Science For Disaster Reduction

Who Are We?

We are the Science for Disaster Reduction Interagency Working Group under the National Science and Technology Council's Subcommittee for Resilience Science and Technology. We bring together the civilian and defense agencies that develop and apply science and technology to reduce the impacts of natural and technological hazard events.

What Do We Do?

By building a community of interested Federal agency partners, we work to enhance cross-agency collaboration in disaster-related science and technology. This collaboration takes many forms:

• We identify best practices in data delivery and communication
• We enhance awareness of science and technology products and tools across the Federal government
• We work closely with and support the White House National Science and Technology Council’s Subcommittee on Resilience S&T (SRST), tasked to develop science and technology-based guidance for policy makers and advance informed strategies for managing disaster risks

Why Does It Matter?

Incorporating science and technology into disaster mitigation, response, and recovery can reduce losses, speed-up needed assistance, and enhance long-term resilience. Scientific collection of perishable information during a disaster can improve your community’s understanding of hazards and their impacts. When emergency managers have actionable hazards information, the Nation is better able to prepare for disasters.

What Is Our Ultimate Goal?

We strive to create a more disaster-resilient world, in which:

• Residents recognize and understand relevant hazards
• Communities at risk know how to prepare for and respond to relevant hazards
• Communities at risk know when a hazard event is imminent
• Property losses and lives at risk in future natural hazard events are minimized
• Disaster-resilient communities experience minimum disruption to life and economy after a hazard event has passed and recover to a more resilient state