Meet New Faculty in the Emergency Management and Disaster Science Program | Njoki Mwarumba and Tom Jamieson

Omaha – Njoki Mwarumba, Ph.D., and Tom Jamieson Ph.D., were recently hired as assistant professors in the Emergency Management and Disaster Science Program within the School of Public Administration.

Njoki Mwarumba

Mwarumba’s primary research field includes global public health disasters, mobile phone use in health disasters, complex emergencies, and social vulnerability. This spring she is teaching two of the program’s online courses, Disasters and Vulnerable Populations and Capstone in Emergency Management.

Mwarumba received her Ph.D. in Fire and Emergency Management from Oklahoma State University’s Department of Political Science. Early in her doctoral program, she had the opportunity to consult with MedPrep Consultants on a USAID grant as a pandemic preparedness curriculum developer and facilitator for Kenya and Cambodia’s national pandemic preparedness conference. Before that, she earned her Master of Science in Hospitality Administration from Oklahoma State.

Mwarumba is a strong leader in disaster response. She volunteers with the American Red Cross as a National Response Team Member. Since starting with the Red Cross in 2013, she has been deployed during recent hurricane seasons. In 2017, she volunteered as a government operations liaison at the Emergency Operations Center in Orange County, South Texas, and later as a shelter lead in St. Thomas, American Virgin Islands. In 2018, she volunteered as shelter staff in South Carolina and government operations liaison in Mariana Emergency Operations Center, in Jackson, Florida.

Mwarumba is originally from Kenya. She enjoys cooking because it brings friends and family together.

Tom Jamieson

Jamieson’s primary area of research is how people think, feel, and act during periods of crisis or in the event of a disaster. He earned his Ph.D. in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Southern California. Before that, her received his Master of Arts in Media Studies at the Victoria University of Wellington.

After receiving his Ph.D., Jamieson was hired by the University of Waterloo in Ontario as a visiting researcher. He is currently working with others to understanding the politics of disaster risk reduction and the conditions that are needed for disaster risk reductions to be adopted in vulnerable communities. Different types of disaster risk reductions could be anything from implementing building codes, increasing community awareness, partnering with disaster relief organizations, or adopting policies or procedures in the public sector. He is also working on understanding the conditions under which people search for information about politics and how this influences people’s political knowledge, their ability to make accurate predictions about politics, and their attitudes about politics. Jamieson and others are presently looking at understanding when and why individuals and states provide international emergency aid to disaster affected states.

Jamieson is originally from New Zealand. He loves to spend time with family and friends. He also enjoys listening to music and going to concerts.