National Science and Technology Council

Committee on Environment and Natural Resources

National Science and Technology Council

Committee on Environment and Natural Resources

A Report of the 

Subcommittee on Disaster Reduction 

June 2005

A Report of the 

Subcommittee on Disaster Reduction 

June 2005

Grand Challenges 

for Disaster Reduction

Grand Challenges 

for Disaster Reduction

subcommittee on disaster reduction

sdr
Grand Challenges for Disaster Reduction 

June 2005 

Dear Colleague:

Every year, natural and technological hazards in the United States cost an estimated $1

billion per week in the form of lives lost and public and private properties destroyed.

In 2004 alone, more than 60 major disasters, including floods, hurricanes,

earthquakes, tornadoes, and wildfires, struck the United States. Reducing these losses

requires collaboration at all levels and a coordinated, interagency approach. The

Subcommittee on Disaster Reduction (SDR), an element of the President’s National

Science and Technology Council (NSTC), represents the expertise of more than 20

Federal agencies with disaster reduction missions and facilitates our national strategies

for effective use of science and technology to reduce disasters. 

To develop a ten-year strategy for disaster reduction through science and technology,

the members of the SDR collaborated with scientists and engineers worldwide to

identify a suite of Grand Challenges for disaster reduction. This document presents six

Grand Challenges for disaster reduction and provides a framework for prioritizing the

related Federal investments in science and technology. Addressing these Grand

Challenges will improve America’s capacity to prevent and recover from disasters, thus

fulfilling our Nation’s commitment to reducing the impacts of hazards and enhancing

the safety and economic well-being of every individual and community. 

Sincerely,

John H. Marburger, III

Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy

Science Advisor to the President
Grand Challenges for Disaster Reduction 

National Science and Technology Council

Committee on Environment and Natural Resources

A Report of the 

Subcommittee on Disaster Reduction 

June 2005

Grand Challenges 

for Disaster Reduction
Executive Summary.......................................................................................... 1

Introduction: What’s at Stake? ........................................................................ 3

Grand Challenges: A Framework for Action ..................................................... 5

The Way Forward............................................................................................ 12

Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 13

Appendix A: Research Requirements and 

Technology Investments by Hazard ............................................................... 14

Appendix B: Key Terms.................................................................................. 17

Appendix C: References.................................................................................. 18

Appendix D: About the National Science and Technology Council ............... 19

Grand Challenges Summary........................................................................... 21

Contents

Grand Challenges for Disaster Reduction 
Despite significant progress in the application of

science and technology to disaster* reduction, communities are still challenged by disaster preparation,

response, and recovery. We have reduced the number of lives

lost each year to natural disasters, but the costs of major disasters continue to rise. A primary focus on response and

recovery is an impractical and inefficient strategy for dealing

with these ongoing threats. Instead, communities must break

the cycle of destruction and recovery by enhancing their disaster resilience. 

The Subcommittee on Disaster Reduction identified four key

characteristics of disaster-resilient communities:

■ Relevant hazards are recognized and understood. 

■ Communities at risk know when a hazard event

is imminent. 

■ Individuals at risk are safe from hazards in their homes

and places of work. 

■ Disaster-resilient communities experience minimum

disruption to life and economy after a hazard event

has passed. 

High-priority science and technology investments, coupled

with sound decision-making at all levels, will dramatically

enhance community resilience and thus reduce vulnerability.

In support of this goal, the following six Grand Challenges

provide a framework for sustained Federal investment in

science and technology related to disaster reduction: 

Grand Challenge #1—Provide hazard and disaster

information where and when it is needed. To identify

and anticipate the hazards that threaten communities, a

mechanism for real-time data collection and interpretation

must be readily available to and usable by scientists, emergency managers, first responders, citizens, and policy makers.

Developing and improving observation tools is essential to

provide pertinent, comprehensive, and timely information for

planning and response. 

Grand Challenge #2—Understand the natural

processes that produce hazards. To improve forecasting

and predictions, scientists and engineers must continue to

pursue basic research on the natural processes that produce

hazards and understand how and when natural processes

become hazardous. New data must be collected and incorporated into advanced and validated models that support an

improved understanding of underlying natural system

processes and enhance assessment of the impacts. 

Grand Challenge #3—Develop hazard mitigation

strategies and technologies. To prevent or reduce

damage from natural hazards, scientists must invent—and

communities must implement—affordable and effective

hazard mitigation strategies, including land-use planning and

zoning laws that recognize the risks of natural hazards. In

addition, technologies such as disaster-resilient design and

materials and smart structures that respond to changing conditions must be used for development in hazardous areas. 

1

Grand Challenges for Disaster Reduction 

Executive Summary

* Note: In this document, the terms disasters and hazards encompass

events with both natural and technological origins.
By designing and building structures and infrastructures that

are inherently hazard resilient, communities can greatly

reduce their vulnerability. 

Grand Challenge #4—Recognize and reduce

vulnerability of interdependent critical infrastructure.

Protecting critical infrastructure systems, or lifelines, is essential to developing disaster-resilient communities. To be successful, scientists and communities must identify and address

the interdependencies of these lifelines at a systems level

(e.g., communications, electricity, financial, gas, sewage,

transportation, and water). Using integrated models of interdependent systems, additional vulnerabilities can be identified and then addressed. Protecting critical infrastructure

provides a solid foundation from which the community can

respond to hazards rapidly and effectively. 

Grand Challenge #5—Assess disaster resilience using

standard methods. Federal agencies must work with universities, local governments, and the private sector to identify

effective standards and metrics for assessing disaster resilience.

With consistent factors and regularly updated metrics, communities will be able to maintain report cards that accurately

assess the community’s level of disaster resilience. This, in

turn, will support comparability among communities and

provide a context for action to further reduce vulnerability.

Validated models, standards, and metrics are needed for estimating cumulative losses, projecting the impact of changes in

technology and policies, and monitoring the overall estimated

economic loss avoidance of planned actions.

Grand Challenge #6—Promote risk-wise behavior.

Develop and apply principles of economics and human

behavior to enhance communications, trust, and understanding within the community to promote “risk-wise” behavior.

To be effective, hazard information (e.g., forecasts and warnings) must be communicated to a population that understands and trusts the messages. The at-risk population must

then respond appropriately to the information. Significant

progress is being made, but this is an ongoing challenge that

can only be met by effectively leveraging the findings from

social science research. 

Advances in science and technology alone cannot fully

protect the Nation from all hazards. In support of these

Grand Challenges, key research and major technology investments must be linked to effective “risk-wise” policy decisions

at all levels. Change must occur at both the policy level and

in the societal perception of risk so that adoption and adaptation keep pace with advances in science and technology. A

sustained emphasis on risk mitigation and public/private

partnerships is essential throughout all aspects and at all

levels of the community. Within this integrated planning

context, improved coordination of sustained Federal science

and technology investment to address the Grand Challenges

for Disaster Reduction will enhance disaster resilience and

national safety. 

2

Grand Challenges for Disaster Reduction 

Since 1900, hurricanes and

tropical storms making landfall

on the U.S. Gulf Coast have

caused more than 9,000

deaths and more than $100

billion in damages (adjusted

to 2004 dollars) to homes and

property.1 In 2003, a single storm, Hurricane Isabel, caused

over $4 billion in damages on the Atlantic Coast and resulted

in the loss of 47 lives.2 In 2004, a series of major storms

struck the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States,

affecting 15 states and costing billions of dollars in damages. 

