Helping Children
Russell T. Jones, professor of psychology, and his team have studied the influence of major technological and natural disasters on children's functioning for the past 26 years. His most recent endeavor was the completion of $1.2 million National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) grant assessing the impact of residential fire on children and their parents.
In addition to the NIMH study, two FEMA grants enabled Jones' group to study both injured and non-injured children following fire-related trauma. He is also spearheading a project in conjunction with the Yale Child Study Center designed to treat children after a residential fire.
Jones' research and humanitarian efforts are nationally recognized. He was recently featured on a PBS documentary on young burn victims and presented some of his collaboration with Yale on C-Span at the First International Conference on Trauma and Psychosocial Issues held at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
Reach Dr. Jones at 540-231-5934 and [email protected]
Disaster Risk Reduction
Frederick Krimgold, director of the disaster risk reduction program at Virginia Tech, has done work on wind damage following Hurricane Iniki in Hawaii in 1989 and Hurricane Andrew in Florida in 1992. He has worked on cyclone mitigation in Andhra Pradesh, India in 1997. This spring, he was lead investigator on a study of critical infrastructure interdependencies experienced in the four hurricanes that struck Florida in 2004:
The disaster risk reduction (DRR) program did research on critical infrastructure interdependences and the cascading patterns of failure in urban disasters. They have also studied post-disaster recovery and rebuilding in a number of urban areas around the world over the past 35 years.
"Our primary focus has been on risk reduction," Dr. Krimgold said. "That is, hazard and vulnerability assessment and cost/benefit analysis for mitigation investment before disasters occur."
Mitigation measures include land use management and building regulation. DRR has studied and proposed mechanisms for effective mitigation implementation and financing for natural and technological hazards.
"Damage and economic impact are closely related. Regional economic impact from major natural disasters is similar for both earthquakes and hurricanes," he said.
He has also worked on the problem of estimating indirect losses.
Telecommunications / Disaster communications
1. Virginia Tech Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Scott Midkiff can talk about the general problem of telecommunications during an emergency, but not about the specifics of the Hurricane Katrina aftermath.
He can discuss such issues as demands on communications systems, wireless communication for public safety, interoperability and coordination between agencies, and citizen notification.
His research interests are: Rapidly-deployable wireless access, Mobile ad hoc networks, Wireless network interoperability, Network support for pervasive computing, wireless technology for education. His sponsors include the Office of Naval Research, National Science Foundation, and U.S. Department of Agriculture.
2. Virginia Tech Alumni Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Charles Bostian can talk about communication technology for communication during a disaster, ranging from satellite telephones to wireless Internet linked with multiple communication devices. With NSF funding, he has developed and demonstrated a wireless disaster response system that provides emergency workers with such tools as GIS access and audio/video conferencing. (http://www.cwt.vt.edu/research/detail/disaster_response.htm)
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