Research Programme
My research falls mostly under two sub-fields of Sociology with strong ties to Urban Planning: Sociology of Disaster and Environmental Sociology. My interests lie in this intersection of the natural and the social, and has led me to be involved in wonderful projects on both "sides" of the environment-society relationship: how our behaviors affect the environment (e.g. energy efficiency initiatives) and how the environment affects and illuminates aspects of our social world (e.g. climate change displacement). I have had wonderful topical mentors in this effort, most notable Lori Peek, Ph.D., my dissertation adviser, and Jeni Cross, Ph.D.
I pride myself on performing mixed-methods research and have been involved in both qualitative and quantitative projects. In-person interviews, focus groups, telephone interviews, participant observation, survey research, secondary data analysis, GIS techniques, all appear in the various projects I've worked on. Here are a few of the highlights. See my CV (as PDF below) for all research projects.
I pride myself on performing mixed-methods research and have been involved in both qualitative and quantitative projects. In-person interviews, focus groups, telephone interviews, participant observation, survey research, secondary data analysis, GIS techniques, all appear in the various projects I've worked on. Here are a few of the highlights. See my CV (as PDF below) for all research projects.
michellecv_sept2022.pdf | |
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Access my papers on Academia.edu
CAREER: Estimating and Addressing Disaster Survivors' Unmet Needs: A Social Vulnerability and Social Infrastructure Approach
Role: PI
Project Partners: OneStar Foundation; Center for Nonprofits and Philanthropy in the TAMU Bush School
Funding: National Science Foundation
I could not be more excited about this project! It has evolved from my very first RAPID grant about disaster recovery to truly understand how long-term recovery groups address disaster survivors unmet needs and develop programming that can support communities to generate effective, equitable, and efficient use of philanthropic dollars for disaster recovery. The project started in July 2020. Stay tuned for more updates as the project rolls out.
Postdoc: Carlee Purdum
Graduate Students: Mason Alexander Hawk; Joy Semien
Undergraduate Students: Haley Yelle
Project Partners: OneStar Foundation; Center for Nonprofits and Philanthropy in the TAMU Bush School
Funding: National Science Foundation
I could not be more excited about this project! It has evolved from my very first RAPID grant about disaster recovery to truly understand how long-term recovery groups address disaster survivors unmet needs and develop programming that can support communities to generate effective, equitable, and efficient use of philanthropic dollars for disaster recovery. The project started in July 2020. Stay tuned for more updates as the project rolls out.
Postdoc: Carlee Purdum
Graduate Students: Mason Alexander Hawk; Joy Semien
Undergraduate Students: Haley Yelle
Collaborative Research: Organizational development, operations, and new media among civilian flood-rescue groups
Role: PI
Co-PIs: Brant Mitchell and Stuart Nolan, LSU
Research Team: Carlee Purdum, Postdoc; Kyle Breen, Graduate Research Assistant; Romel Fernandez, Arthur Chambers, Jackson Pierce, Nathan Young, Abigail Powers, Ada Sofia Sierra, Masters and Undergraduate Research Assistants
Funder: National Science Foundation
This project extends the RAPID below to address change over time among organizations that conduct volunteer rescues. We also added participatory observation along with interview research to understand more about the use of technology for organizational change and operation, how volunteer rescuing supports the most vulnerable populations during disaster, and how organizations grow and change and evolve in response to internal and external pressures.
Co-PIs: Brant Mitchell and Stuart Nolan, LSU
Research Team: Carlee Purdum, Postdoc; Kyle Breen, Graduate Research Assistant; Romel Fernandez, Arthur Chambers, Jackson Pierce, Nathan Young, Abigail Powers, Ada Sofia Sierra, Masters and Undergraduate Research Assistants
Funder: National Science Foundation
This project extends the RAPID below to address change over time among organizations that conduct volunteer rescues. We also added participatory observation along with interview research to understand more about the use of technology for organizational change and operation, how volunteer rescuing supports the most vulnerable populations during disaster, and how organizations grow and change and evolve in response to internal and external pressures.