To protect against this hazard, atmospheric conditions must

be continually monitored to detect the storm in the early

stages and apply models to predict its motion and intensity.

Once the storm is detected, everyone must be informed

quickly and provided with understandable, actionable information, such as evacuation plans and shelter locations.

Individuals must be aware of the risk and know how to act.

Before the storm, knowledge of local weather patterns and

micrometeorological effects will be applied. This knowledge

should be incorporated into building codes and the choice of

building materials, as well as community design, to mitigate

against property damages and disruption to essential utilities

and services.

Disaster Profile: Hurricane
3

Grand Challenges for Disaster Reduction 

Introduction: What’s at Stake?

Each year, natural and technological disasters cause an

estimated $52 billion in damages in the United States

in terms of lives lost, disruption of commerce, properties destroyed, and the costs of mobilizing emergency

response personnel and equipment.3 As the costs continue to

rise, we must move from response and recovery to proactively

identifying hazards that pose threats and taking action to

reduce the potential impacts. 

To reduce future escalation of these costs, the United States

invests significant Federal funds in disaster-related science

and technology to reduce the loss of life and property damage

from hazards. Despite this progress, however, the United

States still faces enormous losses each year from hazards. 

Hazards will always exist. Whether they become disasters

depends upon our disaster resilience—our capacity to prepare,

mitigate, respond, and recover. This report outlines key

opportunities for scientific and technological advances that

will enhance disaster resilience and thus improve the Nation’s

ability to face disasters.

Drought. Drought is a complex and widespread natural

hazard, affecting more people in the United States than any

other natural hazard and accumulating average annual estimated losses between $6 and $8 billion. The magnitude and

complexity of drought hazards have increased in association

with growing population, population shifts to drier climates,

urbanization, and changes in land and water use.4

Earthquakes. Each year, the United States experiences thousands of earthquakes and, on average, seven earthquakes per

year have a magnitude of 6.0 or greater, enough to cause

serious damage.5 Although major advances have been achieved

in understanding and mitigating earthquake hazards, 75 million

Americans in 39 states face significant risk from earthquakes.6

Floods. Floods are the most frequent natural disaster; one in

three Federal disaster declarations is related to flooding.7 An

increase in population and development in flood-prone areas,

along with an increase in heavy rain events during the past fifty

years, have gradually increased flood-related economic losses.8

Property damages from flooding average $2 billion a year.9

Public Health/Environmental Disaster. Public health and

environmental disasters may arise from natural events or humancaused releases of hazardous materials. The hazard may be

primary or it may be the result of a previously-existing hazard.

Disease outbreaks, such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome

(SARS), clearly show the importance of public health monitoring,

emergency communication, and international cooperation.

Hazards in the United States
4

Grand Challenges for Disaster Reduction 

Diseases spread by common vectors,

such as West Nile Virus, reinforce the

need for a public health education

program in every community.

Severe Weather. Due to changes in

population demographics and more

complex weather-sensitive infrastructure, Americans today are more vulnerable than ever before to severe weather

events caused by tornadoes, hurricanes,

severe storms, heat waves, and winter

weather. For example, during May

2003, the United States was hit with

543 tornadoes, breaking the previously

existing monthly record of 399 tornadoes established in 1992.10 In many

cases, communities underestimate the

dangers of extreme weather events, as

was the case in 1995, when a heat

wave in Chicago killed 739 people.11

Over the past 30 years coastal population growth has quadrupled; more than

69 million people now reside along

hurricane prone coastlines in the

United States.12

Technological. Technological hazards

involve the release of hazardous substances—chemicals, toxic substances,

gasoline and oil, nuclear and radiological material, flammable and explosive

materials, in the form of gases, liquids,

or solids—that impact human health

and safety, the environment, and/or the

local economy. Such hazards exist

during production, storage, transportation, use and disposal and can adversely

impact oceans, groundwater systems,

streams, rivers, agricultural fields, and

even urban areas.

Volcano. The United States is among

the most volcanically active nations in

the world with nearly 70 active or

potentially active volcanoes.13 During

the 20th century, volcanic eruptions in

Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska,

and Hawaii devastated thousands of

square miles and caused substantial

economic and societal disruptions and

loss of life. Even with improved abilities

to identify hazardous areas and predict

eruptions, increasing numbers of

people face volcanic hazards as a

potential danger.14

Wildland Fire. Despite national

progress in reducing wildland fire

hazards, tens of millions of acres of

American wildlands and thousands of

communities at the wildland/urban

interface still are at risk of catastrophic

wildland fire. During the winter rainy

season, disastrous debris flows often

follow. The extreme fire season of 2000

saw the largest areas burned by wildland fires in the United States since the

1960s. From 1999 to 2002, the average

area burned by wildland fire was 6.1

million acres (24,685.82 kilometers2),

with an estimated cost of $1.1 billion

for wildland fire suppression.15

Mount Saint Helens, November 4, 2004, 

USGS photograph taken by Jim Valance and Matt Logan
5

Grand Challenges for Disaster Reduction 

I

n partnership with local, state, Federal, and international

experts, the members of the the Subcommittee on

Disaster Reduction identified four key characteristics for

disaster-resilient communities:

■ Relevant hazards are recognized and understood. 

■ Communities at risk know when a hazard event

is imminent. 

■ Individuals at risk are safe from hazards in their homes

and places of work. 

■ Disaster-resilient communities experience minimum

disruption to life and economy after a hazard event

has passed. 

If addressed, the critical problems in science and technology

outlined here can help achieve these characteristics in every

community. These Grand Challenges require sustained

Federal investment in research, education, communication

and the effective application of technology. They represent an

ongoing effort by scientists and engineers to improve disaster

resilience and demand focused Federal attention. 

Grand Challenges: 

A Framework for Action 

Following the 1994 Northridge

Earthquake, the U.S.

Geological Survey created a

Working Group (WG99) to

reassess the likelihood of a

large-scale earthquake affecting

the San Francisco Bay area in

the coming years. The WG99 determined that there is a 70%

(+/- 10%) chance the region will experience a magnitude 6.7

or greater earthquake and an 80% chance of a magnitude

6.0 to 6.6 earthquake occurring before the year 2030.16 The

economic damage and potential deaths resulting from a large

magnitude earthquake are considerable. Specifically, damages

from a single large metropolitan earthquake could result in

up to $100 billion dollars in direct losses.17

Reducing our risk of loss from earthquakes requires quantitative, predictive models of earthquake occurrence, processes,

and effects. These models improve prediction capabilities and

support early warning. At the same time, appropriate building codes and structural retrofitting are needed to protect

against collapse during and after the quake and to prevent

secondary or cascading hazards.

Disaster Profile: Earthquake
6

Grand Challenges for Disaster Reduction 

Provide Hazard and Disaster 

Information Where and When 

It Is Needed. 

To identify and anticipate the hazards that threaten communities, a mechanism for real-time data collection and interpretation must be readily available to and usable by scientists,

emergency managers, first responders, citizens, and policy

makers. Developing and improving observation tools is essential to provide pertinent, comprehensive, and timely information for planning and response.

