Brenda Phillips began her career in emergency management and disaster science as a research assistant to Dr. E.L. Quarantelli at the Disaster Research Center. She has taught in university-based disaster/emergency management programs from the undergraduate into the doctoral levels and has consulted for DEM programs in Costa Rica, Mexico, Canada and New Zealand.
Most of her scholarly work has been funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and served on a researcher exchange program in the People's Republic of China. Phillips has written about multiple disasters, including the COVID-19 pandemic, hurricane Katrina, the Indian Ocean tsunami and numerous earthquakes, tornadoes, floods and hazardous materials accidents.
Experience
Phillips has served as a subject-matter expert for U.S. offices including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Office of the Federal Coordinator of Meteorology, the National Council on Disability and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
She also volunteer for local safety councils and served on disaster animal rescue teams. I hold particular expertise in disaster volunteering and disaster volunteer organizations.
Education
1985
Ph.D., Sociology
Ohio State University
1982
M.A, Sociology
Ohio State University
1980
B.A., Sociology & History
Bluffton College
Awards
2013
Inductee, Hall of Fame
International Network of Women in Emergency Management
2012
B. Wayne Blanchard Award
Academic Excellence in Emergency Management Higher Education
2010
Mary Fran Myers Award
Gender and Disaster Network
2007
Commendation
Interagency Performance Task Force, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
1992
National Award, Service to the Armed Forces & Veterans,
American Red Cross Midwestern Operations
Research
Research interest
Disaster recovery
Social vulnerability
Disaster vulnerability
Publications
Phillips, Brenda D. and Jenny Mincin. 2023. Disaster Recovery, 3rd edition. Boca Raton, FL: Taylor and Francis CRC Press.
Phillips, Brenda D. and Mark Landahl. 2021. Business Continuity Planning. Elsevier Press.
Phillips, Brenda; David M. Neal and Gary Webb. 2021. Introduction to Emergency Management & Disaster Science, 3rd ed.. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Phillips, Brenda. 2020. Disaster Volunteers. Elsevier Press.
Phillips, Brenda. 2014. Qualitative Disaster Research. Oxford University Press.
Phillips, Brenda. 2014. Mennonite Disaster Service: Building a Therapeutic Community after the Gulf Coast Storms. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Thomas, Deborah, Brenda Phillips, William Lovekamp, Alice Fothergill, editors. 2013. Social Vulnerability to Disasters, 2nd ed.. Boca Raton, FL: Taylor and Francis CRC Press.
Phillips, Brenda and Betty Hearn Morrow, editors. 2008. Women and Disasters: from theory to practice. Philadelphia, PA: International Research Committee on Disaster Book Series, Research Committee #39 of the International Sociological Association (Xlibris).
Phillips, Brenda. 2021. “Interviewing in a Disaster Context.” In Disaster and Emergency Management Methods: Social Science Approaches in Application, ed. by Jason D. Rivera. NY: Routledge.
Bennett, DeeDee, Mark Landahl, and Brenda Phillips. 2020. “Qualitative Disaster Research.” Pp. 793-836 in the Oxford Handbook of Disaster Research, ed. Patricia Leavy. NY: Oxford.
Landahl, Mark, DeeDee Bennett, and Brenda Phillips. 2019. “Disaster Research: Past, Present, and Future.” In The Oxford Handbook of Methods for Public Scholarship, ed. by Patricia Leavy. NY: Oxford.
Phillips, Brenda D. 2019. “Disrupting gendered outcomes: addressing disaster vulnerability through stakeholder participation.” In Exploring the Gap Between Disaster Knowledge, Policy, and Practice, eds. Susanna Hoffman and Roberto Barrios. NY: Berghahn Books.
Bennett, DeeDee, Brenda D. Phillips, and Elizabeth Davis. 2016. “The Future of Accessibility in Disaster Conditions: How Wireless Technologies Will Transform the Life Cycle of Emergency Management.” Futures http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2016.05.004
Phillips, Brenda and Pamela Jenkins. 2016. “Gender-based Violence and Disasters: South Asia in Comparative Perspective.” Pp. 225-250 in Women and Disasters in South Asia: Survival, Security and Development, eds. Linda Racioppi and Swarna Prajnya. Taylor and Francis Group/Routledge.
Phillips, Brenda. 2016. “Post-Disaster Housing Vulnerability: a focus on children, women, and the elderly.” In Coming Home after Disaster: Multiple Dimensions of Housing Recovery, eds. Alka Sapat and Ann-Margaret Esnard. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Phillips, Brenda and Susamma Seeley. 2016. “Tornado Housing Recovery: a case study from Joplin, Missouri.” In Coming Home after Disaster: Multiple Dimensions of Housing Recovery, eds. Alka Sapat and Ann-Margaret Esnard. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Phillips, Brenda. 2015. “Therapeutic Communities in the Context of Disaster.” Pp. 353-371 in Hazards, Risks, and Disasters in Society, ed. Andrew Collins. Elsevier.
Phillips, Brenda. 2015. “Inclusive Emergency Management for People with Disabilities facing Disaster.” Chapter three in Disability and Disaster, eds. Laura Stough and Ilan Kelman. Sterling, VA: Kumarian Press.
Hargis, Burns, Lee Bird and Brenda Phillips. 2014. “Preparing For and Managing a Crisis.” In Managing the Unthinkable: Crisis Preparation and Response for Campus Leaders. Washington D.C.: American Council on Education.
Phillips, Brenda. 2014. "Qualitative Disaster Research Methods." Pp. 553-556 in The Oxford Handbook of Qualitative Research Methods, ed. Patricia Leavy. Oxford University Press, Inc.
Phillips, Brenda. 2013. “Pre-Event Planning for Post-Event Recovery.” International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters 31/3: 403-408.
Davis, E. A., Hansen, R., Kushma, J., Peek, L., & Phillips, B.(alpha listing). 2013. "Identifying and accommodating high-risk, high-vulnerability populations in disasters." In T. G. Veenema (Ed.), Disaster nursing and emergency preparedness for chemical, biological, and radiological terrorism and other hazards (3rd ed., pp. 519–542). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company.