CEMPPR Lab

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.