Friday Fellow Feature: Paula R. Buchanan

Paula R. Buchanan is doctoral candidate in Emergency Management, and joined the Bill Anderson Fund as a Fellow in 2019. She is a disaster scientist, emergency management researcher, and “pracademic” (practitioner-academic). Her work lies at the intersection of public health, education, risk communication, and outreach messaging. Paula has professional experience in communications, university-level instruction, business continuity, and project management. She also has experience in content writing and design, communications and marketing, and the development of educational materials for use in both in-person and online learning environments. She has an MBA and MPH with a Health Systems Management and Policy concentration from the University of Alabama-Birmingham, and graduated from Tulane University with a BS in Biology, BA in History, and a minor in Economics.

A central question of Paula’s current and future research is the extent to which socio-technical systems function as a communication channel to provide populations with accurate information to mitigate public health impacts associated with, or exacerbated by, disasters. She is interested in using mixed methods to better understand the multi-faceted nature of her interdisciplinary research interests. She is also passionate about using social media, information technology, and data visualization tools to effectively communicate with targeted audiences.

Paula co-wrote the following chapter in Jerolleman and Waugh’s book Justice, Equity, and Emergency Management: “The Role of Emerging Technologies and Social Justice in Emergency Management Practice: The Good, the Bad, and the Future.” She has also presented her research at the following professional meetings: the Natural Hazards Research and Applications Workshop, International Association of Emergency Managers, and the Association of Science Communicators Science Talk Conference.

Her dissertation topic focuses on risk communication processes between emergency management agencies and water utilities regarding drinking water supply. To learn more about Paula and her work, visit her website at www.paularbuchanan.com.

RESEARCH INTERESTS: emergency management, risk communication, sociology, public health