This group of graduate (and an undergraduate) students at UT Austin are taking field-based research to a new level. We are working with Travis County and a neighborhood group to help them better understand what communication and technology practices help during evacuations. The neighborhood has worked hard to get the word out, and people will be getting into their cars and driving to evacuation points during this mock community firedrill. With recent problems in California and Texas concerning wildfires, this is an important step to making communities safer places to live.

The faculty member, Keri Stephens, has been conducting on research on organizing and communicating using technology during disaster, emergencies, and complex events like Hurricane Harvey and School Shootings. She has published papers in these areas, even one with her Civil Engineering Colleagues on Fires and evacuations. She has an edited book coming out in June of 2019, New Media in Times of Crisis, being published by Routledge.