Johnson C. Smith University News June 2017 Students learn disaster management in Homeland Security-funded camp Johnson C. Smith University hosted a Summer Research Coastal Resilience Center of Excellence camp, funded by a Department of Homeland Security grant of $157,500 from May 15-June 16, 2017. The program offered students the chance to research and analyze states that have been impacted by natural disasters, and to gain an understanding of what it takes to develop a disaster management plan. Twenty JCSU students attended a one-week summer camp and nine of them continued to research for an additional four weeks, using an interdisciplinary approach of computer science, geoscience and social science to study hazard risk management. Emergency management encompasses mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery, the main points the students used to conduct their research. "We had to determine the extent of damage to infrastructure like roads and buildings and how many people would be displaced because of the hazard," said Imyer Majors '18. "Then we developed response and recovery plans for a coastal community." Upon completion of the internship, students had gained an understanding of how to identify coastal communities and their major hazards, how to perform community hazard, risk and vulnerability assessments, and how to collect comprehensive data and perform data analysis using vulnerability assessment (EJSCEEN), modeling (TABLEAU), computational (MATLAB) and mapping (ArcGIS, Google Maps) tools. "This was a stepping stone for our students as we prepare them for the workforce and graduate studies in the various fields they will be pursuing once they leave JCSU," said Dr. Hang Chen, Dean of the College of STEM. "As stakeholders in their communities, we anticipate that these students will use what they have learned to help address the risks their communities face." SANDRA M. PHOENIX HBCU Library Alliance Executive Director Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library 111 James P. Brawley Drive SW Atlanta, GA 30314 404-978-2118 (office) 404-702-5854 (cell) http://www.hbculibraries.org/ sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org%3cmailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org>> Honor the ancestors, honor the children. Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hbculibraryalliance1/ and Twitter https://twitter.com/HBCULibAlliance Check out "PULSE!" The HBCU Library Alliance's News Source! - https://hbculibraryalliance.wordpress.com/