J. Carlee Purdum is an assistant professor in the department of sociology at the University of Houston and a faculty affiliate of UH Population Health and the Hurricane Resilience Research Center. Professor Purdum's research interests include vulnerable populations, organizational decision making, rural resilience, emergency management and public health in disasters. Her work explores how prisons and incarcerated persons are impacted by hazards and disasters (extreme heat, hurricanes/storms, wildfires, toxic exposures, COVID19, etc.). Additionally she focuses on organizational decision-making and behavior in emergency response and management and the implications for both emergency management and public health planning and policy.

Research Interests

• Social Vulnerability
• Rural Resilience
• Organizational Decision-Making
• Emergency Management
• Public Health and Disasters

Selected Publications

Purdum, J. Carlee, Benika Dixon, Amite Dominick. 2024. Punishment and Survival - Incarcerated Persons' Experiences with Extreme Heat in Texas Prisons, Disaster Prevention and Management, 33(6):30-42.

Breen, Kyle, Michelle Meyer, Sarah Becker, J. Carlee Purdum, Stuart Nolan. 2024. “Volunteer motivations in civilian volunteer search and rescue organizations.” International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 111:104688.

Purdum, J. Carlee. 2023. “‘The Volunteering Days is Gone’: All‐Hazard Incarcerated Firefighters and Rural Disinvestment.” Rural Sociology, 88(2):312-336.

Meyer, Michelle Annette, Mason Alexander-Hawk, J. Carlee Purdum, Haley Yelle, Jordan Vick, Adrian Rodriguez, Saul Romero, Kenneth Anderson Taylor. 2023. “Resilience in recovery? Understanding the extent, structure, and operations of nonprofits meant to address disaster survivors’ unmet needs.” Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 52(4):979-1005.

Purdum, J. Carlee and Michelle Meyer. 2020 “Prison Labor Throughout the Life Cycle of Disasters.” Risk, Hazards, and Crisis in Public Policy. 11(3): 296-319.