Christina Doerter
Researcher Seeks Ways to Help Resilient Communities after Disasters
For the second summer in a row, Christina Doerter, a senior disaster management major at Jacksonville State University, returned to ORNL to study ways communities may enhance their “resilience”—the ability to quickly recover key services after a hurricane or other disaster strikes. Doerter plans to pursue a career in which she may use her research and volunteer experience to aid victims of future natural disasters.
Few of us are well-enough prepared for a natural disaster. But Christina Doerter of Decatur, Ala., a Jacksonville State University (JSU) senior, has spent the last two summers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) studying how communities may best enhance their “resilience” after disaster strikes, and thus, rebounding more quickly by recovering vital services.
As an Alabaman, Doerter knows how hurricanes like 2005 Katrina can devastate coastal communities. Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast with winds, storm surge, tornadoes and flooding, which left 1,835 dead, thousands injured or homeless and $100 billion in losses… making it one of the greatest natural disasters in U.S. history.
Doerter attended meetings to plan aid for Katrina refugees, but her motivation for studying disaster management arose when 2004 tsunamis followed a Sumatran quake, which measured 9.0 on the Richter scale. More than 5,300 died, and thousands were injured, missing or homeless as a result.
“I saw rescue efforts on TV and wanted to help,” Doerter recalled. “My Dad told me about a college major dealing with disasters—emergency management—and, I was hooked.”
Consecutive summer internships at the Community and Regional Resilience Institute (CARRI)—a public-private partnership at ORNL—have allowed Doerter to study how best to expedite disaster recovery efforts. Pleased with her 2008 work, Doerter’s mentors urged her 2009 return. CARRI Director Warren C. Edwards said her enthusiasm helped “expand our horizons.”
Doerter eagerly returned for another session funded through the U.S. Homeland Security Department’s HS-STEM (homeland security related science, technology, engineering and mathematics) Summer Internship Program, administered through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education. This program provides opportunities for undergraduate students majoring in HS-STEM disciplines to conduct research in DHS mission–relevant areas at federal research facilities.
To plan resilience, CARRI partners with governments like the Tri-County area in Charleston, S.C.; the Gulf Coast around Gulfport, Miss.; and Shelby County in Memphis, Tenn. Although inland Memphis faces no hurricane threat, its nearby New Madrid Fault saw the nation’s most powerful quakes in 1812. And Charleston has suffered tremors and major hurricanes like Hugo in recent years as well.
Doerter enjoyed the 10-week internship, which offered a research experience for undergraduates majoring in HS-related disciplines. She’s on track now to be a JSU honor graduate.
Doerter said she met “many knowledgeable experts and professionals in [her] chosen field,” and the internships have allowed her to study community-based biological exercises whose data provided the basis for gap analyses. “My CARRI internships help pay for college and pave the way for my career. I’m only a small piece in the puzzle, but CARRI will use my research to help communities gain resilience.”
After graduation, Doerter plans to seek a master’s degree related to her research, her interests—including Red Cross volunteer work—and emergency management degree. “I enjoy volunteering,” she added. “It helps those affected by disasters and adds to my emergency management experience.”
“I’ve learned that one’s degree doesn’t define future job opportunities,” she added. “Possibilities are endless.”