The Disaster Health Research Lab at UMBC focuses on public health impacts of disasters and public health emergencies.
The Disaster Health Research Lab (DHRL) is located in the Department of Emergency Health Services in the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Science (CAHSS). Dr. Clay is the Principal Investigator for the Disaster Health Research Lab. Dr. Clay and her research team focus on public health impacts of disasters and public health emergencies.
Recent work has focused on disaster impacts on food insecurity, mental health and stress, community adaptation to climate change, and community recovery from hurricanes, tornadoes, petrochemical spills, and other natural hazards and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Disaster Health Research Lab (DHRL) is located in the Department of Emergency Health Services in the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Science (CAHSS). Dr. Clay is the Principal Investigator for the Disaster Health Research Lab. Dr. Clay and her research team focus on public health impacts of disasters and public health emergencies.
Recent work has focused on disaster impacts on food insecurity, mental health and stress, community adaptation to climate change, and community recovery from hurricanes, tornadoes, petrochemical spills, and other natural hazards and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Current Projects
NSF CAREER: Bolstering Food System Resilience to Reduce the Human Impacts of Disaster
Photo credit: Lauren Clay
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The focus of this Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program award is to advance the science of food environments and enhance the mitigation and adaptation of social and built environment systems to disasters by bolstering food security and the resilience of food systems. Food is a basic need for human survival and the ability of social systems to meet this need in disaster situations is compromised when our homes, businesses and other structures are damaged and lifelines disrupted. While elements of the various social and built environmental systems that make up the broader food environment as well as food security issues have been studied by various disciplines, a comprehensive, systematic approach has yet to be applied and tested in disaster settings. The overall objectives of this research are to develop a model of the Food Environment in Disasters (FED) along with theory-based tools to support food system resilience. The development of this model and associated tools facilitates a clearer understanding and monitoring of food availability, acceptability, and accessibility to enhance our understanding of the causes, consequences, and health effects of food environment disruption in disasters. This work contributes to NSF’s mission to promote the process of science by developing and validating a new theoretical model and associated metrics on food environment disruption and food security following disasters. The products of this research will advance national health, prosperity, and welfare by supporting improved food security and food system functioning following disasters.
Funder: National Science Foundation, Award #2225665 Project Team: Lauren Clay (PI) |
Developing a Disaster Food Security Scale
Photo credit: Chona Kasinger for Disabled And Here project.
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Disaster and environmental disruptions are increasing in frequency and severity due to global climate change. While much is known about food systems and food security in non-disaster times, much less is understood about the impacts of disasters on the local food environment and how people navigate getting food when their homes and communities are severely disrupted.
Currently, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) monitor food security - whether households have enough food to eat - they primarily monitor whether people have enough money for food. After a disaster, if your home is damaged and you don't have a working kitchen to store and prepare food, having enough money is not the only challenge to getting enough food to eat. This study looks at how we can better measure food insecurity following disasters - when you experience other barriers to food security besides not having enough money. Some examples of barriers we are looking at include physical barriers to food sources such as damaged roads, food availability such as store closures, and appropriate foods that you can eat without extensive kitchen facilities to prepare. Learn about the study results: Presentation at USDA Conference Funder: Tufts University/USDA Project Team: Lauren Clay (PI); Stephanie Rogus, NMSU; Meredith Niles, University of Vermont; Nadia Koyratty, Post-Doctoral Research Associate, UMBC Science Advisory Group: Anna Josephson, University of Arizona; Roni Neff & Erin Biehl, Center for a Livable Future, Johns Hopkins University; Rachel Zack, Greater Boston Food Bank; Uriyoan Cólon-Rámos, George Washington University; Azmal Hossan, Colorado State University |
National Food Access and COVID Research Team (NFACT) - New York
Photo credit: https://www.needpix.com/photo/1466449/
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As part of the National Food Access and COVID Research Team (NFACT), this project seeks to understand food access during COVID-19. During COVID-19, the food environment - farmers growing food, food processing facilities, transportation networks, retail grocery stores and restaurants, and households putting food on the table - were all affected as states took various measures to slow the spread of the virus. Household behavior changed quickly as people stayed home more, especially during statewide shutdowns and work from home orders. Rapidly, the food environment adapted. Schools developed a wide range of models to send meals home to families for students. Restaurants began offering curbside pick up and delivery rather than table service. Grocery stores mobilized or expanded curbside pick up and delivery services. And while households were navigating the risks associated with COVID, many experienced economic impacts from lost jobs and other disruptions as well. This study looks at the experience of New Yorkers with accessing food, the impact of COVID-19 on their households, and strategies used to cope and adapt. New York is one of 15 states contributing to the national NFACT team.
