Disaster Mitigation Group

Mission Statement

Our mission is to develop system-wide broad-based approaches to preparing for, mitigating against, responding to, and recovering from cascading-type disasters.

About Us

The Disaster Mitigation Group at the University of Texas at Arlington (UT Arlington) is a broad-based disaster-related cluster of faculty, professional and government-linked research, education and outreach efforts. The effort will focus on mitigation for probable disasters likely to affect communities in the state and the nation. The truly multi-disciplinary umbrella organization is unique in its mission to address natural disasters (e.g. wind storms, floods, earthquakes, wildfires), technological events (e.g. hazardous material spills, power grid failures, cyber failures) and man-made events (e.g. blasts, bio-terrorisms). In addition, the interaction between disasters, inter-dependency of infrastructure failure, and the socio-economic effects of disasters is being addressed. The current group of 22 UT Arlington faculty members involves well-known experts in civil, electrical and industrial engineering, computer science, biology, architecture, urban planning, social science and criminology. Recent disasters have demonstrated the need for innovative solutions to disaster mitigation. This group brings together UT Arlington faculty in collaboration with local agencies, state authorities, the private sector and federal agencies in significantly advancing the knowledge base in disaster-related issues.

Objective

The Disaster Mitigation Group carries out itsmission through the following major objectives:

To coordinate and foster infrastructure disaster research conducted in the state and the region.
To provide disaster related education and expertise to students, local/stateagencies, and the private sector.
To foster infrastructure disaster collaboration
To serve asa clearinghouse for infrastructure disaster information.

Research

To operateas an umbrella organization in infrastructure disaster research at the state, national, and international levels.
To increase visibility of infrastructure disaster related research at the federal arena.
To develop community wide critical infrastructure disaster vulnerability models; assesssuch vulnerabilities in sample communities.

Education

To provide disaster related education and expertise to students through BS, MS, professional, and PhD programs.
To provide disaster related training and expertise to local/state agencies, and to the private sector, as needed.
To identify, undertake and publicize critical disaster related issues with infrastructure applications, especially those that are unique to the state.

Collaboration

To actively seek and establish partnerships with interested organizations at the local, state and national levels.
To developmulti-disciplinary and multi-institutional collaborative networks to address disasters related issues (e.g., engineering, planning, sociology, meteorology, etc.).
To strengthen ties between disaster researchers working in their respective areas of interest.

Clearinghouse

To develop and maintain a database of documents, publications and reports on Texas Disasters.
To develop and maintain an inventory of disaster related educational programs, outreach networks, and dissemination efforts in the state.