RAPID: Organizational Development in Response to Crises
Role: PI
Co-PIs: Brant Mitchell, Stephenson Disaster Management Institute, Louisiana State University
Funding: National Science Foundation
A striking effect of some large disasters is that people may organize themselves voluntarily into a group to respond to the disasters. One such group, the "Cajun Navy," emerged in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and re-emerged in response to the 2016 Louisiana floods. The Cajun Navy mobilized again to help with rescues in response to the flooding from Hurricane Harvey; this study seeks to study that mobilization and activity. This research promises two important impacts. First, it will provide valuable information, collected while memories are fresh and participants are available, into how such unofficial organizations can emerge and operate in emergency situations. This is likely to be useful to those involved in emergency management and planning. Second, the development of the Cajun Navy in response to Harvey is an example of the shift of an organization from an emergent phase to an expanding phase. This research will increase understanding of how such transitions can occur.
To describe the mobilization and activity of the Cajun Navy, this study will collect three kinds of data. One is publicly available data, such as print and web stories, social media, and government documents. The second is semi-structured interviews with members of the Cajun Navy. The third is interviews with emergency managers and first responders. These multiple perspectives will help the study describe accurately both the activity of the Cajun Navy and the changes in the group. Analysis of the interview data, in particular, will allow investigation of theoretical questions concerning organizational development, such as the effects of social networks and of technology such as social media.
As of May 2018, we have collected about 40 interviews with emergency managers and volunteer rescuers. Data analysis is underway.
Co-PIs: Brant Mitchell, Stephenson Disaster Management Institute, Louisiana State University
Funding: National Science Foundation
A striking effect of some large disasters is that people may organize themselves voluntarily into a group to respond to the disasters. One such group, the "Cajun Navy," emerged in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and re-emerged in response to the 2016 Louisiana floods. The Cajun Navy mobilized again to help with rescues in response to the flooding from Hurricane Harvey; this study seeks to study that mobilization and activity. This research promises two important impacts. First, it will provide valuable information, collected while memories are fresh and participants are available, into how such unofficial organizations can emerge and operate in emergency situations. This is likely to be useful to those involved in emergency management and planning. Second, the development of the Cajun Navy in response to Harvey is an example of the shift of an organization from an emergent phase to an expanding phase. This research will increase understanding of how such transitions can occur.
To describe the mobilization and activity of the Cajun Navy, this study will collect three kinds of data. One is publicly available data, such as print and web stories, social media, and government documents. The second is semi-structured interviews with members of the Cajun Navy. The third is interviews with emergency managers and first responders. These multiple perspectives will help the study describe accurately both the activity of the Cajun Navy and the changes in the group. Analysis of the interview data, in particular, will allow investigation of theoretical questions concerning organizational development, such as the effects of social networks and of technology such as social media.
As of May 2018, we have collected about 40 interviews with emergency managers and volunteer rescuers. Data analysis is underway.
Structures of Long-Term Disaster Recovery: Organizational Roles and Collaboration in Six Recent Cases
Funder: National Science Foundation CMMI
My Role: Principal Investigator
Co-PI's: Shannon Van Zandt, David Bierling, Walter Gillis Peacock, John Cooper, Jr.
In August 2014, we received two years of funding to continue and expand the research started with the RAPID grant discussed below. We have included six cases now and are in the middle of interviewing about how organizations worked together and developed their recovery programs. Several of our cases have unfortunately already seen new disasters with the 2015 floods and fires in Texas.
See the NSF Abstract here.
My Role: Principal Investigator
Co-PI's: Shannon Van Zandt, David Bierling, Walter Gillis Peacock, John Cooper, Jr.
In August 2014, we received two years of funding to continue and expand the research started with the RAPID grant discussed below. We have included six cases now and are in the middle of interviewing about how organizations worked together and developed their recovery programs. Several of our cases have unfortunately already seen new disasters with the 2015 floods and fires in Texas.
See the NSF Abstract here.
Technological versus Natural Disasters: Consequences for Early Recovery Planning and Decision-Making at the Community and Household Level
Co-PI's: Shannon Van Zandt, David Bierling, Walter Gillis Peacock, John Cooper, Jr.In summer 2013, myself, Shannon Van Zandt, John Cooper, Jr., David Bierling, and Walter Gillis Peacock. The purpose of this Rapid Response Research grant was to explore community and resident post-disaster recovery in two small US towns. Both towns experienced disasters in the spring of 2013, one town experienced a natural disaster while the other town had a technological disaster. To understand how disaster recovery differs based on the type of disaster, we are comparing the immediate recovery periods in each town. Often researchers compare disaster effects across very different communities or across researchers compare disaster effects across very different communities or across different time periods. Our research takes advantage of a rare opportunity to compare disaster recovery in communities that are similar in size, location, and cultural traits but faced different disasters at about the same time. We are gathering data from community leaders and residents in both towns to address topics important to disaster recovery, including post-disaster community planning, community-based recovery activities, and residents' rebuilding or relocating decisions and efforts.
