At the University of New Haven, the health and safety of all members of our community remain our top priority. We have reimagined life at the University to help deliver high-quality education in as safe an environment as possible.
This website provides updated information about our response to the pandemic and our ongoing efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and is being continually updated throughout the Spring 2021 semester.
Spring 2021 InfoIt appears that with widespread availability of several highly effective COVID-19 vaccines, we can now see a light at the end of the tunnel. To that end, we have spent considerable time planning for the Fall 2021 semester. We are looking forward to being able to return to many of our pre-pandemic norms in terms of class formats, student life, and other staples of the University of New Haven experience.
Fall 2021 Planning
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. Rachel Dowty Beech received her B.S. and M.S. degrees in biology studying environmental and wetland restoration, and conducted research on oil spill bioremediation in freshwater marshes. Always integrating different disciplinary approaches to solving problems, she taught a diverse array of college courses at Southeastern Louisiana University, the State University of New York (SUNY) at Plattsburgh, and Clinton Community College. Her interdisciplinary interests led her to earn her Ph.D. in Science and Technology Studies (STS) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). Her doctoral work applied sociological, political, and anthropological methods to study scientists and technologists functioning in normal versus crisis situations. She completed a post-doc funded by the National Science Foundation studying the interaction of organizational cultures responding to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.
She is the author of numerous journal articles and book chapters addressing political, economic, and sociocultural aspects of disasters and crises. She co-edited the book, Dynamics of Disaster: Lessons on Risk, Response and Recovery (Earthscan, 2011) with Barbara Allen (Virginia Tech) and co-authored Cultural Anthro (Wadsworth, 2014), an introductory cultural anthropology textbook , and Cultural Anthropology: A Problem Based Approach (Wadsworth, 2016), both with Richard Robbins (SUNY Plattsburgh). She was the Director of the Disaster Science and Management (DSM) degree program at Louisiana State University for six years, where she advised all DSM concentration and minor students, served on the graduate committees of all students earning a graduate minor in DSM, oversaw DSM program curriculum, assessment, and evaluation, served as faculty sponsor of the DSM student organization, and taught DSM courses. She is now a Visiting Assistant Professor in the University of New Haven’s Department of Fire Science’s online Emergency Management program.
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.
Robbins, Richard H. and Rachel A. Dowty. 2016. Cultural Anthropology: A Problem-Based Approach. Sixth edition. San Francisco, CA: Cengage Learning.
Robbins, Richard H. and Rachel A. Dowty. 2013. Cultural Anthro. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. January 2013.
Dowty, Rachel A. 2013. Critical pedagogy. In The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology. George Ritzer (Ed.) Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Dowty, Rachel A. and Barbara Allen (eds.) 2011. Dynamics of Disaster: Lessons on Risk, Response, and Recovery. London: Earthscan. April 2011.
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, 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 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.
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.
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.
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.