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Context:Many people living in the 5 inhabited US territories experience high rates of natural hazard exposure and social vulnerability to disaster impacts. Public health workforce development and evidence-based, culturally competent approaches to disaster preparedness, response, and recovery are needed in these regions. Program:In 2020, the Natural Hazards Center established thePublic Health Disaster Research Award Programwith funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The program’s goal is to advance public health disaster research and practice by funding, training, mentoring, and connecting researchers, students, and practitioners in historically underserved areas with high natural hazard risk. Between 2020 and 2022, 26 research teams received up to $50 000 each to investigate public health disasters in 1 or more US territories. The program also supported awardees by providing individual consultations, online trainings, feedback on report drafts, and a virtual group workshop on the public health implications of research. Awardees authored final reports and presented at a public webinar. Evaluation:In 2023, the Natural Hazards Center developed and distributed an online survey to all principal investigators. The survey evaluated how awardees advanced knowledge about public health disasters in the US territories; what skills, resources, and connections they acquired; and how they translated their research into public health applications and otherwise disseminated their findings. Discussion:Our evaluation showed that the program is advancing knowledge of understudied hazard contexts and socially vulnerable populations in the US territories and supports awardees in sharing their findings with academics, policymakers, and practitioners. Moreover, it expanded the public health disaster workforce by bringing professionals from a diverse range of disciplines and institutions into the field, and by investing in students, early career scholars, and investigators based in US territories. Researchers are working with local partners to apply their findings to practice. 

The U.S. Geological Survey-managed ShakeAlert® earthquake early warning system is the first public alerting system in the United States to provide rapid mass notification when an earthquake is detected. Although public alert delivery via mobile phones began in California in 2019 followed by Oregon and Washington in 2021, little is known about what might drive widespread implementation in at-risk institutional settings such as schools. For example, there has been limited research on how to best integrate earthquake early warning into existing emergency plans, alert systems, and drills to keep school children and personnel safe in an earthquake. To address this gap, in the spring of 2022, every school district superintendent in Alaska, California, Oregon, and Washington was sent a 15-min online survey. The survey assessed superintendent knowledge of ShakeAlert, preferences for alert messaging, and perceived opportunities and barriers to incorporating the system in schools. The results showed that superintendents had low awareness of ShakeAlert but held positive perceptions of the system's potential to enable life-saving protective actions. A major barrier to adoption included the perceived financial cost of implementing and maintaining the system. There were some statistically significant differences in state responses, and future research could investigate the specific needs of each state based on school district size and composition, hazard exposure, and earthquake experience. Together these findings can help inform targeted strategies to increase ShakeAlert adoption in schools and ultimately improve the safety of school children and staff during earthquakes. 

This survey instrument was administered to evaluate the impact of the Public Health Disaster Research Award Program. It includes closed- and open-ended questions about the following topics: (1) the skills, knowledge, and connections that research team members acquired during the award period; (2) the publications, grant proposals, educational materials, and/or traineeships that team members developed post-award using research findings; (3) the collaborations with community partners, public health departments, and other hazards and disasters scholars or practitioners that team members built post-award; and (4) how team members applied their research findings to practice by developing new public health tools or promoting changes to public health policies or programs. 

This survey invitation was emailed to lead investigators of the Public Health Disaster Research Award Program's Special Call 1: Research in U.S. Territories and Special Call 2: Strengthening Community Resilience in U.S. Territories in April of 2023. 

This file includes de-identified survey data from the Public Health Disaster Research Award Program evaluation.