Disaster Response Experts Available to Discuss Aftermath of Turkey-Syria Earthquake

Newswise — ALBANY, N.Y. – A powerful, 7.8 magnitude earthquake shook southeastern Turkey and neighboring Syria on Monday morning, killing at least 2,300 people and injuring thousands more as it toppled buildings and trapped residents under rubble.

The death toll is expected to rise as rescue teams search through the widespread damage in freezing, snowy conditions. Dozens of countries and organizations have already offered to help.

University at Albany experts at the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity are available to discuss the region’s response to this deadly disaster and the ongoing international efforts to provide aid, including:

• Alex Greer, associate professor, Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, research interests include hazard adjustments, relocation decision-making processes and organizational culture. He has a number of ongoing projects, including a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded study exploring earthquake adjustment in Oklahoma.

• Samantha Penta, assistant professor, Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, examines health and medical care in crises, decision-making in preparedness and response and humanitarian logistics. Some of her most recent work focused on the health and medical responses to the 2015 Nepal earthquake and the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic in West Africa.

• Amber Silver, assistant professor, Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, research interests focus on how individuals and groups make decisions before, during and after extreme weather events. Her most recent research has examined the ways that new technologies, including social media, influence how individuals obtain, interpret and respond to official and unofficial warning information.

• Eric Stern, professor, Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, has published extensively in the fields of crisis and emergency management, crisis communication, resilience, security studies, executive leadership, foreign policy analysis and political psychology. He is currently serving as Editor-In-Chief of the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Crisis Analysis.

• Jeannette Sutton, associate professor, Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, specializes in disaster and risk with a primary focus on informal online communication, and public alerts and warning messages. She recently published an NSF-funded paper that examined post-alert messaging following a false early-warning earthquake alert issued to residents in Ridgecrest, Calif. in May 2020.

About the University at Albany:

A comprehensive public research university, the University at Albany-SUNY offers more than 120 undergraduate majors and minors and 125 master's, doctoral and graduate certificate programs. As a Carnegie-classified R1 institution, signifying the highest level of doctoral and research activity, UAlbany is a leader among New York colleges and universities in diverse fields like atmospheric and environmental sciences, business, education, public health, health sciences, criminal justice, emergency preparedness, engineering and applied sciences, informatics, public administration, social welfare and sociology, taught by an extensive roster of faculty experts. It also offers expanded academic and research opportunities for students through an affiliation with Albany Law School. With a curriculum enhanced by 600 study-abroad opportunities, UAlbany launches great careers.

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