Although previous research has improved what people know about disasters, how communities recover from them, and what makes communities resilient, there is still a lot to learn. The results of our research will help other communities as they plan for the disasters they face. This research responds directly to efforts by US Federal and state governments to increase the disaster resilience of local communities. Communities across the country face the risk of both types of disaster. Man-made disasters, such as industrial accidents, explosions, or chemical leaks, are a risk for any community that has hazardous facilities located near homes and businesses. Natural disasters, such as tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, and earthquakes, regularly occur across the country. Based on what is learned in this project, recommendations will be made about how other local communities can increase their resilience and be better able to recover from disasters when they do occur.
In the 1 year project we conducted over 90 qualitative interviews with organizational officials and residents of the two towns, observed over 30 hours of community and recovery meetings, and collected media information and documents from each month of recovery. Data analysis is ongoing.
My role: PI
Co-PI's: Shannon Van Zandt, David Bierling, Walter Gillis Peacock, John Cooper, Jr.
RAPID Funding: National Science Foundation, see abstract here
Although previous research has improved what people know about disasters, how communities recover from them, and what makes communities resilient, there is still a lot to learn. The results of our research will help other communities as they plan for the disasters they face. This research responds directly to efforts by US Federal and state governments to increase the disaster resilience of local communities. Communities across the country face the risk of both types of disaster. Man-made disasters, such as industrial accidents, explosions, or chemical leaks, are a risk for any community that has hazardous facilities located near homes and businesses. Natural disasters, such as tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, and earthquakes, regularly occur across the country. Based on what is learned in this project, recommendations will be made about how other local communities can increase their resilience and be better able to recover from disasters when they do occur.
In the 1 year project we conducted over 90 qualitative interviews with organizational officials and residents of the two towns, observed over 30 hours of community and recovery meetings, and collected media information and documents from each month of recovery. Data analysis is ongoing.
My role: PI
Co-PI's: Shannon Van Zandt, David Bierling, Walter Gillis Peacock, John Cooper, Jr.
RAPID Funding: National Science Foundation, see abstract here
Understanding Social and Geographical Disparities in Disaster Resilience Through the Use of Social Media
Here is the abstractSocial media is increasingly important for emergency management. But we know that the use of social media varies across space and populations. So how does social media, such as Twitter, reveal or correct for social vulnerability in disaster? This project will expand knowledge of whether social media use may serve to overcome or further deepen the social and geographical disparities in each phase of emergency management. Working with an interdisciplinary team of political scientists, computer scientists, and geographers, we will enhance understanding of how to conduct efficient mining of social media data in order to produce useful and valid scientific information, thereby advancing both social science and information science. The knowledge gained from this project will help develop strategies to reduce disparities, create effective social media campaigns and emergency management outreach, and promote resilience to disasters. Understanding the sources, patterns, and consequences of social and geographical disparities in disaster resilience is critical to building long-term resilient, healthy, and sustainable communities. Traditional resilience analysis has been confined mostly to the use of static data collected at scheduled intervals. With the advent of the "Big Data" era, real-time human response data extracted from social media could provide new opportunities for studying disparities in disaster resilience. The investigators will compare Twitter data from two events, Hurricane Isaac and Hurricane Sandy, both of which occurred in 2012. They will pursue four interrelated research components: (1) development of data-mining algorithms for the evaluation and visualization of Twitter data; (2) analysis of social media and resilience disparities at the community (zip-code) level across the emergency management cycle; (3) an online survey of Twitter and non-Twitter users to understand effects of social media use on individual resilience, social networks, social support, and social disparities; and (4) analysis of bi-directional communication among residents and governmental and non-governmental organizations throughout each event cycle. Through an investigation of the Twitter data before, during, and after the hurricanes coupled with analysis of online surveys, the researchers will be able to address a set of core research questions: (1) Are there distinct geographical and social disparities in the use of social media in disaster resilience? (2) What are the sources and consequences of such disparities? (3) How do these disparities vary across the four phases of the disaster cycle? (4) How do these disparities affect resilience? (5) How can social media data be used to improve resilience?
