Joshua McDuffie is a fifth-year graduate student pursuing a Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering at Vanderbilt University.  He earned master’s and bachelor’s degrees in civil engineering at Vanderbilt University and North Carolina A&T State University, respectively. 

Joshua’s dissertation research aims to improve community-level natural hazard preparedness by creating tools and materials that improve the efficacy of risk education interventions. He combines insights from engineering, education, psychology, decision science, and risk analysis to develop strategies that raise risk awareness and promote local engagement in natural hazard preparedness activities, with the goal of ultimately raising community resilience.

Joshua joined the Bill Anderson Fund (BAF) as a fellow in 2021. Since that time, he has served as Writing Committee Chair and Vice-Chairperson of the BAF Student Council. In 2023, he presented his research along with other BAF Fellows and Alumni as part of the Making Mitigation Work webinar series hosted by the Natural Hazards Center. Additionally, at Vanderbilt, he currently serves as the President of the Vanderbilt Civil and Environmental Engineering Grad Council and served in several roles within the Organization for Black Graduate and Professional Students. 

Joshua’s research experience spans a diverse range of topics, from contributing to a project with the RAND Corporation on using climate data to inform strategic decision-making for the U.S. and partner nations, to working at Vanderbilt on improving natural hazard risk literacy and organizational resilience in local communities. He has been a speaker and presenter at several conferences, webinars, and symposia. His versatility and breadth of expertise are further showcased in his recent contributions, including a book chapter discussing the essential competencies for the modern emergency manager and a paper discussing ethics teaching cases. He is also a member of several groups that demonstrate his commitment to cross-disciplinary research and learning, such as the Society for Risk Analysis, the International Association of Emergency Managers, the American Society for Engineering Education, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency Higher Education Program’s Historically Black College and University Special Interest Group. His accomplishments have been recognized through numerous honors, including the Peter J. Hoadley Fellowship.

Dedicated to teaching and mentoring, Joshua has served as a Graduate Teaching Assistant for several courses at Vanderbilt, as a tutor for students in middle school, high school, and college, and as a peer mentor for first-year students and undergraduate researchers. His involvement in the STEM+C Mentoring Program and Leading through Reading program are just some activities that further highlight his passion for supporting the academic success of minority students in STEM fields.

Joshua’s academic accomplishments, research, and commitment to community engagement are motivated by a passion for addressing the vulnerabilities of communities of need. His goal is to  contribute to resilience by empowering individuals and communities to respond to the risks and hazards they face. He believes that his blend of technical knowledge and community-oriented perspectives will help him do just that.

RESEARCH INTERESTS: Infrastructure resilience, climate adaptation strategies, ethics, and engineering education.Climate; the International Congress of Biometeorology; and the American Meteorological Society.