To read about our study findings, check out our research briefs on the health effects of the pandemic, racial disparities in food access, and racial disparities in healthcare security. We also have several research articles published on food access and health impacts, employment and essential workers, food seeking behaviors, and food assistance and purchasing behavior. Funder: Natural Hazards Center Quick Response Research Award Program, based on work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF Award #1635593) Project Team: NY State Team: Lauren Clay (PI); Britta Heath (Dietetics MS Student, D'Youville) NYC Team: Preety Gadhoke (PI), St. Johns University; Barrett Brenton, Binghamton University |
RAPID: Understanding Evacuation, Sheltering, and
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This project seeks to understand how households made decisions about evacuating for Hurricane Laura amid COVID-19 risk and how local emergency managers made decisions about how to manage evacuation and shelters during the dual hazards of a hurricane and a pandemic. Through interviews with individuals living in the path of Hurricane Laura in Louisiana and Texas and the emergency managers and public health officials working to respond to the event in the area, we will learn about how decisions were made, the considerations for decisions about when to evacuate areas, where to evacuate people to, how to safely shelter given the risk of COVID-19 spread, and how to communicate the risks and recommended or required actions in a complex situation. We will also learn about how it went given the decision that were made during Hurricane Laura and key lessons learned for future dual hazard situations.
Through a supplemental grant, the project team and other grantees participated in workshops with the American Association for the Advancement of Science on public engagement and added a set of interviews with chief information officers and other professionals working on communication with the public during the pandemic. The information learned from these interviews will teach us about how to better communicate with different audiences when there are multiple hazards to navigate such as a hurricane during a pandemic. Learn about study findings: Risk Messaging During Syndemics Report. Funder: National Science Foundation, Award # 2051578 & Quick Response Research Award Supported by the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado Boulder with the support of the National Science Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Weather Program Office. Project Team: Lauren Clay, UMBC; Alex Greer, SUNY Albany; Haley Murphy, Oklahoma State University; Tristan Wu, University of North Texas |
NSF RAPID: A Multi-Wave Study of Risk Perception, Information Seeking, and Protective Action in COVID-19
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Disasters most often result from hazards that can be seen such as in a hurricane where you can see rain and wind blowing trees and water rising or in an earthquake when you can feel the ground shaking and things around you moving. The COVID-19 pandemic was different, there were no visible cues of danger, the virus is invisible. Much of what we understand about disasters and risk communication and subsequent protective action includes relying on visible cues. This study investigates risk perception and protective action during COVID-19, where there are no visible cues of the hazard. For one year, households in New York, Louisiana, and Washington were surveyed about their experiences with the pandemic providing snapshots of risk perceptions and behaviors over the course of the first year of the pandemic. From these surveys we will examine where people got their information from, their understanding and perceptions of the pandemic, and their behaviors. From this, we will be able to learn how people made sense of the pandemic and navigated the first year for their households.
To learn more about results of this study, check out this research brief on risk perception, information seeking, and protective actions. Funder: National Science Foundation Award # 2028412 Project Team: Samantha Penta (PI), SUNY Albany; Lauren Clay (Co-PI), UMBC; Amber Silver, SUNY Albany |