Funding: NSF Interdisciplinary Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (IBSS) competition. See the abstract here.
PI: Nina Lam (LSU)
Co-PIs: myself, Seung-Jong Park, Margaret Reams, Seungwon Yang (LSU)
My Role: surveys of Twitter users
Funding: NSF Interdisciplinary Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (IBSS) competition. See the abstract here.
PI: Nina Lam (LSU)
Co-PIs: myself, Seung-Jong Park, Margaret Reams, Seungwon Yang (LSU)
My Role: surveys of Twitter users
EAGER: Citizen Science for Infrastructure Monitoring at the Neighborhood Level
As climate change increases and disasters become more frequent, we will rely more and more on our stormwater infrastructure systems to protect property and lives in extreme rain events. In the pursuit of safe and reliable infrastructure systems, monitoring data are collected to assess the condition, usage, and in-service performance of these systems. For large-scale infrastructure, monitoring data are often collected using a variety of sensor technologies and periodic field inspections. For neighborhood scale infrastructure, however, these data remain limited in both quantity and quality. While participatory data sources provide an opportunity for producing these data, very little is known about how and when to collect valid and reliable participatory data in lieu of, or in addition to, physical measurements. Through support of this award, fundamental research will be pursued to design and test protocols and tools for collecting infrastructure monitoring data at the neighborhood level by volunteer citizen scientists. This Early-concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) project will contribute to understanding the factors that influence the reliability and validity of citizen-generated infrastructure monitoring data, with focus on stormwater infrastructure. Successful implementation of protocols and tools for collecting infrastructure monitoring data by residents would accelerate the production of high-quality data at the neighborhood level, benefiting multiple stakeholders, including local communities, infrastructure engineers, urban planners, and researchers. This is especially impactful in neighborhoods with socially and physically vulnerable populations, such as those in Houston where this study will take place. This research will advance the scholarly momentum of an interdisciplinary team of investigators from civil engineering, urban planning, sociology, and public health to better understand how and when to engage members of the general public in collecting infrastructure monitoring data. The questions that guide the design of this study are: (1) What factors influence the reliability and validity of citizen-generated infrastructure monitoring data at the neighborhood level and (2) How can our understanding of these factors be employed to develop protocols and tools for collecting high-quality infrastructure monitoring data by members of the general public?
Funding: NSF - Early-concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER), see abstract here.
PI: Nasir Gharaibeh (TAMU)
Co-PIs: Myself, Jennifer Horney (TAMU), Phil Berke (TAMU), Shannon Van Zandt (TAMU)
My role: Community participation, development and assessment of citizen science instruments.
Funding: NSF - Early-concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER), see abstract here.
PI: Nasir Gharaibeh (TAMU)
Co-PIs: Myself, Jennifer Horney (TAMU), Phil Berke (TAMU), Shannon Van Zandt (TAMU)
My role: Community participation, development and assessment of citizen science instruments.
RCCCP - Resilience and Climate Change Cooperative Project
The Institute for Sustainable Coastal Communities (IfSC) at Texas A&M University has initiated a multi-year collaborative research and engagement venture called the Resilience and Climate Change Cooperative Project (RCCCP). The core goal of the RCCCP is to create a fundamentally different way to identify and tackle critical disaster resiliency and climate change challenges that threaten coastal cities around the world. The project has brought together faculty and students from urban planning and landscape architecture, the physical and social sciences, and engineering to collect new data and synthesize existing information on how coastal social and physical systems work. A demonstration project has been initiated in two neighborhoods in the Sims Bayou watershed in inner city Houston with a history of environmental justice issues. We believe in the importance of creating long-term change through co-learning with communities around strategic needs related to coastal hazards and climate change, and supporting communities to actualize their own resilience. We will strive to apply the knowledge developed from our work in Houston to support research, community engagement, and educational activities throughout the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coasts. We have worked with a local environmental justice nonprofit and a low-income, majority Hispanic high school students in Manchester to develop citizen science protocols for assessing flooding risk and integrating local knowledge into our models. Learn more here.
To reach these goals, we pursue three core objectives:
1. To develop an innovative and integrated physical and social vulnerability analysis to coastal hazards that incorporates emerging technologies and systems thinking;
2. To establish an interactive framework for scenario testing and proactive planning and adaptation that engages local stakeholders and decision makers;
3. To foster community engagement and education models (or tools) so civic leaders and the next generation of scientists can continue to build community disaster resiliency.
