J. Carlee Purdum

I research the relationship between disasters and mass incarceration. I have published on subjects such as inmate labor in disasters, inmate wildland firefighters and inmate "all hazard firefighters" who provide emergency response similar to civilian firefighters through mutual aid agreements across states like California and Georgia. I also study emergency management in prisons, and a host of other issues relating to the vulnerability of prisons and prisoners to the impacts of emergencies and disasters. Using in depth policy analysis and historical data analysis, I work to connect issues like mass incarceration to climate change, two of the most important social problems of our time.