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I am interested in seeing how social ties and networks have been used to cope with (un)natural disasters. My research focus on places under disasters conditions such as Puerto Rico after hurricane Maria, in which social ties have made the difference between life and death. Furthermore, “natural” disaster has been used to approved austerity measures and unjust policies to impoverished communities like in New Orleans after Katrina. These policies were not new, as they are rooted in structures of power to preserve the status quo. Yet, people have resisted, “through a network of branches, cultures, and geographies” that has stimulated a reflective process of looking within for solutions rather than outside. As often this outside solutions are not only detached from community’s reality but can perpetuate social injustices and inequalities.

McKittrick, K., & Woods, C. A. (Eds.). (2007). Black geographies and the politics of place. South End Press.

Bullard, R. D., & Wright, B. (Eds.). (2009). Race, place, and environmental justice after Hurricane Katrina: Struggles to reclaim, rebuild, and revitalize New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. Westview Press.

Emily Goldman is an epidemiologist with a background in public health, she currently works for NYU College of Global Public Health and teaches a course in psychiatric epidemiology. Sandro Galea is an epidemiologist and physician working at Columbia University, he currently sits on two New York City councils for Hygiene and Public Health.

The US Department of Veteran Affairs does not do extensive research but instead uses the existing research and discoveries to keep up to date with medical practices.

As the disasters studied occurred many years ago and have been thoroughly studied previously this study did not present sufficiently new information to be disseminated through news reports. The study did however provide information of interest for future studies, and has been cited in other articles indicating it was used as reference in determining the effectiveness of research techniques.

The data collected in the scientific studies included in the report began in March 2011 shortly after the nuclear disaster at Fukushima and continued for periods spanning months and years depending on the tests being done.

Emergency response is not portrayed, in fact the film shows the importance of understanding when not to respond. While it is the instinct of responders to always try something else if treatment is ineffective the patient’s wishes always come first, for a medical professional this can feel like giving up but in cases like these it is the right thing to do.