Ph.D. Science and Technology Studies (STS), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
M.S. Wetland Restoration Biology, Southeastern Louisiana University
B.S. Biology, Southeastern Louisiana University
Dr. Dowty Beech has over twelve years of experience as director and coordinator of university disaster and emergency programs, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. She received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biology and wetland restoration from Southeastern Louisiana University and her Ph.D. in Science and Technology Studies from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
She has received research grants, online course development grants, and service-learning development grants from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Louisiana Sea Grant, the Louisiana State University Coastal Sustainability Studio, and the Ascension Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.
See MoreShe has served as a panel reviewer of grant proposals numerous times at the National Science Foundation. She has published books and peer-reviewed journal articles on disaster dynamics and anthropology, as well as numerous book chapters and encyclopedia entries about disasters and pedagogy.
She has received Service-Learning Scholar and Advisor of the Year awards, as well as a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) award to conduct educational research for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Her research interests include using cultural theory to understand disasters and crisis, environmentally- and socially-sustainable methods of mitigation and disaster recovery, and interdisciplinary approaches to education.
I am interested in how environmental, social, and cultural factors shape disasters and the field of emergency management. Planning, mitigation, response and recovery from disasters require a complex array of decision-making that is incumbent upon individuals, small groups, organizations, and governments. Specific areas of interest include cross-cultural emergency management and education, organizational culture, communication and coordination, how expectations and justifications shape decision-making in disasters, and environmental disasters involving petrochemicals.
Senior Lecturer, Visiting Assistant Professor, Coordinator, M.S. Program in Emergency Management, University of New Haven, West Haven, Connecticut. (2015 - present)
Director, Disaster Science and Management (DSM) Program, Interdisciplinary Programs, College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Louisiana State University. Baton Rouge, LA. (2009 - 2015)
Assistant Professor-Research. Department of Geography and Anthropology. Louisiana State University. Baton Rouge, LA. (2009 - 2015)
Assistant Professor-Research. Stephenson Disaster Management Institute. E.J. Ourso College of Business. Louisiana State University. Baton Rouge, LA. (2008 - 2009)
Post-Doctorate. National Science Foundation (NSF) Human and Social Dynamics (HSD). “Collaborative Research (DRU): Shared Governance of Risks.” Peter J. May, Bryan D. Jones, and William A. Wallace (Co-PIs) with Rachel Dowty (Post-Doc). (Policy and organizational research into federal response to Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana) (2006 - 2009)
Robbins, Richard H. and Rachel A. Dowty. 2021. Cultural Anthropology: A Problem-Based Approach. Eighth edition: Thousand Oaks: Sage Publishing.
Robbins, Richard H. and Rachel A. Dowty. 2019. Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism. Seventh edition. New York: Pearson.
Dowty, Rachel A. and William A. Wallace. 2019. “Categories of Success: How Do We Make Who Listen?” In Disaster Research and the Second Environmental Crisis. James Kendra, Scott Knowles and Tricia Wachtendorf (eds.) Springer Publishing. Pgs. 243-259.
Humphries, A. T., L. I. Josephs, M. K. La Peyre, S. Hall and R. Dowty Beech. 2019. Vulnerability of resource users in Louisiana’s oyster fishery to environmental hazards. Ecology and Society 24 (3):37. [online] https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-11101-240337
Dowty, Rachel A. and Barbara Allen (eds.) 2011. Dynamics of Disaster: Lessons on Risk, Response, and Recovery. London: Earthscan. April 2011.
Dowty, Rachel A. and William A. Wallace. 2010. Implications of organizational culture for supply chain disruption and restoration. International Journal of Production Economics. 126(1): 57-65.
See MoreDowty, Rachel A. 2013. Critical pedagogy. In The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology. George Ritzer (Ed.) Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Dowty, Rachel. 2011. Encyclopedia of Disaster Relief. K.B. Penuel, M.S. Statler, J.G. Golson. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Author of the following entries: Institutional coordination, Role of the private sector in response, Southeast and Gulf Coast of the United States.
