The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has released a new e-book focusing on Critical Issues in Disaster Science and Management: A Dialogue Between Researchers and Practitioners. In most fields it can be said that the interaction between academics and practitioners is limited at best. Emergency Management and Disaster Science is no different. While both sides seek to facilitate interaction to enhance the capability of emergency assistance groups, they have not achieved the level of success that this book does. Critical Issues in Disaster Science and Management, edited by Joseph E. Trainor, PhD, and Tony Subbio, CEM, MS, is the “quintessential model of practitioner-academic interaction,” as described in the book’s forward. 

The dialogue between practitioner and academic is historically uncharacteristic, and desperately needed in Emergency Management. One of the authors, Henry (Hank) W. Fischer, III, PhD., believes that “this work is truly building not only a literature, but also a practice for the field.” These high hopes for the book and its impact are supported by the varied backgrounds of the authors. There are 24 contributing authors, responsible for the 14 chapters covering topics as diverse as “Unmet Needs and Persistent Problems” (ch.13), “Public/Private Partnerships in Emergency Management” (ch.4), and of course, “Exploring the Academic/Practitioner Divide,” (ch.1) written by the editors Trainor and Subbio. 

The goal of this work is to bridge the gap between practitioners and scientists (academics) that focus on disasters. It is also to describe to the reader what each set of stakeholders knows about key issues in emergency management and to facilitate an exchange of ideas and strengthen the emergency management system. 

The entire book is available in the Homeland Security Digital Library. Click here for the book. 

Article formerly posted at https://www.hsdl.org/blog/newpost/view/fema-s-higher-education-program-s-new-book-critical-issues-in-disaster-science-and-management