The University of Delaware's Disaster Research Center includes several core faculty members who can discuss various aspects of the COVID-19 health crisis:
Sarah DeYoung, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice: Can talk about companion animals and COVID-19, as well as how animal shelters are pushing fostering now and how during financial turmoil there could be mass animal surrenders (and possibly more euthanasia). She can also discuss infant feeding and food insecurity during disasters.
James Kendra, co-director of the Disaster Research Center and Professor of Public Policy: Expert on communications, crisis leadership and stigmatization of certain populations in health emergencies.
Joseph Trainor, Associate Professor of Public Policy: Can discuss the risk communication challenges of COVID-19, in particular the difficulty of navigating multiple, changing and conflicting streams of information. Also, recently researched how to support emergency service workers so they are able to come to work.
Jennifer Trivedi, Assistant Professor of Anthropology: Can speak to the importance of ensuring people who are financially, housing or food insecure are taken care of and about the potenially high-risk impact for the disabled and chronically ill. She can also talk about how COVID-19 and disasters more broadly can be incorporated into classes to both let students share their experiences and because it ties into so many different issues.
Tricia Wachtendorf, co-director of the Disaster Research Center and Professor of Sociology: Can speak to aspects of how people might engage in volunteer, improvised and emergent efforts in response to COVID-19 and disasters more broadly. She can also discuss how people may be impacted in different ways, social stigma, aspects of response and coordination and decision-making.
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