Challenges: 

Improve data collection to increase understanding

of the ways in which hazards evolve. Improve data

collection through networks of sensors that enhance fundamental understanding of the nature and threats of hazard

conditions. Sensors must become not only more accurate

and reliable, but more specific. Improved Earth observations, remote sensing, and real-time containment detecting

technologies are needed to provide comprehensive realtime data on hazardous conditions, aid hazard forecasting

and allow researchers to recognize warning signs. 

Create standards for sharing, storing and 

analyzing data. Standards for storing and sharing

hazard-related data must be established so that information can be rapidly transferred and shared among agencies

and made reliable for researchers and response managers.

Universal tools should exist to facilitate the integrated

analysis and distribution of hazard-related data across all

Federal, state and local databases. 

To meet this Grand Challenge, the following key research

requirements and major technology investments also must

be addressed:

Key research requirements: Develop improved sensing

capabilities and deploy expanded, modern, and integrated

data collection systems that provide real-time data for use

in modeling of hazardous conditions, consequence forecasting, and warnings. ■ Develop protocols for searchable,

all-hazards Internet-accessible data systems. ■ Develop next

generation network architectures for real-time data sharing

from distributed sensors. 

Major technology investments: Deploy an integrated,

reliable information infrastructure that provides real-time

access to data and models for hazard analysis, consequence

forecasting, and rapid detection of negative outcomes.

■ Develop universally adopted standards for data sharing to

speed transfer of information. ■ Incorporate geographical

location data (using Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

and Global Positioning Systems (GPS)) into systems that

provide real-time, high quality, integrated social and environmental information for emergency response purposes. 

Grand Challenge 1

Tsunamis are low probability

disasters with very large

impacts, as was demonstrated

by the Indian Ocean tsunami.

On December 26, 2004, a

magnitude 9.0 earthquake

occurred off the coast of

Sumatra 18.6 miles (30 kilometers) below sea level. The

earthquake and underwater landslides produced waves over

100 feet (30.48 meters) high along the Sumatra coastline

which then traversed the Indian Ocean within 10 hours,

reaching speeds of 500 miles (804.67 kilometers) per hour.

Like the Indian Ocean tsunami, approximately 90% of

tsunamis worldwide are caused by earthquakes, but volcanoes, landslides, and meteorites also can cause tsunamis.

Tsunamis have occurred in the U.S. along the coasts of the

Pacific Northwest, Hawaii, Alaska, and Caribbean and Pacific

territories; volcano-induced local tsunamis are a particular risk

for Hawaii and the Northern Marianas islands. 

Networks of sensors must be in place to detect tsunamis at

sea, but it also is important to identify high-risk coastal communities and target those communities for hazard mitigation

plans and projects. The technical systems for detecting and

monitoring earthquakes and tsunamis must be complemented by national and local warning systems, trained local

officials, and an educated and appropriate citizen response. 

Disaster Profile: Tsunami
7

Grand Challenges for Disaster Reduction 

Understand the Natural Processes

That Produce Hazards. 

To improve forecasting and predictions, scientists and engineers must continue to pursue basic research on the natural

processes that produce hazards and understand how and when

natural processes become hazardous. New data must be collected and incorporated into advanced and validated models

that support an improved understanding of underlying natural

system processes and enhance assessment of the impacts. 

Challenge:

Improve models and visualization techniques.

Improved models and visualization techniques must exist

to make data more usable for researchers and to aid forecasting. Modeling should be applied to all areas of study,

including meteorological, geological, resource management,

and social science applications. Advanced modeling techniques should be used to demonstrate the dynamic nature

of evolving hazards, indicate potential adverse human and

ecologic exposures, aid hazard prediction and assessment,

and serve as roadmaps for dealing with future events. 

To meet this Grand Challenge, the following key research

requirements and major technology investments also must

be addressed: 

Key research requirements: Continue and improve

data collection and observations of hazard-related

processes. ■ Develop and improve forecasting models and

visualization techniques to provide timely and accurate

information on the occurrence of hazardous events, consequences, and immediate steps that should be taken to

reduce impacts. ■ Improve methods for validating these

models. ■ Create and accelerate improvements in models

of physical, chemical, and biological processes to enable a

greater understanding of hazard interdependencies, predictive patterns, impacts, and cumulative effects on life, property, and the environment. 

Major technology investments: Expand and improve

the network that provides access to computational and

simulation resources necessary for analysis and prediction. 

Grand Challenge 2

The property damage and loss

of life due to ice storms and

freezing can be catastrophic

in terms of a disruption in

services and damages caused

to local business, crops and

agriculture. The most severe

impacts of such storms is loss of power, and extensive physical damages to structures. Additionally, states in which agriculture plays a large role in overall economic health suffer

economy losses if freezing temperatures last more than a

few weeks. 

To reduce the impact of ice storms, continuous and useful

information about the hazard must be made available to

everyone affected. Geographic information systems can be

used to provide integrated weather information and road

conditions. Identifying the effects of wind on ice-laden

structures and trees, of low visibilities in blowing snow, and

the impact on just-in-time transportation systems can

inform mitigation efforts and reduce disruption.

Disaster Profile: 

Severe Ice Storm / Freezing

2004 Hurricane Season, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Space

Science and Engineering Center, November 30, 2004
8

Grand Challenges for Disaster Reduction 

Develop Hazard Mitigation

Strategies and Technologies. 

To prevent or reduce damage from natural hazards, scientists

must invent—and communities must implement—affordable

and effective hazard mitigation strategies, including land-use

planning and zoning laws that recognize the risks of natural

hazards. In addition, technologies such as disaster-resilient

design and materials and smart structures that respond to

changing conditions must be used for development in hazardous areas. By designing and building structures and infrastructures that are inherently hazard resilient, communities

can greatly reduce their vulnerability.

Challenges:

Create resilient structures and infrastructure

systems using advanced building technologies.

Develop more advanced construction materials and technologies that create resourceful, intelligent, and self-healing

structures. Structural systems must continue to be designed

with disaster resilience in mind, and new materials and

technologies must be available to create facilities that

remain robust in the face of all potential hazards. “Smart”

building technologies, which allow for self-diagnosis of

damage and structural stability, should be employed. 

Support structural advances with effective 

non-structural mitigation. All advances in building

technology must be supported by appropriate nonstructural

mitigation measures including land use and zoning 

regulations based on climatological and geological data.

Community planning decisions should be designed to 

minimize damage and aid recovery. 

Quantify the monetary benefits of disaster 

mitigation using economic modeling. Economic modeling is necessary to support investment decisions and

demonstrate that substantial savings can be achieved by

instituting disaster mitigation policies on a local and

national level prior to investment in mitigation projects.

Reliable data must be acquired to ground economic models

empirically, and intangible and indirect impacts should be

included in the model. 

To meet this Grand Challenge, the following key research

requirements and major technology investments also must

be addressed: 

Key research requirements: Encourage investment in

developing, modeling and monitoring impacts of costeffective and beneficial mitigation technologies. ■

Continue development of smart structural systems that

detect and respond to changes in structure and infrastructure condition, and that predict failure. ■ Continue development of new materials and cost-effective technologies to

retrofit existing inventory of buildings, bridges, and other

lifeline structures. ■ Create integrated all-hazard methodologies for engineered systems. 

