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On January 15, 2022, the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai (Tonga) volcano erupted and triggered a tsunami forecasted to reach North America. This event provided a unique opportunity to investigate risk perception and communication among coastal emergency managers and emergency program coordinators (EMs). In response, this research explores 1) how risk can be communicated most effectively and 2) how risk perceptions associated with “distant” tsunami alerts and warnings affect EMs' willingness to issue emergency alerts. A purposive sample of coastal EMs (n = 21) in the U.S. Pacific Northwest participated in semi-structured interviews. Participants represented Tribal, county, state, and federal agencies in Washington, Oregon, and California. Interview transcripts were deductively coded and thematically analyzed. Participants perceived low risk from the Tonga tsunami but took precautionary measures and alerted the public. Participants described how their actions were driven by community characteristics and the anticipated reactions to messaging among residents. Many reported the need to balance notifying the public and avoiding the negative impacts of their messaging (e.g., “crying wolf,” panic, curiosity). The unique nature of the event led to identification of unanticipated facilitators and barriers to decision- making among participants. These findings can inform distant tsunami risk communication and preparedness for coastal communities. 

Participatory asset mapping activities were used in both Arkansas and Nebraska to gain an understanding of existing organization-based assets and areas for improvement in the context of emergency preparedness. The main goals of the mapping activities that the Natural Hazards Center team led in Arkansas and Nebraska included: (1) Identifying organizational strengths, capacities, skills, and resources within organizations generally and for children in disasters specifically; (2) Deciphering organizations’ limitations and gaps both generally and in providing support for children in disasters; and (3) Facilitating potential cooperation between and among organizations by generating a shared awareness and understanding of organizations’ collective assets and areas for improvement. Our team constructed and facilitated a participatory asset mapping activity that was conducted during the two facilitated sessions held on December 10, 2018 in Lincoln, Nebraska and December 13, 2018 in Little Rock, Arkansas, and hosted by Save the Children for the Building Capacities to Protect Children Project. Participants in both states included individuals from state-level VOAD member organizations, community-based organizations, emergency management, and partners that provide services for children during disasters and emergencies. A total of 16 individuals participated in Arkansas, and 12 in Nebraska. This publication includes the verbal consent form, participatory asset mapping guidance document, and organizational asset mapping worksheets. The participatory asset mapping facilitator’s guide provides step-by-step instructions for individuals interested in conducting participatory asset mapping. This can be adapted to fit other research and evaluation objectives. The participatory asset mapping protocol was used to facilitate the participatory asset mapping activities among Arkansas and Nebraska VOAD participants and organizational partners in Little Rock Arkansas, and Lincoln, Nebraska, respectively. The organizational worksheets were used for conducting the participatory asset mapping activities in Arkansas and Nebraska and can easily be adapted for use in other contexts or organizational types.Between 2018 and 2020, the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado Boulder conducted an evaluation entitled: Building State Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOADs) Capacities to Protect Children in Emergencies. This project was designed to assess the capacity of state-level VOADs to address children’s needs before, during, and after disasters. This project involved multi-method research in the focal states of Arkansas and Nebraska and in collaboration with members of VOADs, emergency management, Save the Children, and other child-serving organizations in both states. The evaluation team conducted participatory engagement exercises, survey research, secondary data analysis and GIS mapping, and an interorganizational network analysis survey. This project includes research instruments and the final reports produced as part of this project. The envisioned audience for these materials includes researchers, emergency managers, and professionals who work for child-serving organizations. 

A primary objective of this larger evaluation project was to develop a baseline understanding of the existing connections across Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) member and partner organizations in Arkansas and Nebraska, including identification of opportunities for additional or more extensive collaboration. To address this objective, the evaluation team constructed an interorganizational social network analysis (SNA) survey to measure the degree to which VOAD member organizations in Arkansas and Nebraska: (1) engage in various levels of collaboration, (2) contact one another, (3) exchange essential resources, and (4) perceive the benefits and challenges associated with collaboration. In addition to measuring VOAD collaboration and exchanges, we assessed the extent to which child-serving organizations were represented within Arkansas and Nebraska VOAD networks and whether they were sought after for child-focused resources. To do this, we developed two survey instruments that were identical other than one survey included VOAD, emergency management, and child-serving organizations in Nebraska, and the other included such organizations in Arkansas. We also updated the introductory text in each survey to represent the names of the focal states and organizational partners. In total, 34 participants from Arkansas VOAD and their partners and 43 participants from Nebraska VOAD and their partners completed the SNA survey. The intended audience for this survey instrument includes researchers as well as practitioners and policy makers interested in the use of social network analysis in disaster research. As indicated by the highlighted text in the instruments, future users of this survey will need to update organizational names in the text and network question rosters. Please see the highlighted instructions in the survey for further guidance on replicating the instrument.Between 2018 and 2020, the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado Boulder conducted an evaluation entitled: Building State Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOADs) Capacities to Protect Children in Emergencies. This project was designed to assess the capacity of state-level VOADs to address children’s needs before, during, and after disasters. This project involved multi-method research in the focal states of Arkansas and Nebraska and in collaboration with members of VOADs, emergency management, Save the Children, and other child-serving organizations in both states. The evaluation team conducted participatory engagement exercises, survey research, secondary data analysis and GIS mapping, and an interorganizational network analysis survey. This project includes research instruments and the final reports produced as part of this project. The envisioned audience for these materials includes researchers, emergency managers, and professionals who work for child-serving organizations. 

