, Co-Director, Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI) SimCenter Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, USA
67. Scott Curtis, Assistant Director, Center for Natural Hazards Research and Distinguished Professor, Department of Geography, Planning, and Environment, East Carolina University, USA
68. Heidi Tremayne, Executive Director, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, USA
69. Caroline McDonald-Harker, Director, Centre for Community Disaster Research, Mount Royal University, Canada
70. Ernst W. Kiesling, Executive Director Emeritus, National Storm Shelter Association, Research Professor Emeritus, National Wind Institute, Texas Tech University, USA
71. Robert S. Chen, Director, Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University, USA
72. John Schroeder, Senior Director, National Wind Institute, Texas Tech University, USA
73. Andy Coburn, Associate Director, Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines, Western Carolina University, USA
74. Frederick Krimgold, Former Director, Virginia Tech-George Washington Center for Disaster and Risk Management and Former Co-Director, World Institute for Disaster Risk Management, USA
75. Howard Kunreuther, Co-Director, Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Center and James G. Dinan Professor Emeritus of Decision Sciences & Public Policy Operations, Information, and Decisions (OID) Department, University of Pennsylvania, USA
76. Britt Raubenheimer, Leader, Nearshore Extreme Events Reconnaissance (NEER) Association and Senior Scientist, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA
77. David Frost, Chair, Geotechnical Extreme Events Reconnaissance (GEER) Association and Elizabeth & Bill Higginbotham Professor of Civil Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA
78. Richard Robertson, Immediate Past Director, The University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre and Professor of Geology, The University of the West Indies, Trinidad & Tobago
79. Tracy Kijewski-Correa, Director, Structural Engineering Extreme Events Reconnaissance (StEER) Network and Leo E. and Patti Ruth Linbeck Collegiate Chair and Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering & Earth Sciences, College of Engineering and Associate Professor of Global Affairs; Co-Director, Integration Lab, Keough School of Global Affairs, University of Notre Dame, USA
80. Juyeong Choi, Director, Sustainable Material Management Extreme Events Reconnaissance (SUMMEER) Organization and Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, USA
81. Waleed Abdalati, Director, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences and Professor, Department of Geography, University of Colorado Boulder, USA
82. Mark S. Davis, Director, Tulane ByWater Institute; Director, Tulane Institute on Water Resources Law and Policy; Director, Tulane Center for Environmental Law; and Eugenie Schwartz Professor of River and Coastal Studies, Tulane University, USA
83. Anna Elizabeth Thomas, Director of Operations, National Wind Institute, Texas Tech University, USA
84. Ali Mostafavi, Faculty Director, UrbanResilience.AI Lab and Assistant Professor, Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Texas A&M University, USA
85. Charlene Shroulote-Durán, Associate Director, Institute for Sustainable Communities, Texas A&M University, USA
86. Witold F. Krajewski, Director, Iowa Flood Center and Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Iowa, USA
87. Mark Svoboda, Director, National Drought Mitigation Center and Associate Professor, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA
88. Shi-Kai (“Sky”) Huang, Director, Center for Emergency Preparedness and Associate Professor, Department of Emergency Management, Jacksonville State University, USA
89. Robin Cox, Director, Resilience by Design (RbD) Research Innovation Lab and Professor, Disaster and Emergency Management Program, School of Humanitarian Studies, Royal Roads University, Canada
90. Rick Luettich, Director, Coastal Resilience Center of Excellence and Alumni Distinguished Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA

This statement was written and signed by leaders of academic hazards and disaster research institutes, centers, and laboratories located across North America. After the release of the statement, colleagues from other regions and in a range of academic positions reached out and asked to sign the statement in solidarity with the message being conveyed. Their signatures follow:

1. José I Restrepo, Professor, Department of Structural Engineering, University of California San Diego, USA
2. William Lovekamp, Professor of Sociology, Eastern Illinois University and President, International Sociological Association Research Committee on the Sociology of Disasters (ISA-RC39), USA
3. Henry Ngenyam Bang, Researcher/Lecturer, Disaster Management Centre, Bournemouth University, United Kingdom
4. Theresa Richards, Doctoral Student, Department of Structural Engineering, University of California San Diego, USA
5. Ryerson Christie, Cabot Institute for the Environment and Senior Lecturer in East Asian Studies, School of Sociology, Politics, and International Studies, SPAIS Gender Research Centre, University of Bristol, United Kingdom
6. Dann Mitchell, Cabot Institute for the Environment and Associate Professor in Atmospheric Science, School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, United Kingdom
7. Erna Danielsson,Senior Lecturer, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences and Risk and Crisis Research Centre, Mid Sweden University and Board Member, International Sociological Association Research Committee on the Sociology of Disasters (ISA-RC39),Sweden
8. Andrea Lampis, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, National University of Colombia and Board Member, International Sociological Association Research Committee on the Sociology of Disasters (ISA-RC39), Colombia
9. Tristan Wu, Associate Professor, Department of Emergency Management and Disaster Science, University of North Texas, USA
10. Michele Companion, Department Chair and Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Colorado Colorado Springs and Secretary-Treasurer, International Sociological Association Research Committee on the Sociology of Disasters (ISA-RC39), USA
11. Victor Marchezini, Researcher, Centro Nacional de Monitoramento e Alertas de Desastres Naturais and Board Member, International Sociological Association Research Committee on the Sociology of Disasters (ISA-RC39), Brazil
12. Alex Greer, Associate Professor, College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security, and Cybersecurity, University at Albany, USA

June 8, 2020