Grand Challenge 3

According to the NOAA

National Weather Service,

floods were the number-one

natural disaster in the U.S.

during the 20th century in

terms of lives lost and property

damage.18 In 1993 alone,

flooding in the Mississippi Basin resulted in an estimated $12

to $16 billion in damages.19

To prepare for floods, advanced modeling techniques must

be employed to project real-time flood hazard impacts for

large and small basins while integrated, area-targeted, multimedia systems issue warnings on flash-floods and other rapid

on-set disasters. The cumulative impacts on the hydrology

and hydraulics of flooding and drought must be incorporated

into land use measures. Finally, immediate analysis must be

provided following the flood to facilitate recovery operations

and restoration or removal of affected facilities.

Disaster Profile: Severe Flooding
9

Grand Challenges for Disaster Reduction 

Recognize and Reduce 

Vulnerability of Interdependent

Critical Infrastructure. 

Protecting critical infrastructure systems, or lifelines, is

essential to developing disaster-resilient communities. To be

successful, scientists and communities must identify and

address the interdependencies of these lifelines at a systems

level (e.g., communications, electricity, financial, gas, sewage,

transportation, and water). Using integrated models of

interdependent systems, additional vulnerabilities can be

identified and then addressed. Protecting critical

infrastructure provides a solid foundation from which the

community can respond to hazards rapidly and effectively.

Challenges: 

Develop science and technology to prevent cascading failures in public infrastructure systems.

Develop tools and models to provide a more robust understanding of infrastructure interdependencies in order to

protect the public infrastructure, to allow continuity of

services, and to prevent cascading failures. Robust infrastructure systems should guard against damage from

natural and technological hazards and feature redundant,

rapidly resolving systems that allow any failures to be isolated and repaired with no disruption to other components. Additionally, infrastructures must be designed to

protect people from secondary or cascading hazards. Risk

assessment tools should be used to determine the impacts

of planned development so appropriate measures can be

taken to mitigate threats to infrastructure. 

Enhance the ability to protect public health before

and after a hazard event. Increased understanding of

hazard events and their impact on public health can help

protect the public before and after a hazard event.

Communities should be designed to maintain sanitary conditions and prevent contamination to water supplies during

and after hazard events. Scientific knowledge of potential

threats to public health should be used in the creation of

emergency response plans. Delivery of emergency services

must be uninterrupted by the hazard. Public health conditions must be rapidly and effectively addressed to minimize

the impact on people, animals, and the environment.

To meet this Grand Challenge, the following key research

requirements and major technology investments also must

be addressed:

Key research requirement: Develop improved assessment methods for analyzing the vulnerability and interdependence of infrastructure systems. ■ Develop innovative

assessment models for emergency response procedures

including addressing all threats to public health rapidly

and effectively. 

Major technology investment: Develop information

acquisition systems that can be used to validate evaluations of resilience and response. ■ Identify and deploy

cost-effective technologies that ensure survivability of critical utilities and other infrastructures.

Grand Challenge 4

Wildland fires commonly occur

naturally and may significantly

contribute to forest health and

wildlife habitat. However, a

large buildup of underbrush

and small trees coupled with

the prolonged drought such as

the one currently affecting the Western U.S. has increased the

potential for large, catastrophic wildland fires in the Southwest

and Western states. The 2003 California wildland fires caused

more than 743,000 acres (3006.81 kilometers2) of brush and

timber to be burned, 3,300 destroyed homes, 26 deaths.20

As with any threat, knowledge of the hazard is essential to

reducing the danger. Enhanced knowledge of fuel sources and

wildland fire behavior must continue to be incorporated into

predictive models. Outreach programs must continue to be

designed to more fully inform the public of the impacts of

weather, insect and disease infestation, human actions, and

other factors on wildland fires. Reducing unnaturally dense vegetation and the adoption of fire-safe practices such as safe fuel

storage by all communities can mitigate against the spread of

wildland fires, but additional steps also must be taken to reduce

the spread of secondary hazards resulting from wildland fires

(e.g., flooding and debris flows).

Disaster Profile: Wildland Fire
10

Grand Challenges for Disaster Reduction 

Assess Disaster Resilience 

Using Standard Methods. 

Federal agencies must work with universities, local governments, and the private sector to identify effective standards

and metrics for assessing disaster resilience. With consistent

factors and regularly updated metrics, communities will be able

to maintain report cards that accurately assess the community’s

level of disaster resilience. This, in turn, will support comparability among communities and provide a context for action to

further reduce vulnerability. Validated models, standards, and

metrics are needed for estimating cumulative losses, projecting

the impact of changes in technology and policies, and monitoring the overall estimated economic loss avoidance of

planned actions.

Challenges: 

Support intelligent community planning and

investment strategies and protect natural

resources with comprehensive risk assessments.

Risk assessments should be conducted to determine the

likelihood and potential damages of hazard events and to

identify at-risk communities or locations. Completed

assessments can be used to guide investment and land-use

decisions to protect the community and the natural environment. An integrated understanding of hazards requires

understanding human behaviors that enhance or diminish

the likelihood that potentially hazardous conditions will

produce disastrous events. 

Assess the resilience of the natural and human

environment. Comprehensive assessments must include

examination of the impact of natural and technological

hazards on both the constructed and natural environment.

Further, community planning must include steps based on

scientific research to prevent loss of natural resources

during a hazard event. 

Learn from each hazard event. All hazard events

should be analyzed and the results made public to support

ongoing hazard research and future mitigation plans. Predisaster planning should be put into effect immediately

following any hazard and should be the driving force

behind all response and recovery actions for future events. 

To meet this Grand Challenge, the following key research

requirements and major technology investments also must

be addressed: 

Key research requirements: Establish methods and

standards for evaluation of resilience to hazards to include

economic, ecological, and technological consequences of

disasters. Base risk assessments on this data. ■ Use standard

methods to gauge improvement in resilience following

investments in planning and mitigation. This research

must include contributions from all disciplines that play a

role in understanding hazards and mitigation, including

the social sciences. 

Major technology investments: Complete risk

assessments for Federal facilities, critical facilities, and

at-risk communities. ■ Develop comprehensive pre-event

recovery plans. 

Grand Challenge 5
11

Grand Challenges for Disaster Reduction 

Promote Risk-Wise Behavior. 

Develop and apply principles of economics and human

behavior to enhance communications, trust, and understanding within the community to promote “risk-wise” behavior.

To be effective, hazard information (e.g., forecasts and warnings) must be communicated to a population that understands and trusts the messages. The at-risk population must

then respond appropriately to the information. Significant

progress is being made, but this is an ongoing challenge that

can only be met by effectively leveraging the findings from

social science research. 

Challenges: 

Raise public awareness of local hazards. Reliable

and integrated all-hazard data must be available to citizens

and local decision makers to drive appropriate planning,

mitigation, response, and recovery decisions. 

Warn people with consistent, accessible, and

actionable messages and a national all-hazards

emergency communication system. Comprehensive

emergency communication systems are needed to warn

people and to specify actions to be taken in the event of a

hazard. Emergency communications systems should utilize

all available media outlets including mobile phones, cable

television, and the Internet. Technology should be in place

to deliver the messages in all locations no matter how

remote, and to provide location-specific information.

Messages should be crafted based on knowledge of likely

human responses and should be provided by a recognizable authority in the given field (e.g., public health officials

should provide public health messages). The seriousness of

the threat must be conveyed and real-time information

must be provided as hazard scenarios evolve. 

