Disaster Volunteers

Brenda D. Phillips, Ph.D., is the Dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Professor of Sociology at Indiana University South Bend. Previously, she taught emergency management at Oklahoma State University and has served as a subject-matter expert, consultant, and volunteer for multiple agencies, communities, educational institutions, and voluntary organizations. She is the author of Disaster Recovery, Mennonite Disaster Service, and Qualitative Disaster Research, the co-author of Introduction to Emergency Management, and the co-editor of Social Vulnerability to Disaster and co-author of the forthcoming Business Continuity Planning. She has written numerous peer-reviewed journal articles in the discipline of emergency management and disaster science with direct experience in researching hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, and hazardous materials accidents, much of which has been funded by the National Science Foundation. Dr. Phillips has been invited to assist or speak at disaster programs in the United States, Canada, Mexico, People's Republic of China, Costa Rica, New Zealand, Germany, Sweden, and Australia where she has promoted evidence-based best practices for community safety. Dr. Phillips firmly believes in the extension of faculty expertise through volunteer service. With over thirty years of experience in the field of emergency management education, Dr. Phillips has volunteered for local emergency management planning committees and voluntary organizations, especially for high risk populations. She has served as an unpaid reviewer of city and agency emergency management plans and assisted with planning around disaster-time domestic violence, safety for people with disabilities, and elderly evacuation. She has led business continuity planning at multiple academic institutions and businesses. Her most meaningful volunteer activities have helped to rescue animals and rebuild homes (and docks that support sustainable livelihoods) after disasters.