Carson has a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Geology from Western Washington University and the University of Montana. She is now working on her PhD at Boise State University where she studies how to best communicate natural hazard risk information to broad audiences. She writes the content and processes the data for each HazardReady site.
Rebecca Bendick has a Ph.D. in geophysics from the University of Colorado. Her research on tectonics and earthquake mechanics led to an interest in how human communities are affected by natural disasters, and inspires her ongoing efforts to help people better understand and prepare for them. She writes and lectures on the ethics of science communication as well as on her basic geophysical research.
Grant Kier has a M.Sc. in geology from the University of Colorado. He is broadly interested in community resilience in the context of manmade and natural changes. He also has a background in business practices and currently works on economic development, fostering small and startup companies in western Montana.
Hazard Ready homepage
HazardReady sites were inspired by and adapted from Aftershock, an earthquake preparedness application for Oregon residents. Carson MacPherson-Krutsky and Rebecca Bendick had the idea to expand it for other locales and types of disasters. Melinda Minch and Eldan Goldenberg adapted it for that purpose. Source for a general-purpose version of this site is available on Github.
Other Hazard Ready websites:
The PDX Ready project was funded in part by the Regional Disaster Preparedness Organization (RDPO) of the Portland Metropolitan Region. The RDPO is a partnership of government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and private-sector stakeholders in the Portland Metropolitan Region collaborating to increase the region’s resiliency to disasters. The metropolitan region spans Clackamas, Columbia, Multnomah, and Washington Counties in Oregon and Clark County in Washington.
PDX Ready! is designed to help educate and prepare people for disasters that occur in their area. Disasters don’t strike locations equally so we found it important to give location specific information in order to properly prepare. PDX Ready! organizes current information and packages it in a way that makes it accessible for any the Portland Metro Area resident.
This site uses the most up-to-date hazard risk data available for the Portland Metro Area. The user of this site is responsible for verifying any particular information with the original data sources. Although these data represent the best current assessment of hazards, they are not predictive of future events. The descriptions of risk and how to prepare for those risks are based on best information from the Regional Disaster Preparedness Organization (RDPO) of the Portland Metropolitan Region.
How we build Hazard Ready Sites: 1. Gather data. Locate the most relevant and up-to-date data on natural hazards for your region from trusted sources like FEMA, NOAA, and the USGS. 2. Quality Check. Work with local partners (community groups & emergency managers) to ensure the data and infomration are accurate. 3. Process data. Make the data compatible with Hazard Ready software. 4. Build content. Write the webpage text, gather images and videos, locate local resources for each hazard and region. 5. Feedback and focus groups. Discuss content and designs to ensure the information fits each community's needs. 6. Revise, revise, revise and launch site!
Data used for PDX Ready! is available for download here.
Hazard Ready homepage
Have questions? View the About page or email the Hazard Ready creators for more information.
