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Message from the Winner
Harry Yeh
Professor, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon
Online released:March 16, 2017Published:March 20, 2017
I am honored to receive the JDR Award and am very grateful to the editors and staff members of the Journal of Disaster Research. I am also deeply indebted to the authors who contributed their excellent papers to the two special issues that I had the privilege of guest editing. One issue focused on tsunami forces and effects on structures (Vol.4 No.6) and the other on uncertainties in tsunami effects (Vol.11 No.4). I organized these special issues in cooperation with professors Shuto1 and Sato2, without whom I could not have achieved such fruitful special issues. So this award must be shared with both professor Shuto and professor Sato.
The Journal of Disaster Research was founded in 2006, immediately after two impactful disasters: the 2004 Great Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami, and the 2005 Hurricane Katrina. The founding of the journal was very timely, and I was inspired when I was invited to serve as an international member of the editorial board. Recognizing that research in natural hazards must be trans-disciplinary and interwoven with expertise in geophysics, engineering, and social sciences, I felt it was difficult to locate a proper arena for reporting research findings. And because natural hazards do not recognize national borders, I felt it was crucial that research be conducted with close international collaboration.
In the Journal’s early days, it published collections of papers originating mostly from Japanese research activities. But contributions from other countries have increased dramatically, and today the Journal is in the process of establishing an exceptional reputation, attracting truly outstanding research articles from around the world. The Journal of Disaster Research now serves as an excellent dissemination outlet for cutting-edge natural hazard and disaster research, and I intend to continually contribute to this exemplary international journal.
Cite this article as:H. Yeh, “Message from the Winner,” J. Disaster Res., Vol.12 No.2, p. 224, 2017.Data files: