We are the UC Disaster Resilience Network.

UCDRN leverages the world’s most powerful public university system to advance societal resilience in the face of compounding natural disasters and humanitarian crises.

About us

Our partners

A hub for disaster resilience.

The UC Disaster Resilience Network serves as a hub for experts to co-develop research and drive action to address the compounding threats of natural and human-made disasters.

10+3

Campuses and national labs to deliver multidisciplinary strategy

$2M+

Fundraising for program support in 2023

100s

Students trained in disaster resilience

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Our work is critical.

Climate change is exacerbating natural disasters and amplifying humanitarian crises. In this an era of global polycrisis– where ecological, political, and economic threats converge - communities around the world are facing compounding existential impacts.

There are no current means of systematically channeling, or even reliably discovering, existing talent across disciplines and academic units in the UC System. UCDRN provides this channel, answering the need for dynamic solutions by driving innovation across and beyond the world’s leading public research university system.

“One of the underlying principles of the University of California is to tackle society’s most urgent problems.”

Janet Napolitano

Frm. Arizona Governor, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, and UC President;
U.S. President's Intelligence Advisory Board Member;  Founder and Faculty Director, UC Berkeley's Center for Security in Politics;
Founding Co-Chair, UCDRN

"The potential of a University of California-wide network of students, professors, researchers and administrators focused on solving humanitarian issues side-by-side with the Red Cross and others is massive. The vision and mission of UCDRN is both ambitious and timely considering the changing climate, increasing rate of complex emergencies, and evolving political landscape."

Omar Abou-Samra

Director, American Red Cross Preparedness Services and Global Disaster Prep Center
Founding Advisory Board Member, UCDRN

“Given our position on the edge of the Pacific plate, our changing climate and our ever-expanding population, pooling the talents and ideas of our faculty and students and improving our understanding of disaster prevention, disaster response and disaster recovery by providing our assistance domestically and overseas will be key to California’s recovery to its own inevitable natural and man-made disasters.”

Dr. George Rutherford

UCSF Professor, Epidemiology & Biostatistics; Core Faculty, Institute for Global Health Science Leadership
Director, Center for Global Strategic Information and Public Health Practice Center for Pandemic Preparedness and Response
Founding Executive Committee Member, UCDRN

“A sustainable society must first be a resilient society.”

Dr. David Oglesby

UC Riverside Professor, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
Executive Committee Chair, UCDRN

“There can be a tendency to think about disaster as being driven by natural hazards, but policy decisions that are altogether human also drive risk...significant risks to critical infrastructure systems that provide water, electricity, and communications and more are growing. Addressing their cascading consequences is essential to ensuring the resilience of our democracy and the international order that we tend to take for granted.”

Dr. Andrew Reddie

Assistant Professor of Practice in Cybersecurity at the UC Berkeley’s School of Information
Council Co-Lead, UCDRN

Join us.

Our vision is to transform the UC system into one of the most powerful disaster resilience clusters in the world.

Raise funds

Every bit counts, and your donations help us expand our reach to help more communities.

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Attend an event

We are always seeking ways to engage the public, come see us online or in person at one of our events.

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Share your ideas

We’re only an email away. Help shape our research priorities and stay up to date with our most recent work.

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