$1,500 "Disaster Resilience" Scholarships Now Available

TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Jan. 6, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The nonprofit Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH) today launched its fourth annual scholarship program for master's and doctoral candidates seeking academic degrees that focus on disaster safety and mitigation, including construction, engineering, financial services, meteorology, risk communication, social sciences, and more.

"These scholarships are expanding the education of future professionals who impact how we build and create communities that are disaster resilient," said FLASH President and CEO Leslie Chapman-Henderson. "Generous support from leading FLASH partners make this possible and support students' educational goals while cultivating a mitigation mindset in future generations to only construct buildings that are safe, strong and sustainable."

The following $1,500 scholarships are available to eligible U.S.-based master's and doctoral candidates for the 2015/2016 academic year:

• FLASH Social Science Scholarship – for students performing research on behavior change, societal effects or other social aspects as they relate to natural disaster mitigation or preparation.
• International Code Council Scholarship – for students performing research on the education of building codes, the effectiveness of building codes or the incentives/impediments for adoption and enforcement of building codes.
• KOHLER Generators – for students performing research on the role of backup power in mitigation of cascading damages following a utility power loss, the role of backup power in determining a structure's resilience or the cost/risk mitigation analysis of backup power.
• Simpson Strong-Tie^® Structural Engineering & Construction Scholarship – for students performing research on resilient construction materials or techniques.
• State Farm^® Financial Services Scholarship – for students performing research on financial analysis, investment management or corporate finance as they relate mitigating the effects of, responding to or recovery from natural disasters.
• The Home Depot Scholarship – for students performing research in supply chain logistics/availability of materials following a natural disaster and resilient landscaping during disaster preparedness. (Three scholarships available).
• The Portland Cement Association Scholarship – for students performing research on concrete systems to improve home resilience, impacts of housing stock loss post disaster and financial/social life cycle cost analysis of concrete home construction.

This year's application process opens January 6, 2015 and closes April 15, 2015. Scholarship awardees will be notified in May of 2015 regarding their selection as recipients.

Winners will be recognized at the FLASH Annual Conference January 27-29, 2016 in Orlando, Florida where they will be required to present their research findings as posters. For more details on the open application process, interested individuals are encouraged to visit www.flash.org/scholarship.

About FLASH

Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH), a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, is the country's leading consumer advocate for strengthening homes and safeguarding families from natural and manmade disasters. FLASH collaborates with more than 120 innovative and diverse partners that share its vision of making America a more disaster‐resilient nation including: BASF, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Florida Division of Emergency Management, The Home Depot^®, International Code Council, Kohler^® Generators, National Weather Service, Portland Cement Association, Simpson Strong-Tie^®, State Farm™, and USAA^®. In 2008, FLASH opened the interactive weather experience StormStruck: A Tale of Two Homes® in Lake Buena Vista, FL. Learn more about FLASH and gain access to its free consumer resources by visiting www.flash.org or calling (877) 221- SAFE (7233).

SOURCE Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH)

Related Links

http://www.flash.org