Dowty, Rachel. 2011. A cultural perspective on humanitarian logistics. Chapter 11 in Humanitarian Logistics: Meeting the Challenge of Preparing for and Responding to Disasters. Peter Tatham and Martin Christopher (eds.) London: Kogan Page Publishers. Pp 201-214.
Dowty, R.A., G.P. Shaffer, M.W. Hester, G.W. Childers, F.M. Campo, and M.C. Greene. 2001. Phytoremediation of small-scale oil spills in fresh marsh environments: a mesocosm simulation. Marine Environmental Research 52 (3): 195-211.
Childers, G.W., G.P. Shaffer, and R.A. Dowty. 1996. Establishing a protocol for bioremediation of small-scale oil spills in Louisiana. Louisiana. Applied Oil Spill Research and Development Program. OSRADP Technical Report Series 96-007, 55p.
“Project 5, Center of Excellence for Analysis and Response for Coastal Hazards (ARCH)” . Principal Investigators: Rachel Dowty Beech (and Patrick Hesp from 2009 to 2012), U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Center of Excellence for Disaster Response. Award home: Jackson State University. (LSU subcontract) – To develop online courses, internships, and design a graduate certificate program for the DSM program (offering undergraduate B.A. degree, an undergraduate minor, and a graduate minor). (2009 ‐ 2015)
“Evaluating social-ecological vulnerability of oyster reef resource users to environmental variation.” Principal Investigator: Rachel Dowty Beech. Co-PIs: Megan LaPeyre and Steve Hall. Post-Doc: Austin Humphries. LSU Coastal Sustainability Studio (CSS) New Projects Fund. (2013-2014)
Ascension Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness Internship grant for LSU Disaster Science and Management students. PI: Rachel Dowty Beech. (2013-2015)
See MoreLouisiana Sea Grant. Principal Investigator: Melanie Gall Co-PIs: Rachel Dowty, Jude Egan, and Daniel Monchuk (University of Southern Mississippi) Project Title: “Changing Flood Mitigation: the Consequences of New Flood Insurance Rate Maps on Louisiana Coastal Communities” (2010 - 2012)
Post-Doctorate. National Science Foundation (NSF) Human and Social Dynamics (HSD) grant number SES-0623907. “Collaborative Research (DRU): Shared Governance of Risks.” Peter J. May, Bryan D. Jones, and William A. Wallace (Co-PIs), Rachel Dowty (Post-Doc). (cultural research into federal response to Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana) (2006 - 2009)
Research Assistant, National Science Foundation (NSF) “Physical and Social Infrastructure Impacts and Interdependencies in the December 2004 Tsunami in Southern Thailand.” Co-PIs: William Wallace (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute), Thomas Birkland (State University of New York at Albany) (2007- 2008)
Research Assistant, National Science Foundation (NSF) “Collaborative Research: Organizational Design Issues in Emergency Management.” SGER grant number 0554845. William Wallace (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute), Bryan Jones, and Peter May (University of Washington) (Co-PIs) ($58,479) (2006-2007)
Humphries, A. T., L. I. Josephs, M. K. La Peyre, S. Hall and R. Dowty Beech. 2019. Vulnerability of resource users in Louisiana’s oyster fishery to environmental hazards. Ecology and Society 24 (3):37. [online] https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-11101-240337
Beech, Colin E., Rachel A. Dowty, and William A. Wallace. 2012. The dynamics of organizational response: simulating cultural change. International Journal of Complexity in Leadership and Management 2(1/2): 74-103.
Dowty, Rachel A. and William A. Wallace. 2010. Implications of organizational culture for supply chain disruption and restoration. International Journal of Production Economics. 126(1): 57-65.
Dowty, R.A., G.P. Shaffer, M.W. Hester, G.W. Childers, F.M. Campo, and M.C. Greene. 2001. Phytoremediation of small-scale oil spills in fresh marsh environments: a mesocosm simulation. Marine Environmental Research 52 (3): 195-211.
See MoreRobbins, Richard H. and Rachel A. Dowty. 2021. Cultural Anthropology: A Problem-Based Approach. Seventh edition (2019). San Francisco, CA: Cengage Learning. Eighth edition (2021): Thousand Oaks: Sage Publishing.
Robbins, Richard H. and Rachel A. Dowty. 2019. Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism. Seventh edition. New York: Pearson.
