College of Sciences Distinguished Speaker Series:
Coastal Disasters: Preparing Resilient Communities
Associate Professor
UCF School of Public Administration
Wednesday, January 22, 2020 at 6:00 p.m.
Tuscawilla Country Club
1500 Winter Springs Blvd.,
Winter Springs, FL 32708
Abstract
In the U.S., we continue to see an increase in billion-dollar disasters. The 2017 Hurricane Season - most notably Harvey, Irma and Maria caused an estimated $300 billion in damages and tested those communities’ disaster resilience. Long-term recovery planning is an essential element of a community's resiliency. However, the majority of local governments lack the capacity for long-term planning, which has led to repeated policy and organizational failures during and after disasters. Dr. Claire Connolly Knox, an expert on post-disaster resilience planning and policy, will present the results of her research with examples from Florida, Louisiana, and Texas.
Biography
Claire Knox, Ph.D. is an associate professor and the Emergency Management and Homeland Security Program Director in UCF's School of Public Administration. Her research interests include environmental policy and management, Habermas' critical theory, and environmental vulnerability and disaster response. Dr. Knox's interdisciplinary research applies a discursive theory lens to language underlying environmental and emergency management plans and policies.
Originally from southern Louisiana, she was an interpretative specialist at the USGS National Wetlands Research Center for the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection, and Restoration Act, and then a Planning Assistant with the Lafayette Parish Traffic and Transportation Department.
Her research on Louisiana's coastal zone planning after multiple disasters received the William J. Petak Best Paper Award at ASPA's National Conference from the Section on Emergency and Crisis Management. In 2015, she received the Florida Emergency Preparedness Association's Gary Arnold for her dedication to improving Florida's emergency management community. She is a board member of ASPA's Section on Environmental and Natural Resource Administration and Section for Emergency and Crisis Management.
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