Tanya B Corbin

Title
Professor, College of Arts & Sciences; Chair, Department of Emergency, Disaster and Global Security Studies
Email
Department
Dept of Emgy, Disaster & Global Security Studies
College
College of Arts & Sciences

Areas of Expertise

  • Public Policy Process 
  • Policy change and policy learning 
  • Disaster management 
  • Disaster recovery 
  • Disaster policy 
  • Federalism and American political institutions 
  • Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) 
  • Community engagement and partnerships 
  • Emergency Management 
Tanya B Corbin


Tanya Buhler Corbin holds a Ph.D. in Political Science and M.A. in Public Policy from Claremont Graduate University, and a B.A. in Sociology from the University of New Orleans. Prior to completing her Ph.D., Dr. Corbin worked in the political, non-profit, and business fields, including as a restaurant owner. Before joining Embry-Riddle, she held academic and administrative appointments at Radford University, including as Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science, Acting Director of Interdisciplinary Studies, and at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. 

Dr. Corbin’s research agenda is broadly focused on disaster management and recovery, and policy processes related to disasters. Her research has been featured in national organization policy plans and cited in congressional testimony. Past research projects include congressional agenda-setting, policy change, and disaster recovery after Hurricane Katrina, scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) in online education and high impact practices, and community partnerships in disaster mitigation. Dr. Corbin works with community and industry partners to create knowledge that can inform public policy, and support practitioners through research and innovative academic program development. Current and recent research includes policy change and policy learning after major hurricanes, COVID-19 policies’ and the effects of these policies on health outcomes; she is Co-lead for the NSF CONVERGE Covid-19 Working Group “Emergency Management and Policy Analysis in a Pandemic.”


  • Ph.D. - Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science: American Politics/Public Policy, Claremont Graduate University
  • M.A. - Master of Arts in Public Policy, Claremont Graduate University
  • B.A. - Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, University of New Orleans

  • MSES 570: Disaster Recovery


Selected Recent Publications

Peer reviewed 

Logan Gerber-Chavez, Samantha Montano, Amanda Savitt, Tanya Buhler Corbin, Davia C. Downey. 2023. “Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) Funding Allocations and Relevance for U.S. Disaster Policy,” in Risk, Hazards & Crisis in Public Policy, https://doi.org/10.1002/rhc3.12269, May 12, 2023.

Aydiner, Cihan and Tanya Buhler Corbin. 2023. “Innovation in Homeland Security Online Education,” in Journal of Security, Intelligence, and Resilience Education, 16 (9).

Savitt, Amanda, Logan Gerber-Chavez, Samantha Montano, and Tanya Buhler Corbin. 2023. “Emergency Management Pandemic Planning: An Analysis of State Emergency Plans,” in Journal of Emergency Management, Special Issue: Research and Applied Science: Covid-19 Pandemic Response. 21 (7): 97-109 

Aydiner, Cihan, and Tanya Buhler Corbin. 2022. “Professional Skills in Homeland Security: Facilitating Experiential Learning through Higher Education Coursework,” in Journal of Security, Intelligence, and Resilience Education: https://jsire.org/professional-skills-in-homeland-security-facilitating-experiential-learning-through-higher-education-coursework/, December 14. 

Corbin, Tanya Buhler. 2022. “Community Based Mitigation and Preparedness Strategies in Rural Communities,” in Case Studies in Disaster Mitigation and Prevention, Disaster and Emergency Management: Case Studies in Adaptation and Innovation series, 1st edition, Himanshu Grover, Tanveer Islam, Jean Slick, eds. Elsevier Press.

Tan, Courtney Page, and Tanya Buhler Corbin. 2021. “Protective policies for all? An analysis of COVID-19 deaths and protective policies among low, medium, and high vulnerability groups," in Disasters, https://doi.org/10.1111/disa.12525, December 7, 2021. 

Witkowski, Kaila, Jungwon Yeo, Sara Belligoni, N. Emel Ganapati, Tanya Corbin & Fernando Rivera. 2021. “Florida as a COVID-19 Epicenter: Exploring the Role of Institutions in the State’s Response,” International Journal of Public Administration, DOI: 10.1080/01900692.2021.2001013, December 16. 

Corbin, Tanya Buhler. 2021. “Displacement after Disaster: Challenges and Opportunities Responding to Puerto Rican Evacuees in Central Florida after Hurricane Maria,” in Journal of Emergency Management: September, 19 (2): 123-134.  

Corbin, Tanya Buhler. 2021. "Disasters and Environmental Justice Policy 15 Years After Hurricane Katrina: What Has Changed?" in Environmental Justice: April, 14 (2):98-104. http://doi.org/10.1089/env.2020.0053

Corbin, Tanya Buhler. 2018. “Teaching disaster policy and emergency management through a multi-phase, real-time disaster simulation,” in International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters: November, 36 (3): 297-312.

Corbin, Tanya Buhler. 2017. “Lessons learned after disaster? Emergency shelters and housing policy after hurricane Katrina,” in Disaster Management and Human Health Risk V, Reducing Risk, Improving Outcomes, Vol. 173, WIT Press: Southampton, UK.

Corbin, Tanya Buhler. 2015. “Leveraging Disaster: Promoting Social Justice and Holistic Recovery through Policy Advocacy after Hurricane Katrina,” Journal of Public Management & Social Policy: September, 22(3), Article 5.

Other publications

Corbin, Tanya Buhler, and Samantha Montano. 2020. Emergency Management and Policy Analysis in a Pandemic. CONVERGE COVID-19 Working Groups for Public Health and Social Sciences Research Agenda-Setting Paper. This paper was prepared in fulfillment of a grant. Available at: https://converge.colorado.edu/resources/covid-19/working-groups/issues-impacts-recovery/emergency-management-and-policy-analysis-in-a-pandemic  


Associate Editor, Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management

Member, American Society for Public Administration (ASPA)

Member, ASPA Section on Emergency and Crisis Management (SECM)

Member, American Political Science Association (APSA), related group, Disasters and Crises

Member, Southern Political Science Association (SPSA)

Member, Disaster & Emergency Research Network (DERN)

Member, Social Science Extreme Events Research network (SSEER), a National Science Foundation-supported network and online platform for social science hazards and disaster researchers.

Member, FEMA Higher Education Special Interest Group, Theory and Research

Member, International Steering Committee, Disasters: Conference within a conference, Southern Political Science Association (SPSA)


Radford University College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences Distinguished Teaching Award