Develop policies that promote risk-wise behavior

and are based in social science research. Effective

communications for eliciting appropriate public response

to hazards must be developed from behavioral, population,

and other social science studies. Research should lead to

public awareness of the effectiveness of individual and

institutional mitigation actions. Research is needed to

better understand why people might expose themselves to

hazards and what would motivate people to avoid hazards

or take mitigating actions before and during a disaster. 

To meet this Grand Challenge, the following key research

requirements and major technology investments also must

be addressed:

Key research requirements: Facilitate research in the

social sciences to understand and promote individual and

institutional mitigation actions in the face of hazards. ■

Develop an enhanced understanding of effective techniques for educating the public and gaining community

support for preparedness and disaster prevention activities.

■ Research the effectiveness of, and human responses to,

new communications technologies, including mobile

phones, the Internet, and cable television on the delivery

and successful use of public warnings. 

Major technology investments: Design and implement

a standardized messaging system for the general public and

specific audiences. ■ Assemble and coordinate an integrated

emergency communications system among response organizations at the Federal, state, and local levels. 

Grand Challenge 6
12

Grand Challenges for Disaster Reduction 

S

ustained Federal investment in the Grand Challenges

for Disaster Reduction will be facilitated in three stages:

Grand Challenges for Disaster Reduction (June 2005). This

document provides an overview of the hazard vulnerabilities

facing America and identifies the ten-year priorities for

focused Federal investment in science and technology for disaster reduction. 

The Five-Year Strategy (Spring 2006). This document will be

implemented through the annual budgets of the science and

technology agencies conducting appropriate research and

development. 

Annual Implementation Plans (2007 and beyond). The final stage

in this process is the implementation of The Five-Year

Strategy through the annual budgets of the science and

technology agencies conducting the appropriate research and

development. This implementation will entail a series of

annual recommendations regarding Federal program

planning and funding.

Together, the Grand Challenges for Disaster Reduction

document, The Five-Year Strategy, and the annual

implementation recommendations provide an evolving

framework for Federal investments that enhance the Nation’s

disaster resilience. 

The Way Forward

Drought is a persistent and

abnormal moisture deficiency,

having adverse effects on

vegetation, animals, or

people. Slow-onset, nonstructural impacts and lack of

a uniform definition make

drought a unique natural hazard. Compared to all natural

hazards, droughts are, on average, the leading cause of

economic losses. The estimated cost of the 1988–1989

drought was $39 billion nationwide and was, at the time,

the greatest single year hazard-related loss ever recorded.21

In 2004, many Western states experienced their fifth consecutive year of drought and one of the worst droughts of

the past century. 

The slow onset of drought over space and time can only be

identified through the continuous collection of climate and

hyrodologic data. To enhance decisions and minimize

costs, drought warning systems must provide credible and

timely drought risk information including drought monitoring and prediction products.

Disaster Profile: Drought
13

Grand Challenges for Disaster Reduction 

We cannot avoid hazards,

but we can act to minimize and reduce their

impacts. After all, hazards do not

become disasters unless the communities they touch are unprepared to

deal with them. In short, disaster

resilience must become inherent to

our national culture and a natural

right of all people. This report establishes a framework for Federal investment in science, engineering, and

technology to reduce America’s disaster vulnerability. Successfully reducing disasters depends upon sustained

investment in these Grand

Challenges and in recognizing that

hazards are inherent on our complex

environmental, constructed, agricultural, political, and social systems. 

Conclusion

Aftermath of Hurricane Fran, September 1996, Photograph by Dave Gatley, from FEMA Photo Library
14

Grand Challenges for Disaster Reduction 

Grand Challenge 1: Provide Hazard and Disaster

Information Where and When It Is Needed. 

Drought. Improve the information infrastructure to reach

and educate those affected by drought and those providing

drought information. 

Earthquake. Continue to deploy and maintain modernized and expanded systems to collect data for use in the

prediction of earthquake occurrences and their effects. 

Flood. Develop improved hundred-year flood plain maps.

■ Develop flood risk maps based on future development of

watersheds so that maps stay current and property owners

understand how development impacts their vulnerability

and risk. 

Public Health/Environmental. Identify mechanisms

and processes and corresponding prevention or reduction

strategies for health and ecological impacts. 

Severe Weather. Accelerate development of integrated

data observation systems, models, and forecast platforms

to reduce the area placed under warnings and to reduce

costly and unnecessary evacuations. ■ Capture and use

improved remotely sensed observations in high space and

time resolution of atmospheric and land surface data over

the entire globe. ■ Use improved observational, assimilation, and modeling techniques, such as four-dimensional,

high-time, and space resolution observations of atmospheric moisture. 

Technological. Develop GIS databases at local, state, and

national levels to map critical infrastructure, industry,

public health services, and other facilities in order to identify locations of technological disasters, and predict the

direction and extent of damage. 

Volcano. Build a database of hazard/volcanic history

information, as well as information on population placement and local facilities (highways, dams, airports, etc.)

that could be impacted by different types of eruptions.

Wildland Fire. Increase the emphasis on space-based

thermal fire detection, monitoring, and mapping capabilities. More fully integrate information across hazards to

identify and illustrate interactions, including environmental benefits of natural wildland fires (e.g., relationships of

drought to potential fire severity, and then to the extended

risk of flooding after a catastrophic wildland fire). 

Grand Challenge 2: Understand the Natural Processes

That Produce Hazards. 

Drought. Build and deploy a national instrument system

capable of collecting climate and hydrologic data to ensure

drought can be identified spatially and temporally.

■ Develop an integrated modeling framework to quantity

predictions of drought and drought impacts useful in decision making. 

Earthquake. Improve earthquake hazard assessments to

include the effects of local soil conditions, local geologic

structures, earthquake mechanics (e.g., directivity and stress

drop) and recent seismic activity, and to provide estimates

of the uncertainty. ■ Develop improved realistic and reliable

models of fault and earthquake processes including strain

accumulation and earthquake nucleation, fault rupture and

arrest, and seismic wave generation and propagation. 

Flood. Project real-time flood hazard impacts for large and

small basins. ■ Develop improved real-time models that

capture the interdependencies of floods. ■ Develop

enhanced models for rapid assessment of stream stability.

■ Improve sensor network design and operational capabilities to provide early data needed for predicting and sensing

hazards using physical process models. 

Public Health/Environmental. Improve disease and

environmental monitoring to identify, describe, collect,

analyze, and interpret emerging infectious and environmental agents (e.g., organisms, toxic substances, etc.). These

monitoring systems must be accurate and specific, particularly for threat agents. ■ Integrate biological, physical, and

chemical models to provide accurate and timely forecasts. 

Severe Weather. Develop models to better forecast and

track intensity changes of tropical storms and associated

impacts (e.g., storm surge, inland flooding and tornado

outbreaks). 

Technological. Develop real-time contaminant-specific

detectors, alarm systems, and data analysis tools. ■ Study

the basic mechanisms behind contaminant fate and transport in air, water, and through the earth. 

Volcano. Incorporate real-time monitoring of all active

volcanoes at a level appropriate to the risk they pose.

■ Build models for distribution of erupted products.