Robbins, Richard H. and Rachel A. Dowty. 2013. Cultural Anthro. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. January 2013.
Dowty, Rachel A. and Barbara Allen (eds.) 2011. Dynamics of Disaster: Lessons on Risk, Response, and Recovery. London: Earthscan. April 2011.
Dowty, Rachel A. 2013. Critical pedagogy. In The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology. George Ritzer (Ed.) Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Dowty, Rachel. 2011. Encyclopedia of Disaster Relief. K.B. Penuel, M.S. Statler, J.G. Golson. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Author of the following entries: Institutional coordination, Role of the private sector in response, & Southeast and Gulf Coast of the United States
Childers, G.W., G.P. Shaffer, and R.A. Dowty. 1996. Establishing a protocol for bioremediation of small-scale oil spills in Louisiana. Louisiana Applied Oil Spill Research and Development Program. OSRADP Technical Report Series 96-007, 55p.
The University of New Haven (2015 - present)
Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Fire Science and Emergency Management
Coordinator, Master’s Degree Program in Emergency Management.
Louisiana State University (2009 - 2015)
Co-Director, Director, Disaster Science and Management Program: College of Humanities and Social Sciences.
Assistant Professor-Research: Department of Geography and Anthropology.
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Advancement at the American Educational Research Association Conference, Toronto, Canada. Conducted research for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) education programs. (2019)
Advisor of the Year Award, Louisiana State University, Campus Life, Love Purple, Live Gold Awards. (2012-2013)
Recipient of the Service Learning Scholars Award, Louisiana State University Center for Community Engagement, Learning, & Leadership (CCELL), $2000. (2009)
See MoreIn the Media
Rachel Dowty Beech, a senior lecturer of fire science and emergency management, discusses that heat illness can occur quickly, especially for young children and teens, sometimes before symptoms begin to appear.
In the Media
Rachel Dowty Beech, a senior lecturer of fire science and emergency management, discusses how rising outdoor temperatures impact young children who cannot always articulate when they may be experiencing heat exhaustion.
In the Media
Rachel Dowty Beech, a senior lecturer of emergency management and fire science, discusses some preparations for handling the heat this summer.
In the Media
Rachel Dowty-Beech, senior lecturer of fire science and emergency management and coordinator of the M.S. in Emergency Management program, discusses the changing weather patterns and record-setting heat across the country.
In the Media
Rachel Dowty-Beech, senior lecturer of fire science and emergency management and the M.S. in Emergency Management program coordinator, says part of the communication issues between the people living near the effects of a disaster caused by the derailment of a train carrying carried toxic chemicals and government officials lies in the differences in safety “definitions formed by chemists and experts, and the definitions of the people seeing the effects.”
In the Media
Rachel Dowty-Beech, senior lecturer in fire science and emergency management, comments that freezing temperatures and rain in the region of Turkey hit by an earthquake are adding to the difficulty in finding victims in the rubble, as hypothermia sets in quickly.
In the Media
Rachel Dowty Beech, assistant professor of emergency management, discusses the impact on farmers as the summer drought in Connecticut continues.
In the Media
Rachel Dowty Beech, assistant professor of emergency management, talks about staying cool during the recent heat waves across the country.
In the Media
Rachel Dowty Beech, assistant professor of fire science and emergency management, gives helpful advice for preparing for a winter emergency weather event.
In the Media
Rachel Dowty Beech, assistant professor and coordinator for the online Emergency Management program, talks about the signs of hypothermia and protection when cold temperatures set in.
In the Media
Rachel Dowty Beech, assistant professor and coordinator of the online Emergency Management Program, talks about the wildfires out west and the toxins in the air that are reaching Connecticut.
In the Media
Rachel Dowty Beech, associate professor and coordinator of the online Emergency Management Program, talks about the environmental impact of Mylar balloons being released into the air.
In the Media
Rachel Dowty Beech, assistant professor and coordinator of the online emergency management program, talks about the importance of preparedness for utility companies for severe weather.
In the Media
Rachel Dowty Beech, assistant professor and coordinator online emergency management program, writes on the importance of clear and consistent messaging during the pandemic to the public.