AAA members Kenneth Broad and Ben Orlove participated in a showcase of NSF-funded Hazard Research on Capitol Hill last week in recognition of National Preparedness Month (September).
The showcase took place at the Hart Senate Office Building where members of Congress and their staffers could drop-in to learn about the important use of NSF funding.
Broad and Orlove are part of a dynamic research team that studies how natural hazard warnings can be improved. Joined by Robert Meyer, Shuyi Chen, Jay Baker and Katherine Thompson, this team seeks to understand how the public interprets and responds to information about natural hazards.
Our study integrated innovative social science research methods to identify patterns in behavioral strategies in the face of disaster forecasts, risk factors and means of improving communicating forecasts.
In order to best serve the people of the United States in the face of natural hazards, further research is needed to understand the influence of mass media, social interactions, and past experience with false alarms, on public response to forecasting.
