CEMPPR Lab
Collaboration for Emergency Management, Policy, and Preparedness Research
The CEMPPR Lab (Collaboration on Emergency Management, Policy, and Preparedness Research) is a research group within York University's Disaster and Emergency Management Program dedicated to improving how we prepare for, respond to, and manage emergencies. We emphasize action research, where our projects are driven by the needs of real-world practitioners and produce both new knowledge and tangible impacts for communities. We mentor and support a diverse community of trainees, and partner with students, academics, practitioners, and community members.
Our lab is dedicated to advancing high-quality research methods and evidence-based decision-making within the field of Disaster and Emergency Management.
Current projects include a large-scale, national survey on COVID-19 in Canada; systematic reviews on barriers to individual wildfire preparedness and wildfire evacuation experiences; empirical research to better understand how perceived vulnerability affects preparedness and evacuation; and a meta-review of ethical issues in wildfire management. We also support Science Outside the Lab, a training program for early career policy leaders, which has recently launched a program focused on public health policy.
The lab is directed by Dr. Eric Kennedy. Membership includes graduate and undergraduate researchers at York University and elsewhere, as well as affiliate members who contribute to mentoring students and collaborating on research.
Our Work
CEMPPR members conduct research on a variety of issues related to disaster and emergency management, policy, and preparedness. The lab focuses on research related the intersection between emergency management and the following topic areas:
Decision-Making
We explore the cognitive and behavioural dimensions of disasters to better understand why and how people prepare for disasters. We investigate how communities and practitioners plan for, respond to, and recover from disasters. We develop decision support systems to aid these processes and help to overcome barriers to improving disaster resilience and response.
Expertise
We’re driven to understand how emergency managers and responders practice their craft. We study training, professional practice, and program evaluation, looking for opportunities to partner with managers, responders, and other experts to help support their practice.
Policy
We study how decisions get turned into policy, rules, and regulations. We investigate how these procedures shape our decisions and behaviours, and seek ways to improve emergency response and resilience through better policy and policy literacy.
Research and Evaluation
We care about producing – and helping others to produce – robust knowledge that communities can trust. We provide training and advice on how to conduct solid research and program evaluation, and partner with public safety and community organizations to conduct (and support) their efforts to figure out how to improve.