Sarah Kirkpatrick

Associate Professor

Faculty

Disaster Resilience and Emergency Management Landscape Architecture, Disaster Resilience and Emergency Management

Headshot of professor

Sarah Kirkpatrick is an associate professor of disaster resilience and emergency management at North Dakota State University. She holds a PhD in emergency management, a master’s in diplomacy, and a bachelor’s in government. Her research interests include a range of topics central to the practice of emergency management (e.g., individual and household, business, and community recovery, the role of volunteers in response and recovery, the role of emergency management professionals, and community mitigation efforts). She has also done work focused on emergency management higher education. Dr. Kirkpatrick lives in rural Glyndon, MN with her husband and enjoys spending her free time running, hiking, boating, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, and otherwise being outdoors.

Areas of Study & Research

  • Holistic recovery of communities and individuals in disaster recovery
  • Implementation of mitigation activities
  • Community volunteers in disaster response and recovery
  • Who emergency managers are and what they do
  • Higher education in emergency management

Courses Taught

  • DREM 101: Emergencies, Disasters, and Catastrophes
  • DREM 381: Disaster Through a Systems Lens
  • DREM 364: Disaster Recovery
  • DREM 325: World Disasters
  • DREM 435/635: Issues in Homeland Security and Emergency Management
  • DREM 463/663: Voluntary Agency Services in Disaster
  • DREM 761: Preparedness Theory/Practice
  • DREM 764: Recovery Theory and Practice

Current Grants

Kirkpatrick, S., "Confronting Flooding in the Red River Basin: An In-Depth Examination of the Red River Watershed Management Board," Sponsored by Gunlogson Award, North Dakota State University, $5,000.00. (January
26, 2025 - December 31, 2026). (Funded).

Publications

  • Kirkpatrick, S. J. B., & Jensen, J. (2025). The rise of chief resilience officers in US cities: A necessary evolution for managing the complex urban challenges associated with disasters?. Cities, 166, 106234.
  • Kirkpatrick, S. (2024). Understanding Flood Mitigation Implementation Activities in Minnesota’s Red River Basin. (Natural Hazards Center Mitigation Matters Research Report Series, Report 20). Natural Hazards Center, University of Colorado Boulder. https://hazards.colorado.edu/mitigation-matters-report/understanding-flood-mitigation-implementation-activities-in-minnesotas-red-river-basin
  • Jensen, J. & Kirkpatrick, S.J.B. (2022). Local emergency management and comprehensive emergency
    management (CEM): A discussion prompted by interviews with Chief Resilience Officers. International
    Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 79, 1-13.
  • Kirkpatrick, S.B. & Jensen J. (2021). Understanding job placement of recent emergency management
    graduates: An initial test of a theoretical framework. Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency
    Management, 18(2), 177-213.
  • Jensen J. & Kirkpatrick, S.J.B. (2020). Exploring the job placement of recent emergency
    management degree program graduates. Journal of Emergency Management, 18(4), 325-339.
  • Kirkpatrick, S. B. (2019). Disaster relief trials: perceptions of a disaster-themed bicycling event.
    Disaster Prevention and Management, 28(3), 386-400.
    Kirkpatrick, S. J. B. (2019). Using disaster recovery knowledge as a roadmap to community
    resilience. Community Development, 50(2), 123-140.
  • Kirkpatrick, S. J. B. & Montano, S. (2019). [Review of the book Resilience for all: Striving for
    equity through community-driven design, by Barbara Brown Wilson.] Community Development,
    50(2), 275-277.
  • Jensen, J., & Kirkpatrick, S. (2019). Emergency management degree program graduate job
    outcomes: A potential theoretical framework for future research. Journal of Homeland Security
    Education, 8, 1-22.
  • Kirkpatrick, S. (2018). Pedaling disaster: Citizen bicyclists in disaster response—innovative solution
    or unnecessary effort? Natural Hazards Review, 90(1), 365-389.
  • Jensen J. & Kirkpatrick, S. (2017). Local recovery coordinators and the National Disaster Recovery
    Framework: Questions regarding the form, necessity, and potential for the role. Journal of Homeland
    Security and Emergency Management, 14(4), 1-13.
  • Bundy, S. (2016). A course in disaster mitigation. Journal of Emergency Management, 14(1), 55-69.
    Bundy, S., Jensen, J. (2015). The role of the county-elected official in disaster recovery. Risk,
    Hazards, and Crisis in Public Policy, 6(3), 259-289.
  • Bundy, S. (2015). Religious congregations in disaster response. Journal of Emergency
    Management, 13(6), 532-538.
  • Jensen, J., Bundy, S., Thomas, B., & Yakubu, M. (2014). The county emergency managers’ role
    in disaster recovery. International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters, 32(1), 157-193.