Jennifer Henderson
Texas Tech University, TX·Social Science
When a flash flood or tornado threatens, everyone in the affected area gets the same warning message. Each person must then work out whether they are actually at risk and whether they can or will act.
- Fields
Social Science
Earth & Environmental Science
- Topics
early warning systems
hazardous weather
weather warnings
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Aug 2027
What they work on
- Understand how individuals assess their own risk and decide to take protective action as flash floods and other weather hazards develop, using a human-centered approach.
- Examine how rain intensity, stormwater infrastructure quality, daily travel routines, preparation, risk perception, warnings and socioeconomic vulnerability interact to shape flood responses.
- Hold a focus group with residents of vulnerable communities, in partnership with a local nonprofit, to learn how different people process information from early warning systems.
- Develop an early concept of personalized weather warnings tailored to individual or group circumstances, guided by exploratory projects linking risk perception, mobility, weather and infrastructure.
More about the research
Warning systems have helped many people, but this one-size-fits-all approach leaves room to improve, especially as fast-strengthening storms give people less time to respond. This planning project takes a human-centered view of weather warnings. It asks how people judge their own risk and take action as a hazard develops, and how warnings could be tailored to individual or group circumstances.
Why it matters
Better-tailored warnings could help residents, especially people in vulnerable communities, decide in time whether to protect themselves from flash floods and other weather hazards. Findings on how risk perception, travel habits and stormwater infrastructure shape flood responses could guide public safety agencies and warning providers toward personalized alerts.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Brittany Brand
Boise State University, ID·Social Science
Identify the factors that influence whether households in four wildland-urban interface communities adopt mitigation, stay-and-defend preparedness, or evacuation readiness, extending the Protective Action Decision Model.
Tristan Lin
University of North Texas, TX·Social Science
Track how coastal households in 100-year flood zones turn intentions into flood protection behaviors, surveying them six times over three years based on Paton's Social-Cognitive Preparation Model.
Mark Schuller
Northern Illinois University, IL·Social Science
Test whether disaster resilience models developed in one community can be adapted to others across different scales. Compare outcomes at multiple sites.
The school
Texas Tech University: 9 labs on PI Pages, $257M a year on research, 415 research doctorates a year.
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