■ Develop models that incorporate data on seismicity, 

Appendix A: Research Requirements 

and Technology Investments by Hazard
15

Grand Challenges for Disaster Reduction 

deformation, gravity changes, gas emissions, magma movement, and other parameters to distinguish between magmatic and geothermal unrest—seismic tomography

evaluation of magma reservoirs. 

Wildland Fire. Improve understanding of the processes of

wildland fire behavior, fuel development, and condition at

a landscape scale—and interactions between these factors

and weather and climate at regional to global levels—to

accurately model and predict the potential occurrence,

behavior, and impacts of wildland fire on resources, on the

environment, and on physical infrastructure. 

Grand Challenge 3: Develop Hazard Mitigation

Strategies and Technologies. 

Drought. Develop decision support tools that proactively

reduce the potential severity of drought impacts. 

■ Incorporate drought monitoring and prediction products

into mitigation plans in time to make changes to natural

resources planning. 

Earthquake. Use scientific research to develop appropriate building/design code provisions to mitigate progressive

collapse vulnerability following earthquake, wildland fire,

or other events, including earthquake-triggered landslides.

■ Improve understanding of building response to strong

shaking through large-scale laboratory testing and instrumentation of buildings for real-time monitoring. 

Flood. Identify and mitigate impacts of development in

community plans before development occurs. ■ Provide

transportable and easily installed flood mitigation systems

to support flood fights. 

Public Health/Environmental. Model outcomes of

known and predictable natural and technological hazards

on at-risk populations and ecosystems in specific geographic areas. ■ Develop environmental decontamination

capabilities for chemical, biological, radiological, and hazardous substances. 

Severe Weather. Integrate knowledge of the climatology

of local meteorology into building codes, the location of

new development, populations, and materials. 

Technological. Improve response and planning capabilities, to include the use of contingency plans. ■ Develop

improved, security based design standards for new facilities, transportation containers, and storage devices. 

Volcano. Institute a practice in which land use planners

incorporate information from volcano hazard maps in

their projects as appropriate.

Wildland Fire. Implement integrated landscape level wildland fire management plans for all Federal and state agencies and for all lands based on detailed risk analysis.

■ Design and evaluate building material with improved

wildland fire safety characteristics. 

Grand Challenge 4: Recognize and Reduce

Vulnerability of Interdependent Critical Infrastructure. 

Drought. Collect information to support policies that

restore urban and rural communities in a manner that

reduces long-term vulnerability to critical infrastructures

while enhancing resilience. 

Earthquake. Develop performance criteria based on

actual infrastructures, research, and other work for design

and retrofit methods. 

Flood. Understand land-use measures and the cumulative

impacts on the hydrology and hydraulics of flooding and

drought. ■ Thoroughly develop evacuation plans for flood

plains. ■ Identify the potential impact of flooding on

water, waste-water, and sewer systems, and make them

more resistant. 

Public Health/Environmental. Assure that access to

hospitals and emergency medical services is maintained

following hazard events. 

Severe Weather. Improve development of appropriate

response, contingency, and evacuation community plans

based on knowledge of extreme weather events derived from

long-term data collection and analysis. ■ Develop or identify

cost-effective technologies that ensure that critical utilities

and other infrastructure survive severe weather events. 

Technological. Develop more advanced computational

models for the design and evaluation of mitigation

methods and strategies for all types of infrastructures and

industries. ■ Automate regional GIS-based emergency

response plans and integrate plans from industry, critical

infrastructure and resources, and local communities. 

Volcano. Develop evacuation plans and incorporate in all

community response plans. 

Wildland Fire. Research wildland fire safe practices (e.g.,

fuel management in interface zones) in all communities

either voluntarily or in response to regulatory action.

■ Improve wildland fire hazard assessment methods for

communities in the wildland-urban interface to include

community and building design and the logistics of access

and egress for disaster responders. 

Grand Challenge 5: Assess Disaster Resilience Using

Standard Methods. 

Drought. Provide drought relief based on real-time information on the extent and intensity of drought events around
16

Grand Challenges for Disaster Reduction 

the globe. ■ Develop standards for assessment of social and

economic costs of direct and indirect drought impacts. 

Earthquake. Extend the computational models to serve as

a tool for recovery planning and incorporate them into

mitigation strategies. ■ Collect cost-benefit information on

the value of monitoring and notification capabilities.

Flood. Facilitate immediate analysis of flood parameters

following disaster so as to assist recovery operations and

restoration or removal of impacted facilities. 

Public Health/Environmental. Develop and institute

recovery programs for human and animal health (e.g.,

injury rehabilitation, mental recovery, suicide prevention,

domestic violence, water system evaluation, safety of food,

vector control, epidemiological monitoring, etc.).

■ Develop pilot projects for recovery and restoration techniques (e.g., replanting of multiple species in areas decimated by diseases or parasitic invasion, diagnostic tools for

mental health).

Severe Weather. Coordinate inter-agency, detailed poststorm assessment of damage, injuries, and deaths. 

Technological. Design a suite of new non-invasive, environmentally sound, and rapidly deployable clean-up technologies for contaminated soil, water, and built surfaces.

■ Identify and implement new disposal and waste reduction techniques. 

Volcano. Disseminate information to communities surrounding volcanoes regarding the removal of volcanic ash,

timeline for return to evacuated areas after an eruption; and

potential hazards that exist after an eruption. ■ Make information available to the public and to emergency responders

regarding post event recovery operations, decontamination

efforts, and the post-hazard environment. 

Wildland Fire. Extend awareness and response and

warning systems that address possible post-catastrophic

fire events such as debris flows. ■ Anticipate recovery in

advance based on model predictions of wildland fire effects

and an understanding of effectiveness of both natural

regeneration and post-fire emergency rehabilitation treatments and restoration treatments at reducing damage to

ecosystems and water resources from wildland fires. 

Grand Challenge 6: Promote Risk-Wise Behavior. 

Drought. Implement a drought warning system capable

of providing credible and timely drought risk information

to enhance decisions and minimize costs associated 

with drought.

Earthquake. Create a uniform and reliable alert system;

including consistent classification schemes for disaster

severity. ■ Predict effects, impacts, and cascading failures of

an earthquake as the event is occurring and deliver the

information in the first five to ten minutes after the event.

■ Develop automated early-warning systems capable of

reducing impact to critical infrastructure in urban centers

at a distance from the earthquake epicenter. ■ Improve

real-time communication between the weather-forecasting

community and earth science community responsible for

landslide warnings. 

Flood. Develop integrated, area-targeted, multi-media

systems for issuing warnings on flash floods and other

rapid on-set disasters. ■ Use social science research to coordinate public education to help people understand and

respond to warnings. ■ Institute a practice in which land

use planners incorporate information from flood and landslide hazard maps in their projects, as appropriate. 

Public Health/Environmental. Develop and improve

communication of warnings for health and environmental

hazards. ■ Evaluate the scientific basis for individual

actions before, during, and after an event to reach interagency agreement on best practices. 

Severe Weather. Direct automated calls (e.g., reverse

911) to those at risk. ■ Accelerate improvements in predictive models through enhanced physical understanding,

data assimilation, and spatial resolution. 

Technological. Facilitate a scientifically literate national

and local media to report on the facts behind technological disasters, including their impacts and ways by which

the public can mitigate effects. ■ Improve rapid risk assessment methods for providing immediate public health

information during a disaster. 