As part of the larger Save the Children evaluation, our research team developed and disseminated an online survey to VOAD members and those partnered or affiliated informally with Arkansas and Nebraska state-level VOADs. The intent of this survey was to assess individual and organizational levels of disaster preparedness and the state of child-centered disaster preparedness activities. The Natural Hazards Center team created one survey, which was then updated to be specific to each state. The survey is divided into the following six sections: (a) organizational characteristics, VOAD involvement, and experience with disaster; (b) knowledge and awareness about children in disasters; (c) capacity for child-focused disaster response; (d) readiness for child-focused disaster response; (e) perceptions about child-focused disaster response; and (f) demographic information. We used the online survey platform Qualtrics to disseminate surveys through anonymous survey links. These links were sent to Arkansas and Nebraska VOADs and their partners on December 3, 2018. In all, a total of 24 surveys in Arkansas (7 of which were partially completed), and 46 surveys in Nebraska (13 of which were partially completed) were submitted via Qualtrics by December 17, 2018. This publication includes the final survey instrument, which may be of interest to other evaluation researchers.Between 2018 and 2020, the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado Boulder conducted an evaluation entitled: Building State Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOADs) Capacities to Protect Children in Emergencies. This project was designed to assess the capacity of state-level VOADs to address children’s needs before, during, and after disasters. This project involved multi-method research in the focal states of Arkansas and Nebraska and in collaboration with members of VOADs, emergency management, Save the Children, and other child-serving organizations in both states. The evaluation team conducted participatory engagement exercises, survey research, secondary data analysis and GIS mapping, and an interorganizational network analysis survey. This project includes research instruments and the final reports produced as part of this project. The envisioned audience for these materials includes researchers, emergency managers, and professionals who work for child-serving organizations. 

 

As residents living in hazard-prone areas face on-going environmental threats, the actions they take to mitigate such risks are likely motivated by various factors. Whereas risk perception has been considered a key determinant of related behavioral responses, little is known about how risk mitigation actions influence subsequent perceived risk. In other words, do actions to prevent or mitigate risk reduce risk perception? This longitudinal study considers the dynamic relationships between risk perception and risk-mitigating behavior in the context of forest disturbance in north-central Colorado. Based on panel survey data collected in 2007 and 2018, the results provide a first look at changes in perceived forest risks as they relate to individual and community actions in response to an extensive mountain pine beetle outbreak. Analysis revealed that the perception of direct forest risks (forest fire and falling trees) increased, whereas indirect forest risk perception (concern on broader threats to local community) decreased across the two study phases. Higher individual or community activeness (level of actions) was associated with subsequent reductions in perceived forest fire risk, smaller increases in direct risk perception, and larger decreases in indirect risk perception. These findings contribute insights into the complex risk reappraisal process in forest hazard contexts, with direct implications for risk communication and management strategies. 

This check sheet reviews the different types of fieldnotes that researchers may use while observing at a research site. Tips for writing up fieldnotes—including organization and the importance of specificity, clarity, and precision—are also provided. About the CONVERGE Extreme Events Research Check Sheets Series: The National Science Foundation-supported CONVERGE facility at the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado Boulder has developed a series of short, graphical check sheets that are meant to be used as researchers design their studies, prepare to enter the field, conduct field research, and exit the field. The series offers best practices for extreme events research and includes check sheets that are free to the research community. More information is available at: https://converge.colorado.edu/resources/check-sheets. 

Abstract Forest disturbances caused by insects, pathogens, and fire continue to increasingly occur within forests across the United States and around the world. Given the dynamic nature of these forest disturbances and the role played by local residents in risk management, it is valuable to explore how the human experience, attitudes, and behaviors associated with these ecological processes may evolve over time. In this paper, we assess temporal changes in local residents’ perceptions and actions in response to the mountain pine beetle outbreak that affected large swaths of forests in north central Colorado. Through analyses of secondary and household survey data from 2007 and 2018, we note significant changes in these aspects and identify factors consistently associated with individual and community activeness. The study contributes to knowledge of dynamic socioecological considerations of forest disturbances and improves understanding of how social sciences can help to identify opportunities and barriers to effective forest ecosystem management.