My Role: Evaluation, citizen science support, community engagement team
Principal Investigator: Phil Berke (TAMU)
Co-PIs: Francisco Olivera, Stephen Quiring, Jennifer Horney, Kent Portney, Walt Peacock, Shannon Van Zandt, Galen Newman, John Cooper (all TAMU)
To reach these goals, we pursue three core objectives:
1. To develop an innovative and integrated physical and social vulnerability analysis to coastal hazards that incorporates emerging technologies and systems thinking;
2. To establish an interactive framework for scenario testing and proactive planning and adaptation that engages local stakeholders and decision makers;
3. To foster community engagement and education models (or tools) so civic leaders and the next generation of scientists can continue to build community disaster resiliency.
My Role: Evaluation, citizen science support, community engagement team
Principal Investigator: Phil Berke (TAMU)
Co-PIs: Francisco Olivera, Stephen Quiring, Jennifer Horney, Kent Portney, Walt Peacock, Shannon Van Zandt, Galen Newman, John Cooper (all TAMU)
Social Capital and Collective Efficacy For Disaster Resilience: Connecting Individuals with Communities and Vulnerability with Resilience in Hurricane-Prone Communities in Florida
My dissertation research focuses on the relationship between individual and community resilience and social vulnerability in hurricane-prone communities in the United States. Despite common use of the term "resilience" or "bouncing back from something bad," there is much ambiguity surrounding its theoretical significance to disaster research and how to measure it for practical use. I focus on two things that may or may not contribute to resilience: social capital and collective efficacy.
In a mixed methods study, I combine survey data with in-depth qualitative case studies of two Gulf Coast communities to address the following research questions:
Through in-person interviews with individuals and organizations and social network mapping of social capital resources available during a disaster, this project contributes to the growing focus on resilience as an organizing concept in disaster planning and response while incorporating vulnerable individuals to understand the connection between vulnerability and resilience. This work will help illuminate how communities may address social vulnerability to disasters through social capital and collective efficacy initiatives. This qualitative work will support an ongoing longitudinal panel survey of coastal residents in an effort to develop quantitative measures of social capital and community efficacy as they relate to disaster resilience. This research is funded by PERISHIP Dissertation Fellowship, Midwest Sociological Society, and the Rural Sociological Society. Please download my abstract and introduction below. Also, for all my family and friends skip to page 20 for a special thank you from me. |
meyer_dissertation_abstract_and_introduction_may_2013.pdf | |
File Size: | 187 kb |
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The Adoption and Utilization of Hazard Mitigation Practices by Jurisdictions along Gulf and Atlantic Coasts
The increasing numbers of jurisdictions participating in hazard mitigation planning activities has not guaranteed the implementation of mitigation strategies and practices at the local level. While several recent studies suggest a disconnection between mitigation planning and practice, little is known about the actual adoption and usage of mitigation practice by local jurisdictions. The objective of this study is to empirically investigate mitigation policy practices at the local level. The study specifically seeks to: a) Examine the adoption and the implementation of broad-based hazard mitigation policies that can enhance hazard mitigation within local jurisdictions (counties and municipalities) along the Atlantic and Gulf coastal; b) Examine the influence of local capacity and commitment in the adoption and extent of hazard mitigation regulations, policies, and strategies; and c) Focus on the broader socio-political ecology for planning practice by examining the consequences of factors on various jurisdicational mitigation practices and profiles. This project will provide an assessment of the effectiveness of federal policy designed to improve mitigation, as well as direction for improving such policies through the assessment of factors related to implementation, including the consistency of actions at different jurisdictional levels, as well as the commitment and capacity of local jurisdictions to act. Broad dissemination to both academic and practitioner audiences through the development of a website and publication of best mitigation practices and model ordinances promises the return of the findings to the audiences who may best benefit from them. The findings of this research will have a direct bearing on the content of educational activities, directly influencing the broader planning community.
My role: Project Manager
Project Funder: National Science Foundation
Principal Investigators: Walter Gillis Peacock (TAMU), Shannon Van Zandt (TAMU), and Himanshu Grover (University of Washington)
My role: Project Manager
Project Funder: National Science Foundation
Principal Investigators: Walter Gillis Peacock (TAMU), Shannon Van Zandt (TAMU), and Himanshu Grover (University of Washington)