Volcano. Develop a standardized messaging system for use

by the general public and specific audiences (e.g., the FAA).

Wildland Fire. Improve development and implementation of effective and accessible communication systems to

inform the public of the impacts of policy alternatives,

weather, insect and disease infestation, human actions and

other factors on risks to communities, ecosystems, and

environment from wildland fire. Also, implement communication systems for effective, proactive community

involvement in risk analysis and decision making. 

■ Develop communication capabilities that enable complete and timely use of tools for assessment and planning.

■ Integrate real-time weather information with hazard

warning systems, (e.g., linking precipitation forecasts with

post-fire debris flow warnings.) 
17

Grand Challenges for Disaster Reduction 

Appendix B: Key Terms

All-hazards approach—an integrated hazard management strategy that incorporates planning for and consideration of all potential natural and technological hazards,

including terrorism. 

Built environment—the Nation’s constructed 

facilities, buildings, transportation, and industrial 

infrastructure systems. 

Critical infrastructure—the physical and cyber-based

systems that are essential to the minimum operations of

the economy and government. 

Disaster—a serious disruption of the functioning of a

community or a society causing widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses which exceed the

ability of the affected community or society to cope using

its own resources. 

Disaster risk—the chance of a hazard event occurring

and resulting in disaster. 

Hazard—a natural or human-caused threat that may

result in disaster when occurring in a populated, commercial, or industrial area. 

Hazard event—a specific occurrence of a hazard. 

Hazard mitigation—any action taken to reduce or eliminate the long-term risk to human life and property from

natural hazards. 

Hazard risk—the chance of a hazard event occurring. 

Natural disaster—a disaster that results from a natural

hazard event. 

Natural hazard—a hazard that originates in natural phenomena (e.g., hurricane, earthquake, tornado). 

Resilience/resilient—the capacity of a system, community, or society potentially exposed to hazards to adapt, by

resisting or changing, in order to reach and maintain an

acceptable level of functioning and structure. This is determined by the degree to which the social system is capable

of organizing itself to increase its capacity for learning

from past disasters for better future protection and to

improve risk reduction measures. 

Risk—the probability of harmful consequences or

expected losses (death and injury, losses of property and

livelihood, economic disruption, or environmental

damage) resulting from interactions between natural or

human-induced hazards and vulnerable conditions. 

Technological disaster—a disaster that results from a

technological hazard event. 

Technological hazard—a hazard that originates in accidental or intentional human activity (e.g., oil spill, chemical spill, building fires, terrorism).
18

Grand Challenges for Disaster Reduction 

1. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,

Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological

Laboratory, Hurricane Research Division. Located at

http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/general/lib/mgch.html 

2. IBID 

3. Mileti, Dennis, Disasters by Design: A Reassessment of

Natural Hazards in the United States. National Academies

Press, 1999. p.5 

4. Disaster Relief, Worldwide Disaster Aid and Information via

the Internet, Part I: The Century’s Worst Weather,

December 27, 1999. Located at http://www.disasterrelief.org/

Disasters/991227centuryweather 

5. “Extreme weather events might increase,” World

Meteorological Organization, A Specialized Agency of

the United Nations—WMO-No. 695, July 2004 

6. “Requirements for an Advanced National Seismic

System,” U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1188-1999, p. 5 

7. Godschalk, David R., Natural Hazard Mitigation: Recasting

Disaster Policy and Planning. With Timothy Beatly, Philip

Berke, David J. Brower and Edward J. Kaiser. Island Press,

Washington D.C., 1999. p.8 

8. U.S. Geological Survey, USGS Water Resources 

in Kansas, Significant Floods in the United States 

During the 20th Century, March 2000; found at

http://ks.water.usgs.gov/Kansas/pubs/fact-sheets/fs.024

9. Godschalk, David R., Natural Hazard Mitigation: Recasting

Disaster Policy and Planning. With Timothy Beatly, Philip

Berke, David J. Brower, and Edward J. Kaiser. Island Press,

Washington D.C., 1999. p.6 

10. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,

National Centers for Environmental 

Prediction, Storm Prediction Center. Located at

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/index.html#month1

11. Klineburg, Eric, “Denaturalizing Disaster: A Social

Autopsy of the 1995 Chicago Heat Wave.” Theory and

Society, Vol. 28, No. 2 (April, 1999), pg. 239-295. 

12. Mileti, Dennis, Disasters by Design: A Reassessment of

Natural Hazards in the United States. National Academies

Press, 1999. p.120 

13. “Volcano Fatalities—Lessons from the Historical Record,”

Science, v 291, 2001, p. 255 

14. IBID 

15. Fire Statistics, the National Interagency Fire Center,

http://www.nifc.gov/stats/index.html 

16. U.S. Geological Survey, Earthquake Hazards Program,

USGS Fact Sheets on Earthquake Probability,

“Major Quake Likely to Strike between 2000 and 2030,”

http://geopubs.wr.usgs.gov/fact-sheet/fs152-99/ 

17. IBID 

18. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,

National Weather Service, Hydrologic 

Information Center. Located at:

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/oh/hic/flood_stats/ 

19. Godschalk, David R., Natural Hazard Mitigation: Recasting

Disaster Policy and Planning. With Timothy Beatly, Philip

Berke, David J. Brower, and Edward J. Kaiser. Island Press,

Washington D.C., 1999. p.6 

20. Keeley, J. E., C. J. Fotheringham, and M. A. Moritz. 2004.

“Lessons from the October 2003 wildfires in Southern

California.” Journal of Forestry 102(7) pgs. 26-31. 

21. Mileti, Dennis, Disasters by Design: A Reassessment of

Natural Hazards in the United States. National Academies

Press, 1999. p.69

Appendix C: References
19

Grand Challenges for Disaster Reduction 

Appendix D: About the 

National Science and Technology Council

About the National Science 

and Technology Council

The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), a

cabinet-level council, is the principal means for the President

to coordinate science and technology policies across the

Federal Government. NSTC acts as a virtual agency for

science and technology to coordinate the diverse parts of the

Federal research and development enterprise. 

An important objective of the NSTC is the establishment of

clear national goals for Federal science and technology

investments in areas ranging from information technologies

and health research to improving transportation systems and

strengthening fundamental research. This council prepares

research and development strategies that are coordinated

across Federal agencies to form an investment package aimed

at accomplishing multiple national goals. 

To obtain additional information regarding the NSTC,

contact the NSTC Executive Secretariat at (202) 456-6101. 

About the Committee on Environment and

Natural Resources (CENR) 

The purpose of the Committee on Environment and Natural

Resources (CENR) is to advise and assist the NSTC to increase

the overall effectiveness and productivity of Federal research

and development efforts in the area of the environment and

natural resources. This includes maintaining and improving

the science and technology base for environmental and

natural resource issues, developing a balanced and comprehensive research and development program, establishing a

structure to improve the way the Federal Government plans

and coordinates environmental and natural resource research

and development in both a national and international

context, and developing environment and natural resources

research and development budget crosscuts and priorities. 

