Speaker: Dr. Maria Watson
Assistant Professor
School of Construction Management
Center for Housing Studies
University of Florida
Thursday, September 15, 2022
4:00-4:50 PM (Period 9)
Turlington Hall 3018 and Zoom
University of Florida
Abstract: Since 2017, U.S. communities along the Texas and Louisiana border including Beaumont, TX, Port Arthur, TX, and Lake Charles, LA are recovering from Hurricane Harvey, Tropical storm Imelda, a chemical plant explosion, and even more recently Hurricane Laura, Hurricane Delta, a deadly freeze, and riverine flooding amid the pandemic. These communities also have a higher Gini index, lower median income, and higher poverty rate than their respective states. I present the results of an ongoing study examining the recovery of small, minority-owned businesses in these communities, integrating theory from the business disaster recovery literature with the social vulnerability perspective. The findings show racial and gender disparities in business impacts and recoveries and provide evidence that those disparities, in turn, disproportionately affect both racial minority and low-income neighborhoods. I conclude with how these findings can be used to inform more equitable recoveries after disaster events
Biography: Dr. Watson’s research focuses on the factors impacting community recovery after disaster events, particularly interdependencies between infrastructure, housing, and businesses. She is particularly interested in the effectiveness of disaster programs and how these programs can be structured to better meet recovery needs. Watson has been a part of multiple interdisciplinary disaster recovery research efforts in Texas, Louisiana and North Carolina after Hurricanes Ike, Harvey, Matthew, Florence, Laura, and Delta.
All are welcome to attend.
For more information, email Dr. Jane Southworth at jsouthwo@ufl.edu