Friday Fellow Feature: Saige Hill

Saige Hill is a PhD candidate studying public administration and policy at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. Saige graduated from Old Dominion University (ODU) with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Communications in 2015, and she earned her Master of Public Administration and Certificate in Social Justice and Entrepreneurship in 2018. Saige’s research interests include emergency management, public policy, social justice, and more. Saige’s professional career prior to pursuing her degree was in student affairs, and she currently serves as a graduate teaching assistant for two master’s level public administration courses and teaches an undergraduate course on governance, accountability, and ethics. In addition to being a Fellow of the William Averette Anderson Fund, which she joined in 2020, Saige has been recipient of three other fellowships, including the Virginia Sea Grant Graduate Research Fellowship and the Mercatus Center’s Frédéric Bastiat and Don Lavoie Fellowships. 

As an undergraduate, Saige worked closely with the ODU Women’s Center, started a student organization to promote gender equity, and was invited to speak at the White House due to her efforts in interpersonal violence education and prevention. During this time, she was awarded two of ODU’s highest student honors for leadership and service: the Evon-Broderick Award and Kaufman Award. As a graduate student, Saige was elected as the first vice president of the Graduate Student Government Association. Recognizing that graduate students are a diverse group with needs that can vary greatly from undergraduates, she helped form and lead this student organization. Additionally, Saige is currently the School of Public Service representative for the Graduate Student Advisory Board. Saige acts as a voice for her colleagues and a liaison between students and Graduate School administration in this role. Due to her commitment to service, Saige was recently awarded the 2023 John R. Broderick Diversity Champion Award. Aside from her work on campus, Saige contributes to her community as a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

Saige has participated in numerous research projects since beginning her doctoral program. Saige’s research has been published in peer-reviewed journals, and she is the first author on a book chapter titled “Risk Management and Biases in How Drivers Respond to Nuisance Flooding” (Hill et al., 2021) and an article titled “Changing Logistics of Evacuation Transportation in Hazardous Settings During COVID-19” (Hill et al., 2021). Furthermore, Saige’s dissertation research focuses on the evacuation behaviors and risk perceptions of college students affected by coastal hazards. Saige studies the intersection of false alarms and desensitization and their effect on how vulnerable populations such as students think about and respond to storms, hurricanes, and flooding. Saige hopes that the false alarm and desensitization model, a model she created, can be applied to different populations and disasters in the future.

Philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson stated, “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate – to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”  As a Hampton Roads native and an Old Dominion University graduate and current student, Saige’s ultimate goal is to give back to both her university and hometown through her career. By engaging in crucial emergency management and social justice research, she actively contributes to the well-being of her community. Furthermore, as a Black woman and the first in her immediate family to earn a terminal degree, she aspires to serve as a role model for young minority women and show them that their dreams are achievable regardless of the color of their skin or any obstacles they face along the way. Academia and public administration as whole lack equal representation, so she hopes to overcome this by inspiring young girls to follow in her footsteps as earns her degree and transitions into her career. Saige is currently on the job market and looks forward to graduating in summer 2023.

See Saige’s publications here.