Committee on Environment and Natural Resources Membership 

Co-Chairs 

Conrad Lautenbacher (NOAA/DOC) 

Kathie Olsen (OSTP) 

Members 

Ghassem Asrar (NASA) 

Jonathan Perlin (VA) 

Jim Connaughton (CEQ) 

James Decker (DOE) 

Robert Foster (DOD) 

Charles "Chip" Groat (USGS) 

Len Hirsch (Smithsonian) 

Kate Jackson (TVA) 

Joseph Jen (USDA) 

Linda Lawson (DOT) 

Margaret Leinen (NSF) 

Jeff Lubell (HUD) 

Bob McNally (NEC) 

Michael O’Connor (USACE) 

Ken Olden (HHS) 

Marcus Peacock (OMB) 

Vahid Majidi (DOJ) 

Jacqueline Schafer (USAID) 

Veronica Stidvent (Labor) 

John Turner (State) 

Samuel Williamson (NOAA) 

About the Subcommittee on 

Disaster Reduction 

Mitigating natural and technological disasters requires a solid

understanding of science and technology, rapid implementation of research information into disaster reduction programs

and applications, and efficient access to diverse information

available from both public and private entities. The

Subcommittee on Disaster Reduction provides a unique

Federal forum for information sharing, development of collaborative opportunities, formulation of science- and technology-based guidance for policy makers, and dialogue with

the U.S. policy community to advance informed strategies

for managing disaster risks. 

Chartered in 1988, the Subcommittee on Disaster Reduction is a

subcommittee of the Committee on Environment and Natural

Resources, an element of the President’s National Science and

Technology Council. The Chair, the Vice Chair for Policy, and

the Vice Chair for Science and Technology are each selected by

the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and

serve a three-year term. The heads of relevant agencies and

departments annually designate lead representatives to the SDR.
20

Grand Challenges for Disaster Reduction 

Subcommittee on Disaster

Reduction Leadership

Chair 

Helen Wood (NOAA)

Vice Chair

David Applegate (USGS)

NSTC Liaison

Gene Whitney (OSTP)

Secretariat

Dori Akerman

Grand Challenges Task Group

Co-Chair 

Priscilla Nelson (NSF)

Co-Chair

Noel Raufaste (NIST)

Earth Observations Task Group

Chair 

Rosalind Helz (USGS)

International Working Group

Co-Chair 

Larry Roeder (State)

Co-Chair

Fernando Echavarria (State)

Co-Chair

Dennis Wenger (NSF)

Remote Sensing Applications

Working Group

Co-Chair 

Rosalind Helz (USGS)

Co-Chair

Steve Ambrose (NASA)

Department of Commerce/

National Institute of Standards

and Technology

Mr. Jim St. Pierre (Member)

Dr. Noel Raufaste (Co-Chair, Grand

Challenges Task Group, Alternate)

Department of Commerce /

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration

Ms. Helen Wood (Chair)

Dr. Margaret Davidson (Member)

Mr. John Gaynor

Ms. Grace Swanson

Dr. Nathalie Valette-Silver

Ms. Katy Vincent

Dr. Pai-Yei Whung

Department of Defense

Dr. Earnest Paylor (Member)

Department of Energy

Mr. Tom Ryder (Member)

Department of Health and Human

Services/Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention

Dr. Daniel Sosin (Member)

Dr. Josephine Malilay (Alternate)

Department of Health and Human

Services/US Public Health Service

Commissioned Corps

RADM John Babb (Member)

Capt. Boris Lushniak (Alternate)

Department of Homeland Security

Ms. Nancy Suski (Member)

Mr. Chris Doyle (Alternate)

Mr. Bruce Davis (Alternate)

Department of Homeland Security/

Federal Emergency Management

Agency

Mr. David Maurstad (Member)

Mr. Mike Buckley (Alternate)

Ms. Priscilla Scruggs

Department of Homeland Security/

United States Coast Guard

Mr. Russ Doughty (Member)

Cmdr. Ray Perry (Alternate)

Department of Housing and 

Urban Development

Mr. John Kennedy (Member)

Mr. Kevin Sheehan (Alternate)

Department of the Interior

Mr. Laurence Broun (Member)

Mr. Michael Pierce (Alternate)

Department of the Interior/

United States Geological Survey

Dr. David Applegate (Vice Chair)

Dr. John Filson 

Dr. Rosalind Helz (Chair, Earth Observation

Task Group, Co-Chair, Remote Sensing

Applications Working Group)

Department of State

Dr. Fernando Echavarria (Member, 

Co-Chair, International Working Group)

Mr. Larry Roeder Jr. (Member, Co-Chair,

International Working Group)

Ms. Cynthia Brady

Department of Transportation

Dr. K. “K.T.” Thirumalai (Member)

Ms. Sheila Duwadi

Environmental Protection Agency

Dr. Peter Jutro (Member)

Dr. Regan Murray (Alternate)

National Aeronautics and Space

Administration

Mr. Steve Ambrose (Member; Co-Chair,

Remote Sensing Applications 

Working Group)

Dr. Shahid Habib

Mr. Craig Dobson

National Geospatial-Intelligence

Agency

Ms. Monica Gaughan (Member)

Mr. Marty Tierny (Alternate)

Mr. Peter Rinkleff 

National Guard Bureau

Col. Peter M Aylward (Member)

Maj. Frank Hudoba

Maj. Stephen Davis

National Science Foundation

Dr. Priscilla Nelson (Member; Co-Chair,

Grand Challenges Task Group)

Dr. Dennis Wenger (Co-Chair,

International Working Group)

Mr. Steve McCabe

Dr. Bob O’Connor

Mr. Larry Weber

United States Agency for

International Development

Mr. Peter Morris (Member)

United States Army Corps of

Engineers

Dr. Michael O’Connor (Member)

Mr. David Mathis (Alternate)

Mr. Andrew Bruzewicz

United States Department of

Agriculture 

Dr. Allen Dedrick (Member)

Dr. Phil Pasteris

United States Department of

Agriculture/Forest Service

Dr. Susan Conard (Member)

Subcommittee on Disaster Reduction Membership
21

Grand Challenges for Disaster Reduction 

Provide Hazard and Disaster Information Where and When 

It Is Needed. 

■ Improve data collection to increase understanding of the ways in which hazards evolve. 

■ Create standards for sharing, storing, and analyzing data. 

Understand the Natural Processes That Produce Hazards. 

■ Improve models and visualization techniques. 

Develop Hazard Mitigation Strategies and Technologies. 

■ Create resilient structures and infrastructure systems using advanced building technologies.

■ Support structural advances with effective nonstructural mitigation. 

■ Quantify the monetary benefits of disaster mitigation using economic modeling.

Recognize and Reduce Vulnerability of Interdependent

Critical Infrastructure.

■ Develop science and technology to prevent cascading failures in public infrastructure systems.

■ Enhance the ability to protect public health before and after a hazard event. 

Assess Disaster Resilience Using Standard Methods.

■ Support intelligent community planning and investment strategies and protect natural resources

with comprehensive risk assessments.

■ Assess the resilience of the natural and human environment. 

■ Learn from each hazard event. 

Promote Risk-Wise Behavior. 

■ Raise public awareness of local hazards. 

■ Warn people with consistent, accessible, and actionable messages and a national all-hazards 

emergency communication system. 

■ Develop policies that promote risk-wise behavior and are based in social science research. 

Grand Challenges Summary 
A Report of the 

Subcommittee on Disaster Reduction ubcommittee on Disaster Reduction

Grand Challenges 

for Disaster Reduction

Grand Challenges 

for Disaster Reduction