In a collaboration with public sector agencies, community partners, and undergraduate and graduate research assistants, the Resilience and Security Lab has a number of current projects in the works with the goal of building more resilient communities. Learn more about their current projects.
Building more resilient communities
The Disaster Media Database is a comprehensive research initiative documenting and analyzing news coverage of large-scale disasters. By systematically cataloging media responses to catastrophic events, this project aims to illuminate patterns in how disasters are reported, framed, and communicated to the public.
Through careful archival work and analysis, the Resilience and Security Lab is building a searchable repository that will serve as a valuable resource for researchers studying crisis communication, media studies, emergency management, and public perception of risk.
This database will support investigations into questions such as how coverage evolves across a disaster's lifecycle, which factors influence the volume and tone of reporting, and how media narratives shape community preparedness and resilience.
The Resilience and Security Lab is developing a comprehensive Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) database documenting reported cases of extrajudicial killings, torture, genocide, and enforced disappearances worldwide. This critical research effort systematically compiles publicly available information to support human rights accountability and scholarly investigation.
The project extends from Human Rights and War Crimes, a fall semester course taught by Dr. Page-Tan in partnership with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. This unique collaboration bridges academic inquiry with real-world policy applications, giving students the opportunity to contribute to meaningful human rights documentation while developing essential research and analytical skills.
Resilience and Security Lab researchers are investigating the relationship between proximity to Indiana's oil refineries and respiratory health in surrounding communities. Using spatial and statistical analysis, the team is mapping severe asthma rates near the BP Whiting Refinery and CountryMark Refinery to identify patterns—particularly in downwind neighborhoods. The project also explores social factors to examine whether affected communities face greater socioeconomic vulnerabilities, all with the aim of developing targeted health and policy interventions.
The Resilience and Security Lab, in collaboration with students from the Luddy School of Informatics, is building the first large-scale database of local government priorities across the United States. By collecting and analyzing publicly available documents, the team is using artificial intelligence and natural language processing to identify the policy issues that matter most to communities—from housing to disaster preparedness to economic development. So far, the project has gathered records from more than 1,000 municipal governments across 12 Midwestern states, mapping local priorities across time and space.
The Resilence and Security Lab is advancing Dr. Page-Tan's photo-voice project, Portraits of Resilience. The team is expanding the initial project to include more communities to better understand sources of community risk and resilience in both urban and rural communities.
One of the most exciting parts of the lab is the opportunity to mentor students, both undergraduate and graduate, who are interested in these specific areas. They are all advancing research in really unique spaces.
Dr. Courtney Page-Tan, Assistant Professor