SURGE Post-Disaster Research and Service: Broadening Participation and Building Local Capacity in the U.S. Virgin Islands

• In Event: Hilton Roundtable Session 1
  In Roundtable Session: Issues of Social Justice and Public Service in the Professions

Abstract

The Minority Scholars from Under-Represented Groups in Engineering and Social Sciences building capacity in disaster (SURGE) is an NSF INCLUDES initiative to broaden participation among minority groups in both STEM and disaster-related fields. As a pilot project, SURGE explores the use of community engagement to broaden participation and build local capacity post-disaster. This paper outlines the use of a collective impact strategy to facilitate post-disaster, boots-on-the-ground (BOTG) experiences in the US Virgin Islands for graduate students from racial and ethnic minority groups. Based on an experiential model, team leaders facilitated a transdisciplinary experience for 21 students from campuses across the nation. The BOTG experience was developed with input from the student participants, team leaders, and leaders from the impacted community.

Authors

• DeeDee Bennett, University at Albany - SUNY

• Terri Norton, Bucknell University