Building Disaster Resilient Communities: Practice and Research Collaboration
The University of Washington (UW) recently launched the Center for Disaster Resilient Communities (CDRC), bringing together experts from academia, practice, and community to inform and strengthen how communities prepare for and respond to disasters. This session will highlight CDRC’s integrated approach in preparing for all types of disasters while working closely with communities and partners to improve each phase of the disaster management cycle by advancing effective, high-quality science. Attendees will have an opportunity to inform how CDRC can prioritize working directly with community, Tribal and government partners by identifying community-identified needs and questions related to disaster preparedness, response and resilience.
Current CDRC projects in close partnership with practitioners include:
• strengthening bi-directional partnerships with Tribal governments across the Pacific Northwest who are particularly vulnerable to natural hazards
• a climate change collaborative bringing together transdisciplinary partners from across the Pacific Northwest to co-develop future research and action agendas
• a preparedness workforce competencies project informed by state and local public health practitioners across the country
• development of a work plan for a future regional public health preparedness and response center, guided by practitioners from Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and the 271 Tribal Nations in the region
About the Presenter
Resham Patel is an assistant teaching professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences at the University of Washington, with 15 years of local and national experience as a public health professional. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, Resham leads efforts to advance practice-based disaster research and incident evaluation, presenting nationally and developing adaptable resources for peers across the country. She is part of the leadership team for the UW Center for Disaster Resilient Communities (CDRC).
In her prior role at Public Health – Seattle & King County, Resham collaborated with local and regional partners as she led preparedness training, evaluation and improvement efforts, including an assessment of the agency’s COVID-19 response. She has significant incident management experience, including in King County’s COVID-19 response and deployment to Hawaii for the 2018 volcano and hurricane disasters. Resham has served on several national workgroups including through the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), where she previously worked as a Preparedness Senior Analyst.