Moody College professor selected to serve on Gulf Health and Resilience Board
Keri K. Stephens, Moody College of Communication professor and co-director of the Technology and Information Policy Institute, has been selected as a board member for the National Academies’ Gulf Health and Resilience Board (GHRB). This board provides oversight of the National Academies’ Gulf Research Program’s (GRP) portfolio of applied research and community-based programming at the intersection of climate adaptation, disaster resilience and human health.
“As a board member on the National Academies’ Gulf Health and Resilience Board (GHRB), I have several roles,” Stephens said. “First, I contribute my communication expertise to help guide the research being conducted by the Gulf Health and Resilience research team. I also serve as an advisor to ensure the research being conducted benefits the community and adheres to the objectives of the Gulf Research Program.”
Stephens said that as part of her role, she also attends community events hosted by the GRP with the goal of helping the team apply quality research practices to meaningful community engagement.
The GRP is an independent, science-based program founded in 2013 as part of legal settlements with the companies involved in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. The GRP’s mission is to develop, translate, and apply science to enhance the safety of offshore energy, the environment and the wellbeing of the people of the Gulf region for generations to come.
“Communication scholars are increasingly being asked to contribute our expertise in understanding how to communicate technical information to various audiences,” Stephens said. “These include the public, elected officials, emergency managers, nonprofits, and industry. We have a unique opportunity to translate the scholarship of our field of communication into meaningful public engagement with the goal of making sustainable impacts on communities.”
Stephens has been doing similar work focused on flooding and disasters for the state of Texas for some time and said that she is honored to now lend her expertise at a national level.
