The Disaster Research Center (DRC) at the University of Delaware (UDEL) offers a nine-week Summer Research Institute for undergraduate students to provide research training and mentoring on the social science aspects of disasters. Over the past 43 years, DRC researchers have pioneered research focusing on the societal and organizational aspects of disasters and have had a strong impact on the growth and development of the field of disasters. Each year in our Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) summer program, ten students selected from across the country have the unique opportunity of working in a challenging, dynamic, and intellectually stimulating environment with key disaster researchers. Over the past two years, our REU program has provided 21 undergraduate students with the necessary academic background, training, and relevant research experiences to function as relatively independent research scholars with the skills and knowledge that cannot be gained solely in a normal classroom setting. Students are exposed to several course modules, including: research methodologies; theoretical social science approaches to understanding the causes and consequences of disasters; and the ethical implications of the research process. In order to foster the students' professional development and greater exposure to the multidisciplinary disaster research field, REU students participate in a three-day workshop with some of the leading researchers and practitioners in the hazards and disaster fields while participating in the Natural Hazards Center's Annual Hazards Research and Application Workshop at the University of Colorado in Boulder. The program not only provides students with a unique summer research opportunity but also prepares the next generation of disaster researchers to enter graduate schools and, ultimately, enter the disaster research field with experience, knowledge, and confidence that many recent graduates have lacked.
